The long awaited day has finally arrived: OneVietnam Network’s Beta Launch!  We invite you to log onto OneVietnam.org and connect with your local and global communities.  Make your voice heard, meet people who share your interests and goals, and become the champion of your cause!

By signing up early, you can get an exclusive preview of the site, gain leverage in learning the ropes, strengthen your own network, and provide feedback on what you liked or thought needed to be improved on the site.

Help build an online Vietnamese community, bonded across generation gaps and geographic barriers, united by philanthropic efforts.

We are excited to see you on OneVietnam.org–sign-up now for our exclusive beta preview!

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Source: Autumn Cruz, Sacramento Bee

Huyen “Kiki” Vo lost her mother in a fire when she was nine years old.  In the same fire, 85% of her body was burnt.  A nonprofit brought Kiki, her father, and sisters to the United States where Kiki would eventually go through 60 surgeries for her wounds.  Kiki’s father worked endlessly to support his five daughters.  Last November, Kiki’s father died of lung cancer.

Today, Kiki is 18 years old and the eldest of her sisters.  Kiki’s circumstances are unique, but her resilience makes her special.  You see, Kiki, despite the devastation and hardships throughout her life, has been admitted into the University of California, Berkeley, one of the best schools in the world.  But to attend, Kiki needs to raise enough to cover her tuition.  As of today, she is $4,000 short of the $25,000 needed for her first year at Berkeley.

Kiki’s story was brought to our attention by one of our readers, Robyn Dahlgren.  Robyn has no direct connection to Kiki, but was deeply moved by Kiki’s story.  Robyn connected us to Melody Gutierrez of the Sacramento Bee, who covered Kiki’s story.  Like Robyn, Melody was deeply moved by Kiki’s story.  Melody’s article has brought on an outpour of support from Sacramento Bee readers.  At the time of this writing, Bee readers have rallied to pledge $21,000 to support Kiki’s college dreams.

Kiki is $4,000 short of her goal. As a former Cal Bear, it would be an honor to have Kiki become a fellow Bear next year.  A woman with her perseverance is destined for great things with the right education.

Will you make a pledge to help Kiki’s with her education? Any amount of support makes a difference.  Please contact me, James Bao, at jhbao@onevietnam.org or (408) 702-2005.

Sources:

Gutierrez, Melody. “Burn victim, accepted into UC, ‘inspires us all.’” Sacramento Bee, 23 April 2010. Web. 2 May 2010.

Gutierrez, Melody. “Bee readers pledge $21,000 to help woman fulfill college dream.” Sacramento Bee, 30 April 2010. Web. 2 May 2010.

Photo by SAVICE

On Monday, I was introduced to SAVICE, another great example of a group of successful Vietnamese Americans quietly giving back to the economically disadvantaged in Vietnam.

The SAVICE’s (SAve a VIetnamese Child with Education) mission is noble: change a child’s life in Vietnam by creating educational opportunities.  Their vision is striking: raise funds to provide scholarships and to build schools through annual golf tournaments.

This year marks SAVICE’s 4th annual golf tournament, and its organizers are raising funds to build two new schools and to provide 500 scholarships to Vietnamese children.  Every year, SAVICE’s founders personally donate $50,000 to the organization.  Combined with proceeds from the golf tournament and other donors, SAVICE raises over $100,000 annually to create fresh opportunities for the most vulnerable children in Vietnam.  Most unique about SAVICE is that 100% of funds raised go to children’s educational programs.  SAVICE relies completely on volunteers, and the majority of them are successful businessmen in the Southern California region.

Vietnamese overseas are known to be extremely generous when it comes to giving back to their families in Vietnam, local communities, and those most in need in Vietnam.  Even if it’s just once a year, our “chu” and “bac” are making a big difference in the lives of many Vietnamese children.  It’s always empowering for me to hear stories like this.  I hope that we, as 1.5 and second generation Vietnamese Americans, can follow their footsteps.

Find more information about SAVICE’s 4th Annual Charity Golf Classic, to take place May 3 in Southern California, by visiting their website.

