In February, 2023, I spent time in Vietnam photographing families and children who are receiving ongoing support from Children's Education Foundation Vietnam (CEF). CEF is a small yet hugely impactful grassroots organization which works to break the poverty cycle by helping girls from impoverished or marginalized communities complete school or receive further education or training, helping not just the young women, but also succeeding generations and their communities to have the possibility of a better life with more choice.

Through this series of photographs, I aim to provide insight into not only the everyday struggles these families face together, but also celebrate their resilience and ability to find happiness in the face of hardship. I also hope to help provide exposure to Children's Education Foundation and their inspiring efforts to better the lives of young girls and their families throughout Vietnam.

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Dung - a promising 5th grade student - poses alongside her mother, grandparents and dog in front of a simple concrete structure which sits adjacent to the family home. This building was gifted to the family by the government after Dung's uncles died fighting in the Vietnam War, in addition to a monthly allowance of US$70. The building stands as an altar to the grandfather's lost sons. He does not let anyone else enter the building.

Dung's mother, 46 years old, has suffered from spinal degeneration for the past three years. She takes acupuncture for five days every two weeks and uses herbal medicine to reduce her pains. Since she can no longer perform heavy labour, she now helps around the house and looks after the family's cows.

Dung's father, not pictured, is the breadwinner of the family. He was nearby, working in the field when this photo was taken. To support his family, he earns a small wage working as a farmer and hired labourer on an acacia plantation. As the demand for his job is dependent on the weather, his work is unstable and, consequently, so is the family's income.

Dung is an excellent student who loves attending school. Her favourite subjects are English and Vietnamese. She spends two to three hours per day studying and, in her free time, she helps her parents with household chores and farming. When she grows up, Dung wants to be a math teacher.

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Pictured are Dung's paternal grandparents. Her grandmother (right) is still able to do some light housework such as cooking, washing, and sweeping. Her grandfather (left) is getting on in years and has lost most of his vision. He relies heavily on his family members for basic mobility.

When we first arrived at their home, Dung's grandparent's did not seem happy that we were visiting. They entered the room where this photo was taken shortly after we began our check-in with Dung. The elderly couple sat silent, observing our actions and questions in a way which made it difficult to understand how they truly felt about our involvement in their granddaughter's life.

To be honest, I have experienced this sense of standoffishness before. It seems common in elders who have direct experience with the Vietnam War. Unlike Vietnam's younger generations, they seem to not express an innate sense of acceptance and interest of outsiders. I empathize with why they feel this way.

Still, a camera is the best icebreaker I have on hand. After asking if I could show them some photos I had taken of their daughter & granddaughter moments earlier, the grandmother's eyes lit up. I had to hold the camera very close to the grandfather's eyes for him make sense of it but his smile came quickly after.

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Pictured left to right: Van - a CEF-supported 5th grade student - her mother, and her younger brother. Together, along with Van's elder sister, they live an old, simple concrete house at the base of a mountain in Quang Nam province, Vietnam. Van's father passed away in 2017 due to a heart attack. Their most valuable possessions are an old motorbike, a gas stovetop, and a fridge given to them by their close relative.

Van's mother, 44 years old, works very hard as a home keeper and farmer to look after her three school-age children. She still holds a debt of approximately US$340 granted by the government in 2010 which was used to build the house they are standing in front of in this photograph. She has not been able to pay this debt off over the past 13 years.

Van's little brother is chronically ill. He has suffers from congenital heart disease and underwent government-sponsored surgery two years ago. He also has problems with this leg which makes his bone curved; it's painful when he walks. The prospect of her one son facing a lifetime of physical impairment weighs heavy on Van's mother.

As for Van, she is a shy but strong little girl. Her favourite subject is art, although she struggles with her English classes. Every day, she spends two hours doing homework and then helps her family with household chores as well as cares for her little brother.

When Van grows up, she dreams of being a baker.

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From left to right: Duong, a CEF-supported girl in the 9th grade, her grandmother, great-grandmother and her great aunt.

