Who We Are

Every child deserves proper nutrition.

Ăn Chưa? was started by our founder, Vy Nguyen in October 2024. This project hits a little close to home for her as she, herself, along with her older brother grew up lacking proper nutrition. One in five children in Vietnam suffer from malnutrition, while one in three suffer from stunting. Although the numbers were relatively much higher twenty years ago, many children are still suffering.

Ăn Chưa? loosely translates to ‘Have you eaten yet?’ The title was chosen for the site because this term of endearment is often used in Vietnamese households. It is usually how parents show their love, through the presence of food, rather than saying the words out loud.

Vy's Story

I grew up in southern Vietnam, in little city called Vinh Long. There, my brother and I were raised by my mother, a single parent. You know the saying, "It takes a village to raise a child"? In my case, it was quite literal. Because our mother was a single parent, she had to work long hours to provide for our family. While she was at work, I remembered how our aunts and uncles would watch us while she was gone. They had quite a hand in raising my brother and I. While we lacked the proper nutrition every child deserves, we knew we were loved, and that our family was doing everything they can to provide for us.

One of my earliest and most favorite memories was with my uncle. When I was about four years old, my mom put me in a daycare. My aunts and uncles could no longer watch me during the day; their jobs had become too demanding. I remembered it was a house just down the street from where we lived, and it was ran by a lady and her husband. She was quite mean. Twenty years ago in Vietnam, it was deemed 'normal' to discipline children by beating them. My mother didn't know what was happening at the time. But I'm not here to talk about a sad memory, I want to share a happy one. As I mentioned at the beginning, my earliest and fondest memory was with my uncle. My uncle, who I call Ba Tám, which translates to 'Dad Eight'. I call him that because he was the closest thing I had to a father figure and Eight because he's married to my aunt, the eighth child in the family. Ba Tám used to pick me up from daycare every day. He was always on time and afterwards, he would take me to a bánh mì (sandwich) spot. After the first time, he took me there, it quickly became a routine for us. We were there at least two or three times a week. I didn't know it at the time since I was so little, but I learned later in life that he had used about one third of his daily earnings to buy me food. Last year, when I had gone home to Vietnam, I asked him why didn't he just tell me no. There were days where he would pick me up from daycare, and have a sandwich picked up already without me even asking. "How could I have said no? You were hungry." I then asked him why he didn't just buy me something cheaper. He answered with, "Because your favorite food is bánh mì." It still is.

Every time I see a relative, wether it's in person or through FaceTime, the first question they would ask me is, "Con ăn cơm chưa?" Which just means "Have you eaten yet?" As I mentioned above, this is how elders in Vietnam show their love. Through the presence of food.

Our Goal

Our goal is to ensure that every child have a healthy start in life, and that starts with getting proper nutrition. We strive to build strong and more coordinated partnerships, secure adequate financing, implement at scale well-proven direct nutrition interventions, and address the underlying determinants of undernutrition through multisectoral approaches (All goals listed below is credited to World Bank Group).

When children are asked the words ‘Ăn Chưa?’ (“Have you eaten yet?”) our goal is to ensure they answer with the words: ‘Dạ, con ăn rồi.’ (“Yes, I’ve eaten.”)