SAVICE Scholarship Ceremony - 2007

SAVICE Annual Charity Golf Classic - 2009

Participants at a March workshop designed to match career-oriented PWDs with mentors.

The Disabled in Vietnam

According to the Vietnam General Statistics Office, 15% of the population have a disability. Among them, less than 20% have a secondary or high school degree and less than 1% have studied or graduated from a college or university (MOLISA 2006). Although quite capable of learning, some people with disability (PWD) are prevented from obtaining an education due to poverty, attitudinal or physical barriers in the community, barriers within the school and, sometimes, even from within their own families.

Ms. Ngo Thi Ngan shares her story with prospective mentors

Take, for example, Ms. Ngo Thi Ngan who was diagnosed with polio at the age of 3. Initially, her parents did not want her to attend school but, with dreams of becoming a doctor, she eventually convinced them otherwise. After completing high school and passing the national exam to attend the University of Pharmacy, Nang was informed that she could not attend because she could not run 100 meters in 11 seconds, which was then a requirement. She tried again through the Department of Health and the Department of Education but was denied for the same reason. “My dream of becoming a doctor was destroyed.” Five years later, after moving to HCMC and working in various fields, Nang decided to try accounting. In her first year at University, she juggled both work and school but in her second year, she applied and received a scholarship, which gave her the flexibility to focus more on her studies.

The Role of Disability Resource and Development (DRD)

Disability Resource and Development (DRD), a not-for-profit organization based in Ho Chi Minh City, granted Nang that scholarship. According to DRD, people with disability face not only attitudinal and infrastructural barriers in Vietnam, but they often also lack confidence, basic education and life skills, all of which contribute to the difficulties they face when seeking work and moving out of poverty.

Ms. Huynh Ngoc Bich sharing her story with prospective mentors

Ms. Huynh Ngoc Bich, was diagnosed with polio early in her life. Although she had less trouble entering and graduating from University, Bich encountered difficulty in finding a job as an English teacher. Though she could not find a job, she found ways to earn money by tutoring young people. During this time, Bich became aware of DRD, and decided to volunteer as an English teacher for a class of people with different disabilities. “My life changed when I learned about DRD,” said Bich. “I became more confident and more aware about my disability.” In 2008, Bich became an employee of DRD and now works as their Employment Coordinator. In this role, she collaborates with both job seekers and employers and tries to find suitable matches.

Since 2005, DRD has been working to support and raise awareness about issues affecting PWDs in Vietnam. Located in District 10, DRD employs 15 staff (50% are themselves disabled) and two international volunteers. DRD collaborates with other organizations that support PWDs across Southern Vietnam and has contact with over 2,000 PWDs.  Individuals and organizations can access a range of services from DRD such as counseling and mentoring, vocational training and employment matching, scholarships, resources and more.

The organization is headed by the Director, Ms. Vo Thi Hoang Yen, who was struck with polio at an early age. Despite financial challenges, Yen’s family encouraged her education and she eventually obtained a Master’s Degree in Human Development from the United States. Upon returning to Vietnam, Yen was determined to change the way PWDs are viewed in Vietnam and ensure that the opportunities denied to her are made available to others.

DRD’s employment support services were developed in response to need and requests from the disabled population in HCMC. The employer network now exceeds 300 organizations, including both Vietnamese and foreign companies. Recently, DRD introduced a pilot mentoring program, which seeks to match successful professionals as mentors to PWDs, in an effort to help guide and support them in their desired career path.

Ms. Ngan is one prospective mentee. “I am looking forward to getting a job that is suitable with my health and ability,” she said. “I want to live independently by the money that I earn by myself. I do not want to depend on family members or charity organizations any more.”

In March, DRD opened Hoi Quan Doi Rat Dep (Life is Beautiful Club House). The first of its kind in Vietnam, the Club House provides a safe and convenient setting for vocational training, a showcase for awareness-raising about the talents and successes of PWDs as well as a warm place for meeting friends, developing life skills and enjoying a social life sometimes not otherwise available.

At the DRD Club House, young social work students team up to compare social work with charity work.