When Duong was one year old, her mother committed suicide after an argument with her husband. When Duong was five, her father was working as a security guard at a primary school. He remarried a teacher from a minority ethnic group in the remote, mountainous area of Quang Nam province and had two children. Because of the low income of this position, he quit his job as a security guard and took on other labour jobs which offered a higher salary. Still, he struggled to support his family due to his income being highly unstable.

When Duong was eight, she moved to Que Son province to live with her paternal grandparents in the hope that they could provide her a more stable, prosperous life. Despite her grandmother suffering from valvular regurgitation, degeneration of her lumbar vertebras and chronic stomach pains, she still works very hard as a farmer, planting a block of rice, raising a cow, a calf and a few chickens. This provides her with enough income to support Duong and look after her mother in law (pictured) who is 100 years old.

Duong's future is promising. She is a happy and confident girl who has excellent grades and has received many scholarly awards. When she grows up, her dream is to become an optometrist. With the continued support of CEF and Duong's tenacity and hard work, that dream is within her grasp.

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Pictured left to right: Thoa's father, Thoa - a CEF-supported student in the 12th grade - and Thoa's maternal grandmother.

Thoa's mother has been suffering from kidney failure for the past 15 years and spends most of her time at the hospital in Da Nang. Her grandmother, 75 years old, still farms and does housework to support the family. Thoa's father was born with his left arm missing below his elbow, but he still is able to work as a farmer and labourer for about 15 days each month. The rest of his time he spends looking after his wife at the hospital in Da Nang.

Thoa is in the 12th grade. She goes to school every morning, Monday to Saturday, and takes an advanced IT class three times a week. She also attends four extra tuition classes for math, chemistry, English and physics three times a week. Her favourite subject is physics while she finds math the most challenging. Every day, she spends at least three hours on her homework and helps her family with housework in her free time.

Thao's family consists entirely of farmers. They see the potential she has and they work hard to help ensure that her life is not as challenging as their's has been. They encourage Thoa to study hard so that she can go to university and build a career. With Thoa's hard work and the support of CEF, her goal is to attend Da Nang University of Science and Technology, majoring in IT. She wants to become a software technology engineer. I think she will accomplish all she dreams of and more.

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This is Uyen and her mother. Uyen is a quiet, shy 5th grade student. She receives support from CEF to help ensure that she can continue her education.

Uyen's father sadly passed away three years ago due to lymphoma. Since then, her mother has been struggling to look after her two school-age children as well as take responsibility for the debt incurred from the building of their house five years ago. Although Uyen's mother is 47 years old, she can't do heavy work due to her spondylosis. She only grows rice, raises one cow and one pig which were donated to her by the local government, and collects rice field crabs to eat or sell.

Uyen goes to school by bycicle. Her favourite subject is math and she finds English very challenging. After school, she spends about two hours doing her homework and then helps her mother do household chores and cook meals.

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Pictured left to right: Vy's younger brother, Vy's mother, Vy - a CEF-supported student in the 8th grade - and Vy's youngest brother.

Vy's mother, 36 years old, comes from a very poor family. Her mother was a single parent who passed away when she was very young. She dropped out of school very early on and instead worked labour jobs until she got married when she was 20. Sadly, her husband was a violent alcoholic. He passed away seven years ago due to liver cancer.

Since then, Vy's mother has been the sole caregiver and provider of her three beautiful children. She grows a plot of rice which provides enough to feed the family when the harvest season is bountiful. She also raises a cow and a newborn calf. When someone needs a hired labourer on nearby rice or acacia farms, she can earn approximately USD$10 per day. However, this work is in low demand and highly seasonal. Since Vy's mother didn't complete the 5th grade, she is unable to help her children with their studies nor is she able to spend much time with them due to her day to day work obligations which is all the family has to rely on in terms of income.

As the eldest child in her family, Vy does most housework as well as helps feed the cow, calf and chickens when her mother is not at home. In her free time, she ventures to the nearby forest to pick bamboo shoots for cooking and to cut grass for her family's cow and calf.

She wants to go to school but does't know what she wants to do with her future yet.