Farewell to great friend of Vietnamese women

Catherine Vera Kelly, or Cath, (March 10^th 1926 – March 13^th 2017) was a member of the New Zealand Labour Women’s Council. She deeply loved the country and people of Vietnam. At a young age, she and her husband participated in anti-Vietnam war protests.

When the war was over, Cath and other members of the New Zealand Labour Women's Council advocated and worked to supportVietnam’s reconstruction. She also lobbied the New Zealand Government to grant scholarships for Vietnamese civil servents to study English in New Zealand, including a number of female staff and VWU’s staff. Cath received and cared for these Vietnamese students like her sisters and brothers.

Alongside the VWU, Cath and her colleagues from New Zealand Labour Women's Council in the 1990s raised funds to support ethnic women in mountainous provinces, beginning with the Nutrition Education and VAC (Garden, Pond and Animal House) Project. The New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs provided generous subsidies to supplement the money they raised. The project aimed to reduce the rate of malnourished children which was as high as 25% at that time. Later o­n, thanks to the advocacy of the New Zealand Labour Women's Council, the New Zealand Government decided to fund the long-term program "New Zealand - Vietnamese Women". It targeted the 250 most remote and poorest communes of 16 mountainous provinces in the Northern and Central regions and Central Highlands - raising awareness among women, particularly the pregnant o­nes, o­n health care, children’s education, hygiene improvement, household economic development and the VAC model. In the project communes, the rate of children malnutrition was reduced, sanitation improved, and the households’ nutrition and income raised thanks to the VAC model.

Cath, who was over 70 at the time, and her colleagues visited very remote project sites in the provinces of Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Lam Dong, Kon Tum and met with ethnic minority women and children. Upon returning home, they continued fundraising for follow-up activities. Cath said, "The 15 years working with Vietnamese women is the most meaningful part of my life."

Indeed, Vietnam is an important part of Cath's life. She was aware of the sufferings and great efforts of Vietnamese women to rebuild their lives. Cath did her best to help reduce the difficulties of vulnerable women, especially women of ethnic minorities in upland areas.

For her valuable contribution to the Vietnamese women's movement and to honour the friendship between the two countries, Cath Kelly was awarded with the VWU’s noble medal "For the cause of women’s emancipation.”

Receiving the VWU’s Medal

After hearing that Cath Kelly had passed away, VWU’s President Nguyen Thi Thu Ha sent a wreath together with a condolence letter, which was respectfully read at her funeral in Wellington. Her funeral was also attended by Ambassador Nguyen Viet Dung from the Embassy of Vietnam in New Zealand who spoke at the funeral, and by many of Cath’s Vietnamese friends living in New Zealand.