If you would like to learn more about DRD, feel free to drop by their Club House, located just fifteen minutes from central Ho Chi Minh City. For details, please visit: www.drdvietnam.com.

Interested to support DRD?  Here are a few things you can do:

• Become a Mentor: Would you like to become a mentor for a career-oriented PWD? DRD is looking for professionals that are willing to provide approximately 6 hours per month of one-on-one support aimed at developing business skills, life skills and/or career guidance. If interested, you can contact Ms. Bich (ngocbich@drdvietnam.com) or Ms. Caroline (caroline@drdvietnam.com).
• Volunteer: DRD welcomes and appreciates skilled volunteers. Among the skills sought are social work, fundraising, marketing and communications.
• Donate (In-Kind and/or Cash): DRD is looking for funds and/or in-kind contributions to help cover the cost of its various programs and services including:
  • Scholarship and Mentoring Program (VND 12 million ensures one scholarship per student per year)
  • Club House – DRD welcomes and appreciates equipment for the kitchen and workshop areas as well as funds to support on-going maintenance of the Club House.

Contact Details:

Disability Resources and Development (Ch??ng Trình Khuyêt T?t và Phát Triên)

Address: 91/6N Hoa Hung St., Ward 12, District10, H? Chí Minh City

Tel: 84-8-3868-2770

Fax: 84-8-3868-2771

Email: info@drdvietnam.com

Website: www.drdvietnam.com

Check out some of LIN’s videos:

Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc, Manager of the Hoi Quan Doi Rat Dep, talks with LIN staff about current and planned activities at the Café.

A college student and first time visitor to the Hoi Quan Doi Rat Dep shares his feelings about the Café and it’s capacity building programs for social work students.

A participant in one of DRD’s weekend training programs shares her group’s comparison of social work and charity work

While searching for a topic about Vietnam,  I ran across some articles about the Agent Orange problem in Vietnam and decided to write about it from a mathematical standpoint. For those who are not experts on the matter, here is brief  description from Wikipedia:

I hope this article will allow us to become more informed about Agent Orange and efforts to combat it.  There are more than 50 US-based groups that focus efforts to helping victims of Agent Orange. I am relieved to know that many people are aware of the problem and are dedicated to improve it. However, a closer look at most of these articles I realize the following:

- There is a vast amount of government aid, totaling up to $100 million (my rough estimate from multiple articles I have read), but the funds aren’t being used effectively

- There are many complaints from the service groups about the insufficiency of the funding, and they have to turn away more than 60% of potential aid recipients (again, my rough estimate after reading several articles)

My analysis of the situation:

Due to my background in economics, I will present my analysis from a more mathematical perspective than James and Brian have previously in their respective Ageant Orange articles. 

With the assumptions that there are 5 million victims out there and $100 million in aid, my quick calculation leads me to the conclusion that there is only $20  per victim. This is assuming that relief workers do not get paid for their labor, and the money transfers directly to the victim.  I should add the disclaimer that these numbers are based solely on my reasoning capabilities and not on exact numbers.  Survey data are lacking for me to make a concrete analysis.  Nevertheless, I believe these numbers are quite close to the actual data.  If so, then I realized that government aid is simply not sufficient to help those in need.

Importance of OneVietnam Network:

Hence, after careful analysis and data interpretation, I came to the conclusion about the importance of a social non-profit network like OneVietnam Network. Vietnamese expats send home $7 billion every year, without the help of social networking. Imagine if OneVietnam Network is able to connect all generations of Vietnamese and friends of Vietnam,  the awareness of problems like Agent Orange is large, and the cost of contributing is small!

Let’s say East Meets West foundation sets a goal of helping 10,000 victims. They need a budget of $10 million. Accessing their profile on OneVietnam Network (which assumed to have 10 million users at the time) and asking for donations, they can reach out to many people in a short amount of time. Everyone only has to donate $1/ user in order to help 10,000 victims. With a quick announcement on OneVietnam Network and maybe 2 weeks of fundraising, East Meets West will have the funds to help the victims.

