Tran Van Tin (right) alongside his students with disabilitiesInventor Tran Van Tin established his own company, ICEVN, in Vietnam in 2004, which produces household electronic products such as mobile phone chargers, MP3 music players and counterfeit money scanners.
A year later he founded the ICEVN Support Center for Disabled People and the ICEVN Telecommunication Electronics Vocational School in HCMC. The school now has 200 students, more than 50 percent of whom are disabled.
From Thanh Nien News:
“I dream about opening a vocational school for disabled children nationwide,” said Tin.
At ICEVN vocational school, disabled students are provided free tuition, room and board as well a part time job.
After a six-month training course, they can work for the company and become an instructor at the school.
At the company, disabled workers are also offered free accommodation.
“Uncle Tin often encourages us to study hard to have a good job,” said Huynh Truc Lam, a young disabled employee at ICEVN.
For Tin who grew up in a poor village, education is the key to success in life.
“My hometown has only sand, sunshine and wind,” he said. “The barren nature immerses natives in poverty. So we had only one way to escape poverty – to study hard and do well.”
ICEVB’s school has opened up three other branches in southern Kien Giang Province, the central town of Hue and Hanoi.
Tin plans to start another branch in his hometown of Quang Nam Province as soon as prices ease up in the current financial climate.
“I hope more and more people will buy our products and invest in our company so that we can expand production and earn more money to improve the life of the
disabled,” he said.
