My name is Ca Van Vinh, I am 30 years old and I work at the Commune People’s Committee. My son, Quân, is a well-behaved & handsome boy. He attends ninth grade at the commune’s Junior Secondary School. After he finishes ninth grade, my family and I have planned a marriage for him. It is in our tradition and culture for our children to get married after secondary school. It is customary for children to begin helping the family in the fields and contributing to the family income.

Quân enjoys participating in extracurricular activities. At the beginning of eighth grade, he joined a communication and education group at his school. He conducts sessions on preventing early pregnancy and early parenting for the adolescents in the commune. The students and teachers in the group attended a three-day training in the District. They learned about reproductive health, responsibilities and decision-making and communication strategies. Last year, they conducted many successful events in the school and the community.

Today, I took Quân to the village to conduct an education session to the community boys and girls. Many villagers, like myself, enjoy attending these sessions. My son and his peers are great drama performers. Their performances stimulate attention and discussion within the community… I feel bad that many young girls get pregnant and have children very early. They face many barriers to earning a living at such a young age. After what I have learned from my son, I reconsidered his marriage. I will not force my son to get married early. Quân wants to continue his studies and I see how happy he is helping others. I will encourage him to continue his studies and conduct education sessions at school and in our community. I see that his work is helping to prevent poor health outcomes of our children.

This project is undertaken with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through Global Affairs Canada.