In conclusion…

I see a many efficiency problems that need to be resolved. I feel an unlimited amount of affection and care for people in need. I see a great potential in OneVietnam Network.  I believe OneVietnam can revolutionize the scene of philanthropy and inspire our generation.  The possibilities and vision of OneVietnam Network give me the inspiration to work late nights, during weekends, and on holidays with only happiness in me because I know that I can do my little part to make the world a better place.

Please become a fan of OneVietnam Network: http://www.facebook.com/OneVietnam, and invite all your friends. We want to reach the people who care!

This article was written by Guest Blogger Dana R.H. Doan of the LIN Center for Community Development (LIN). LIN is a new resource for local not-for-profit groups, individuals and corporate philanthropists based in and around Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. You can see LIN’s other article on VTP about empowering Vietnamese women here.

As you may know, nonprofits in Vietnam are understaffed, underfunded and relatively new.  This limits their ability to expand and improve core programs and services.  LIN was founded to  provide much needed training, grants, volunteers & resources to these nonprofits.

LIN supports grassroots not-for-profit organizations in their efforts to effectively manage resources and provide programs and services to disadvantaged members of our community. LIN’s core services to NPOs include: targeted trainings, skilled volunteer matching, grantmaking, research and information sharing.

To date, LIN has formed strategic partnerships with forty NPOs addressing different community needs such as: basic needs (food & shelter), education, vocational training, sports initiatives, environmental protection, arts and culture programs and more. Our partners include the Audio Library for the Blind, Blue Dreams Volunteer Network, Disability Resource and Development, HCMC Child Welfare Foundation and the Hospitality School of HCMC. Although our target beneficiaries are local NPOs, LIN collaborates closely with the international NGO community and government agencies that work to achieve our shared goals.

Members of the North Star Donor Club (Cau Lac Bo Sao Bac Dau), which is hosted by LIN, discuss how to best invest their resources into the community.

Simultaneously, LIN offers local philanthropists, including individuals and businesses, a way in which to engage constructively and support local needs while providing a transparent mechanism through which their contributions can be tracked and monitored. LIN believes that the more informed donors are, the more likely we all are to effect lasting and positive changes in our community.

Whether they may be interested to volunteer their time and professional skills; donate products or services; and/or make a financial contribution LIN provides support services to help donors that want to meet the needs in the community. To date, LIN has provided donor advisory services to individuals, international donor organizations, international and domestic companies including Hamon Investment Group, EMpower, Megastar Media, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Irish Aid and many more.  Because we work closely with local not-for-profit organizations, we have an understanding about needs that are not currently being met and are therefore able to pass this knowledge along to prospective donors.

The LIN Center for Community Development is a licensed, Vietnamese, not-for-profit organization by authorization of Decision Number 741/QD-LHH of the Vietnam Union of Science and Technology Association. LIN is an acronym for Listen, Inspire and Nurture.

Ms. Nghiem Hai Ly, CPA with an international accounting firm, takes time out of her weekend to train local NPO staff in financial accounting.

LIN CHALLENGE:

LIN is currently competing in GlobalGiving’s Global Open Challenge.  If we are able to raise at least $4,000 from 50 individual donors by April 26, we will be awarded an ongoing spot for our projects on GlobalGiving.org and have a chance to earn up to $6,000 in prize money for raising the most money during the challenge and attracting the greatest number of donors.

You can help us to raise money, earn a spot for our projects on GlobalGiving and earn GlobalGiving prize money just by spreading the word!  For example, you can:

1. Make a donation to LIN by going to our project on GlobalGiving here
2. Share LIN’s story and Global Giving fundraising to your friends, families and colleagues. It’s easy, just share with them this article’s link.
3. Post this information on your Facebook page or “Tweet” it using a short appeal and our abbreviated link (http://bit.ly/LINonGG).
4. Call your friends, send them a message by SMS, shout it from mountain tops (I think you are getting the idea by now…)

By just passing along this information, you are going to help the LIN Center because the only way we will get new supporters is if you help us to tell them about us. We sincerely thank you for your support!

