CapitaLand partners with Saigon Children’s Charity to hold Mid-Autumn Festival for 300 children with autism in Southern Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City, 16 September 2019 – On 13 September 2019, more than 300 children with autism and 500 parents, caregivers and teachers participated in a Mid-Autumn Festival for children with autism. The event was hosted by Saigon Children’s Charity (saigonchildren) and the Vietnam Autism Network (VAN) with support from CapitaLand Vietnam and CapitaLand Hope Foundation as part of continuous efforts to build a caring and inclusive community. The event was designed for children with autism to step out of their comfort zones, connect with friends, learn new skills and enhance their community engagement.
The Festival was designed by experts in autism from the Vietnam Autism Network, including activities such as art performances, lantern making, mooncake making, dragon dance and lantern parade. These activities helped to enhance interpersonal skills for children with autism. The children put on impressive performances as a gift for their parents and teachers and were excited to learn to make colorful lanterns and mooncakes for the first time. Parents, caregivers and teachers also saw these community events as an opportunity for them to share their experience, tips and methods for interacting with the children. Attending this Festival were representatives from saigonchildren, VAN, and CapitaLand staff as volunteers. Especially, MC Thanh Bach joined the event as the inspirer - ‘Chu Cuoi’ (a character associated with mid-autumn folklore) in this event.
This meaningful program was fully sponsored by funds raised from the ‘Step Up For Autism’ campaign in April 2019 by saigonchildren in partnership with CapitaLand Vietnam, while other funds are to be allocated for future Early Intervention classes for children with autism, which are targeted to commence from January 2020. All contributions are part of the “Unlocking Hope” campaign dedicated to CapitaLand’s CSR efforts in Vietnam.
Sharing in the festival, Ms Angelique Nguyen from saigonchildren said: “Saigonchildren is more than ever committed to build a national network of high-quality care and educational resources on early intervention for children with autism in Vietnam. We are building a special education program in partnership with VAN to help give care, support and education to many children with autism and their family.”
Ms Jaselyn Wan, Head of Residential Operations from CapitaLand said: “Building communities is a priority for CapitaLand across 25 years of operation in Vietnam. We are honored to partner with saigonchildren again on the Mid-Autumn Festival after the success of the ‘Steps Challenge’ earlier this year and will continue on furthering the partnership with early intervention education for children with autism in the coming year.”
CapitaLand Vietnam recently was awarded the ‘Special Recognition for Building Communities’ at the 5th PropertyGuru Vietnam Property Awards 2019, a major national annual award dedicated to honoring outstanding achievements and contribution to the real estate market in Vietnam. In addition, CapitaLand Vietnam is currently in progress of building the 4th Hope School in Vietnam, to be located in a province in Southern Vietnam.
Mrs Pham Thi Kim Tam from VAN said: “Today's festival is based on a part of the funding raised by the footsteps of the Step Challenge’s participants. I am very delighted to see that the Festival has brought these children a useful and interesting playground, helping them apply their learned skills to socialize with people in a community event like this.”
About CapitaLand Vietnam
CapitaLand Vietnam is a business unit of CapitaLand, one of Asia’s largest real estate developers with a global portfolio worth over S$103 billion as at 31 March 2019.
After 25 years of operation in Vietnam, our portfolio in Vietnam comprises close to 8,600 quality homes across 15 residential developments, two retail malls, one commercial development as well as more than 6,500 lodging units in 25 properties across eight cities in the country.
With our credo “Building People. Building Communities”, we are committed to contribute to the Vietnamese economy by hiring and nurturing a strong local team, exchanging knowledge and skills with local partners and contributing to the local communities’ underprivileged children and environment through corporate social responsibility efforts.
Every year, CapitaLand allocates up to 0.5% of its net operating profit to CapitaLand Hope Foundation. The Foundation is a registered charity in Singapore which promotes the social growth and development of vulnerable children with respect to their education, healthcare and shelter needs. Currently, CapitaLand Vietnam has built 3 CapitaLand Hope schools in Phu Tho, Long An and Hung Yen province.
About Saigon Children’s Charity CIO (saigonchildren)
Saigonchildren was founded in 1992 to help disadvantaged Vietnamese children to get an education and a fairer start in life. Saigonchildren works exclusively in Vietnam and is committed to overcoming barriers to education for children, including poverty, geography, knowledge and disability. Special Needs Education Program of saigonchildren specializes in autism education, providing vital educational resources in Vietnamese for the first time and are working to develop Centers of Excellence and build a national network of high-quality care and education.
About Vietnam Autism Network (VAN)
VAN is a network gathering parents, families, and individuals with autism who are interested in and have activities related to autism.