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international and community development in Vietnam

Archive for the ‘Projects’ Category

Vietnam Travels: The Vietnam – Japan Eye Hospital in Hanoi

Wednesday, April 17th, 2013

Not a moment goes to waste when we’re in Vietnam. The night before we left Hanoi, we realized that we could squeeze in one more visit to the Vietnam – Japan Eye Hospital (VJEH), where a cataract surgery mission is taking place, before we had to be at the airport for our flight to Da Nang. So we decided, why not?

We arrived at VJEH a little after 10, later than expected because of Hanoi traffic. Even though we informed VJEH that we would stop by less than an hour prior to our arrival, Dr. Nguyen Vu Thien, who manages much of the hospital’s operation, was there to greet us.

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Project Update: Vocational Training in Vietnam Round 2, Part 2

Monday, February 4th, 2013
Studying boys need food to fill their bellies to keep them going!

Studying boys need food to fill their bellies to keep them going!

Here’s the second roundup of photos from the second cycle of motorbike vocational training in Vietnam. Check out the first one here.

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Project Update: Vocational Training in Vietnam Round 2, Part 1

Thursday, January 31st, 2013

Remember our re-launch of the vocational training in Vietnam program last year? In that first cycle, we gave 30 youth a chance to re-new their lives by participating in a 3.5 month training program to become skilled motorbike mechanics. 26 ended up graduating from the program. Following its success, we decided to continue the program with a new group of 30 youth. We are pleased to announce that all 30 participants graduated this time. Our project coordinators in Vietnam sent us printed photos of the second cycle, and we’ve scanned them to share with you!

Black Hat

Students get their hands-on in their learning.

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Bringing Clean Water to Pa Che

Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013

Read the Vietnamese version of this post here.

Hop Duc Bui, a retired engineer now residing in San Jose, CA, recently co-funded a water project in Pa Che with his colleagues at the Son Nam Charitable Group and the Yahoo! Employee Foundation. He compiled this story based on project reports from Vietnam and shares it with you.

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Project Update: Restoring Sight to Vietnam’s Poor

Tuesday, November 13th, 2012

Cataracts are a serious issue in Vietnam. According to a 2011 study in the journal BMC Opthamology:

Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in Vietnam, affecting 87.6 new cases per 100,000 each year and causing approximately 65% of all blindness. There is  currently a very high prevalence of blindness, affecting 4,304 people per 100,000. Of even more concern is the staggering numbers who are living with low vision, approximately 18,086 people per 100,000, much of which is caused by untreated cataract.

The good news is that cataracts can be treated through a relatively simple procedure. The bad news is that the cost of a procedure, which hovers around $350 – $400 in Vietnam, can be far too expensive for many poor patients. Recognizing the need and realizing that this is a fixable situation, VNHELP decided to initiate the Vision for the Poor program in 2007 to sponsor free cataract surgeries for low-income patients across Vietnam. We also established a matching fund, where we meet donations of $5000 and above, to encourage donors to give to the program.

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