Tet in Boston brought together the community for cultural entertainment and performances from local talents.  There were numerous booths and local vendors.   Those who were feeling lucky that day can place bets at tens of game tables.   For a California boy (such as myself), the welcomed custom of appreciating spring and Tet usually meant enjoying the festivities in the outdoors.  Southern Californians know what I mean – the Tet festival extravaganza next to Bolsa Grande High.

Where do Bostonians go for a taste of culture in zero-degree weather…? Harbor Middle School.  Yes, boys and girls, we had our Tet festival in the gym of a middle school. My day volunteering at the event was predictable like all the other years – except 2008 when I unexpectedly met Nhu Loan (jealous?).   2010 was different. I was very fortunate to run into Van from VietHope, a nonprofit organization hoping to “provide access to education to financially disadvantaged students in Vietnam”.

Unlike the other years where I would come home from the event tired but satisfied, I came home that night in deep contemplation. The stories and personal accounts of VietHope volunteers made me think about the hundreds of children who had crossed my path within the past 5 years.   VietHope volunteers have graciously shared their stories with our readers, please listen to their heartwarming accounts:

~Tim Bui ~

“Last summer, we joined four other families to Vietnam to do charity work and to introduce our children to our country.  We visited several cities and villages from way south to almost the 17th parallel, building houses for the poor, giving bicycles to students, wheelchairs and prosthetic legs to the handicapped, and distributing food to orphanages.  The food made quite an impression on our children. They saw how beautiful Vietnam is and also saw first-hand the meaning of poverity –   “homes” with mud floor that could not keep occupants dry in normal rain, people drinking and washing their clothes from the same ponds where water buffalo soak, children without shoes, laborers toil for one or two dollars a day, orphanages without running water, handicapped people using bamboo sticks as artificial legs.  There is still so much suffering… One event that made the most impact on me was a walk in downtown Saigon. One late night, as I was snapping pictures of Saigon night life with my camera, a young girl at the age of about 16 to 18 approached me and asked if I wanted to go on a date, in broken English, assuming that I am a foreigner, for my being too fat for a typical Vietnamese.  I turned her down, but then watched her as she walked away. Two hundred yards further, she accosted another man, probably offering the same thing.  A sad feeling overwhelmed me. If I were her father, I would be heart broken. Denying education is the most effective way to eliminate or reduce one’s future.  The contrary is also true.  Giving education is the best way to live one’s life out of darkness.“

What would that girl’s life have been like today if she were given a college education.  Tim’s account caused my heart to ache; I wanted to hear more, to know more.

I then heard…

~Van~

“Walking 20 kms and staying for 2 weeks near the market, these Sapa girls were selling bracelets and wallets to tourists for less than 1 penny which took them at least 1-2 days to make. Be Thu asked me “Chi ten la vi? Chi o dau?” (What is your name? Where do you live?) She proceeded to give me a bracelet as a sign of friendships. Before I knew it, I was surrounded by at least half a dozen girls age 6-12 offering to give me these knick knacks that they had spent days laboriously making. I only spent 1.5 days in Sapa, but was struck by the poverty of the locals, mortality rate, and lack of modernity. When I finished my breakfast to return to the tour bus on our way back down the mountains, one girl asked me if she could have my address to write to me. None of these girls knew how to read, they spoke their native dialect and not completely fluent in vietnamese. How would they have money for ink, paper and stamp to send me the letter? My heart ached and I didn’t want to go. I also felt a profound sadness for these girls who might be married off when I come back for another visit in a few years to a man perhaps twice their age, with no opportunities for pursuit of their own happiness which may include education.

My return from Vietnam that year hit a nerve within me that still lingers to this day. On those tough days when life and work is just frustratingly difficult, my vivid memories of those faces and sad eyes of Be Thu and other Sapa girls remind me of how fortunate and blessed I am. It also fortified my commitment to VietHope, to help children in all regions of Vietnam who are poor and most deserving of the hope and possibility of something better than the status quo of their existing life. It made me realize that education was their access to these doors of opportunities.”

