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international and community development in Vietnam

Thank you Mùa Thu Cho Em Concert Sponsors!

October 25th, 2013

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

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Now that the 2013 Mùa Thu Cho Em concert series has officially wrapped up, we’d like to send a big thank you to the sponsors who were part of making the concerts possible. Please check out their information after the jump!

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Vocational Training Cycle 3 Wraps Up

October 22nd, 2013

Congratulations to the 30 youths who took part in our third motorbike vocational training cycle! The 30 youths underwent 390 hours of practical training and 150 hours of theoretical training as part of an intensive mechanics training course. All 30 students made it through the course and many of them have already secured employment with their new-found skills. Big props to these youths for their patience and hard work. We’re wishing them a bright future while keeping up with the fourth cohort of students who began their training on September 15th! See more pictures after the jump!

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A New School in An Phu

October 21st, 2013

On Oct.1, the new An Phu Primary School officially opened its doors to students and community members after construction was completed in September. The new school has five classrooms for students from grades 1 to 5, a staff room, lavatories (which, unfortunately, are still lacking in manyVietnamese schools), and new furnishings.

An Phu is located north of Saigon, close to Vietnam’s border with Cambodia. Many of the students are ethnically Cambodian, which makes them ethnic minorities in Vietnam. Our hope is that this new school will play a part in closing the education gap between Vietnam’s ethnic minorities and the majority Viet Kinh population. We want these children to be able to pursue early education, helping them succeed later in life.

A big thanks goes out to the Nepheli Foundation for their generosity in supporting this project. Check out some of the photos below:

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Meet a Scholarship Recipient, Nguyen Thi My Linh

August 26th, 2013

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Meet Nguyen Thi My Linh, a second year student at the University of Agriculture and Forestry in Saigon majoring in Information Technology. My Linh also happens to be a 4-year recipient of the Nguyen Truong To Scholarship.

My Linh was chosen among hundreds of applicants for her amazing fortitude and optimistic attitude. She grew up in a coastal town, where her father supported the family doing various seafaring jobs. But the nature of his work was unstable, so her family’s economic situation was never very secure. Meanwhile, her mother’s health was poor, and there are still two younger siblings (one now in 10th grade and one now in 2nd grade), to take care of. In a chat with VNHELP, My Linh admitted, “When I received my scholarship, I tried to give that money to my mother so she could use it to take care of our family. But my mother sent the money back to me telling me to use it for my tuition and living expenses.”

Being the smart girl that she is, My Linh realized that the best path towards ensuring a brighter future was through education. She worked hard in high school and made her way to university in the city. She dreams of becoming a university lecturer in IT in the future, improving her life and defying gender stereotypes as a woman in technology at the same time.

With this kind of determination and kindness, it’s hard not to root for a girl like My Linh.

Follow the jump to the Vietnamese translation of this article.

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Why I Give

August 26th, 2013

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On June 8, the VNHELP Board of Directors held a special gathering to acknowledge the contribution of a few individuals who have consistently supported our Vietnam programs in the last five years: Mai Dolch, Van-Hanh Nguyen, Golden Pacific Investments LLC, Hop Duc Bui, and the Hitz Foundation. We especially paid tribute to Ms. Mai Dolch for her contributions to our causes since 2007.  Her generosity has changed many thousands of lives in Vietnam.  Nine schools were built for 1,400 students; three health clinics were funded to serve 50,000 patients annually; safe drinking water systems were installed for 37 schools with 10,000 students; and cataract surgeries were performed on 1,000 low-income patients to name a few projects that were made possible by Ms. Dolch.  Mai Dolch shared her thoughts on her philanthropy and what keeps her giving. Her speech is excerpted below.  We hope her message will inspire you as well.

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