Trieu Phong, Quang Tri (11 January 2018) — Project RENEW today dedicated a new workshop at the Trieu Phong District Blind Association. The 136-square-meter workshop expands an existing facility where 25 blind and disabled persons, members of the Blind Association, make brooms, incense, and other bamboo products which are sold commercially to earn them independent incomes.
The new facility is spacious and open, an all-weather work area that replaces an old and degraded building that was poorly ventilated and which leaked in the rain. As part of the improvement plan, last May Project RENEW organized a three-month training course for 15 members of the association to learn broom making skills, with funding provided by Irish Aid.
The dedication took place on the premises of the Blind Association in Ai Tu Townlet with a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Participants included Trieu Phong District People’s Committee Vice Chairman Mr. Nguyen Thanh Vu, Blind Association Chief Mr. Trinh Minh Due, and RENEW International Advisor Chuck Searcy.
The new workshop was funded by donations from Project RENEW’s international partners, the John Younger Trust, Unlimited Possibilities, and Veterans For Peace. It adjoins another building opened recently which was funded by the D.O.V.E. Fund.
Project RENEW was established in 2001 as a joint effort between the government of Quang Tri Province and interested INGOs to “restore the environment and neutralize the effects of the war” – with the main focus on unexploded ordinance.