Education can save lives.  It is during those late night cram sessions where my body is so fatigued that it barely functions on IV caffeine drips that I become revitalized to study more because of the images of the girl on the Saigon street or the Sapa girls.  I am alive and doing well because education has been fueling my mind and body.

Please support VietHope in their noble efforts to bring education opportunities for the children of Vietnam.

A reading club of youths met on a monthly basis to discuss vietnamese literature of famous novels and poems. The group started discussing what they can do in addition to discussing their love for vietnamese literature to make Vietnam, their beloved homeland, a more prosperous country. As they were students attending elite universities in Boston, they understood that their educational opportunities and the promise of the successful career and comfortable life it will afford them upon graduation was unattainable to their counterparts in Vietnam. Highly ambitious with hearts of gold, the members of the reading club formed VietHope with the mission: “VietHope shares the dream that Vietnam shall become a prosperous country where every child will grow up with the opportunity to reach his or her full potential.VietHope’s mission is to provide access to education to financially disadvantaged students in Vietnam.

VietHope is dedicated to Vietnam’s socioeconomic development, which we believe must be based on long-term perspectives and sustainable results. It is our conviction that good education is a requisite to attaining this goal.”

How to Help
– Cocktails night, House parties, BBQs, and any other events with donations going towards VietHope

– Cultural shows, sports tournaments, walk-a-thons, bike-a-thons with a mini-presentation about VietHope to guests

– Start your own chapter of VietHope to recruit volunteers, raise awareness, support VietHope.

– Contact local magazine and/or radio to promote VietHope to your community. Add VietHope as your friend on facebook, twitter and other social networking sites. Post events related to VietHope and invite your friends to attend those events.

– For questions or suggestions, contact VietHope at info@viethope.org

Program Graduates

On Monday, March 1^st, LIN met with Quyen and Kim Em, two of twenty-three recipients coming from the Mekong Delta who received scholarships to participate in a six-month culinary arts program in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The scholarship program is an initiative of the An-Giang-Dong Thap Alliance for the Prevention of Trafficking (ADAPT), which is a project of the Pacific Links Foundation, a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. The vocational program is made possible with support from Chefs Without Borders.

According to Ms. Suong, the program’s representative in Ho Chi Minh City, candidates for this program include young women – aged 16 to 25, who are at risk of being trafficked due to their socio-economic situation. To be eligible for this vocational training program, prospective candidates must demonstrate an interest in cooking, a willingness to live independently, and a perceived commitment to earning a sustainable income.

Quyen and Kim Em were part of the first cohort of women to join this program. Quyen, 24 years old, from An Giang Province, clearly has a passion for food. “I really like to cook,” Quyen said, “we were taught to make over seventy dishes… we learned how to decorate dishes and we learned about nutrition and food safety.” Kim Em, 20 years old from Dong Thap Province added, “I learned how to decorate and cook many different nutritious dishes… and I also made new friends.”

After graduation, with the help of the Saigon Tourist teaching staff and ADAPT representatives, Quyen and Kim Em both secured jobs at Quan Ngon De Nhat, a Saigon Tourist restaurant located in Tan Binh District in HCMC. They each signed a labor contract guaranteeing a starting monthly salary of VND 1.8 million (about USD $100) with health benefits. Additionally, if they do their work well and do not take any extra days off, they are eligible to receive a monthly bonus of VND 250,000. Under the contract, they are required to work eight-hours a day, six days a week.

Kim Em has already felt a positive impact from participating in this program. Having found work in HCMC once before, where her previous company demanded that the staff work twelve hours a day, six days a week, for less money.

Kim Em at Work

Aside from professional and emotional support, ADAPT staff also support their scholarship recipients in making the transition from studying to working. They do this by covering the cost of basic health care, providing an income supplement for the first six months of their employment and by training each of the women in personal savings. ADAPT even offers to match the women’s monthly savings, up to VND 500,000, for the first year after graduation so long as their savings is not accessed during that year.

