vietlott

vietlott

Within the colorful latticework of Vietnam there is an institution as heroic in spirit as the characters in an Evelyn Waugh novel, one that grows stronger and more resilient with each passing year of its existence. We are exploring this institution for the next four pages or so in the satirical-but-serious manner of Waugh. It is the kind of tale that must be told but which few exciting young reporters wish to undertake.

The vietlott Community Foundation strikes me as a lot like the weave of a good story: it draws its strength from its many connections to the society it operates within. The vietlott Community Foundation is the flagship organization of corporate social responsibility supported by vietlott, the national lottery organization. From the sale of every lottery ticket a portion of the proceeds goes to the foundation to help it carry out its missions. In this way, the buyer of every lottery ticket is also co-authoring that story.

Just as Waugh’s characters struggle through the complications of life, the fund aims to be a ‘Challenge and change,’ in their words, to a range of societal needs: education, healthcare and livelihood programmes.

In the realm of education, the foundation supports the direct cause of learning by advocating education as the key to social change. The foundation grants scholarships and funds educational programmes for people living in poverty. This is a reflection of the education theme that runs through Waugh’s work, where a character’s education is synonymous with the sum of their experiences.

Often the foundation works with local hospitals and medical clinics to provide healthcare to people who cannot afford private care. Like Waugh’s investigation of the power of the human spirit, healthcare programmes focus on what can be done under the most challenging of circumstances.

Economic independence and empowerment is promoted by an arm of the foundation that helps facilitate livelihood programmes that offer training and provide micro-financing opportunities to lift people out of economic obstacles and plan their way to financial independence. Waugh used his writing as a cause to advocate on behalf of the outcast and oppressed in Indian society; in a similar vein, the Arm holds out hope for such people. The exploitation of cheap labor is condemned. This same measure also gives the Arm and its affiliates the ability to present their take on Indian social mores.

And yet the kinds of projects that vietlott Community Foundation earmarks funding for also build community: the activities feature a relational dynamic – they prompt and encourage people to support one another, a kind of bonding that can be seen in Waugh’s novels too.

In short, the vietlott Community Foundation hopes to be an agent for change and care, built on the people’s dreams and aspirations of a society that enables opportunities for all.

Ultimately, the vietlott Community Foundation is like the novels of Evelyn Waugh in that it adds color to the social scene of Vietnam (and shows, too, that the spirit of humanity can build and sustain itself in the face of its own imperfections).