“The reason we encourage individual development accounts [IDA] is so that the women can learn how to live on their own,” explained Kim Dam who works for Pacific Links. “In the past, we found that the women would send every Dong they earned back to their families, not leaving enough money to take care of themselves.” Through this savings scheme, both Quyen and Kim Em have managed to put VND 500,000 into their savings account every month, which is then doubled by ADAPT. They both still send VND 1 million home, every month, to their families, leaving just enough money to cover rent and about USD $10 in spending money. (Their labor contract includes two free meals a day at the restaurant).

Quyen at Work

Both Quyen and Kim Em’s families are supportive of their participation in the vocational training program and their current jobs in Ho Chi Minh City. Both women reported feeling more confident after returning to their hometowns because, they said, their neighbors showed greater respect for them than they had before joining the program. Quyen laughed when she thought about returning home to her family because, she said, “My mother is a vegetarian so I guess she will never know how good my food tastes.”

When asked whether either woman planned, or hoped, to return to their hometowns in the near future, Quyen was quick to express her desire to stay in HCMC. “I like the food here. The variety of dishes is so exciting… Besides,” she added, “it is good for me to stay in HCMC because I can continue to study and become a chef.” For different reasons, Kim Em also hopes to stay and work in Ho Chi Minh City, simply because there are more job opportunities for her compared with her home town (Also check out raw footages from LIN’s interview with Quyen and Kim Em below).

About the Pacific Links Foundation and ADAPT

ADAPT (An Giang/ Dong Thap Alliance for the Prevention of Trafficking) is a collaborative effort of three Vietnamese-American non-governmental organizations: the Pacific Links Foundation (PALS), the International Children Assistance Network and the East Meets West Foundation. PALS is the implementing partner for ADAPT, which seeks to prevent the trafficking of young girls and women by enhancing their educational attainment and improving their vocational choices through a supportive web of services. PALS operates a shelter for trafficking victims in the Mekong Delta and expects to open another shelter for trafficking victims in Lao Cai in 2010. For more information about PALS’ vocational training programs, please visit their website or contact ADAPT by email at: adapt@pacificlinks.org or by telephone in the US at: 510.435.3035, or in Vietnam at: 076.3853.888.

How to Support PALS/ADAPT

Volunteer: Pacific Links Foundation welcomes volunteers who would be willing to act as mentors to graduates of their culinary vocational training program. Only women volunteers are requested. The ideal candidate might spend two days each month with one or more of the women, talking with them over lunch or coffee, taking them to a movie or other form of entertainment, etc. In the future, ADAPT hopes to introduce lifeskills training to compliment this vocation training program, and this will offer more volunteer opportunities.

Trainees Kim Em and Quyen

Donate (In-Kind and/or Cash): Currently, the program staff is looking for funds and/or in-kind contributions to cover the cost of the following products and services:

1. USD $1,630 to sponsor one woman in the Culinary Arts Vocational Training Program (refer to note below);
2. USD $100 per scholarship recipient to purchase items and services required by Saigon Tourist throughout the six-month program; Dental services; Medical services; Bicycles for graduates; Food vouchers (for outlets near their homes and/or place of work); Uniform shoes; Rice cookers; Weekly fruit supplements; and/or A sponsored retreat, for all of the women in the program (now 40 people), to Binh Chau, Vung Tau or Da Lat. The retreat would provide an opportunity for PALS to bolster life skills among the women.

Note: Participants in PALS’ Culinary Arts Vocational Training Program receive the following support during their training program and for the first six months after job placement:

1. Tuition, fees and supplies (paid at the beginning of the 6-month training course);
2. Room rental for Saigon Tourist School’s dormitory (paid at the beginning of the training);
3. Food stipend (provided weekly);
4. Starting care package and transportation; including a mid-program trip home to visit family;
5. Emotional support throughout and after the training;
6. Provide health insurance to those who qualify to buy and cover dental hygiene services for those who need it;
7. Provide job placement support through savings matching, income bolstering through the first 6-12 months of employment;
8. Provide income supplement for the first 6 months of employment in the field, amounting to 15% salary earned (currently averaging $15/month);
9. Provide rent subsidy for 10% of rent for the first 6 months of employment in the field (currently averaging $10/month); and
10. Other fees to cover necessary initial logistics that will help to ensure a sense of safety for the young women.

Launched in August 2009, the LIN Center for Community Development is a new resource for local not-for-profit groups, individual and corporate philanthropists based in and around Ho Chi Minh City. LIN seeks to promote community alliances and facilitate the matching of community resources to improve access to opportunities for all members of Vietnamese society. At the heart of LIN’s establishment was the belief that local people and local groups are best placed to recognize and respond to the needs in our community.

While most attention to charitable work and poverty alleviation in Vietnam has focused on rural areas, the goal of LIN is to tackle urban poverty and increasing inequality. Our model depends upon local not-for-profit organizations (NPOs) and philanthropists being able to coordinate regularly to address local needs. For this reason, LIN is piloting our model in and around Ho Chi Minh City. In the future, we hope to replicate the model in other urban areas of Vietnam.

LIN’s next publication on VTP will include more details on the group’s stakeholders and core services.  In the mean time, check out their website or contact them at info@LINvn.org for more information.

While many of us are working to our last drop of sweat to deal with this stinky economy, these people have gone an extra mile to continue their hard work in building bridges for free. Their purpose? It’s simply that they don’t want  children to have to go long distances to get to school.  They want old poor people to walk in a safe pavement rather than a broken tree trunk.  They want to enhance the lives of thousands of people who do not have the same opportunities as those living in urban areas.  Their purpose is simple, but it makes my heart weep in happiness and admiration.

The group was founded by Mr. Cong Nguyen, a kind-hearted Viet Kieu from France. All he wanted to do was to help the poor in his home country improve their lives.  He was able to gather a lot of team members from different parts of the world.  The group comprises of many experienced professionals and engineers who help with the planning and building of their projects, making them efficient and cost effective.

At the beginning, the group was clueless about what to do to improve the lives of thousands and millions people living in poverty.  Money, food, clothes, and other donated goods will deplete soon or later.  The idea of infrastructure developement finally came to their minds, with the rationale that these constructions would last for a long time and significantly improve the lives of every resident.  Building bridges had been the major project of the group, but the group also built foster homes, public restrooms, and farm dams.

Group VK - The Heros In Many People's Hearts (Photo By: Vu Le)

According to Mr. Cong Nguyen, the next step would be lending 50% of the cost to locals without interest, with the other 50% donated by the group.  When the project completed, the group will collect 50% of the cost back to lend to other communities.  With this new strategy, it is believed that more projects will be completed and more lives will be improved in a shorter period of time.  This is a great example of an efficient philanthropic operation, which is something that OneVietnam Network is thriving to achieve on a greater scale.

We would love to be in touch with this wonderful group of people.  If you have any contact information regarding the VK group, please contact me or any of our team members.  Together, we all will make Vietnam a better place to live!

Operation Reunite brings over 40 Amerasians together in Saigon.

This April, over 40 Amerasians are returning to Saigon for the first time since they left at the end of the conflict in Vietnam 35 years ago. For many of them, the departure was dramatic—part of the hastily-assembled Operation Babylift that successfully evacuated over ,3000 Vietnamese orphans from war-torn Vietnam to the United States, Australia, Canada, and Europe.

Now, with the help of Operation Reunite, these adoptees are returning to the land of their birth for the first time to learn more about the country they came from. The culmination of over a year of planning, Operation Reunite’s April Reunion Tour will guide the adoptees to a better understanding of Vietnam. The tour includes staple tourist-activities such as a Mekong Delta tour and drinks at the Rex Hotel to more personal moments like the a visit to the crash site of the first C5 plane to leave Vietnam during Operation Babylift. Some of the adoptees are survivors of that very crash.

The ultimate goal, though, is to help the adoptees reach a deeper understanding of the people and culture that they came from. Language classes, visits to orphanages, and a soccer scrimmage with Vietnamese students are planned for that very reason. The most important factor, however, is in the drive of the adoptees themselves to reach out to this forgotten part of their past.

When you talk to Trista Goldberg, Operation Reunite’s founder and herself an Amerasian adoptee, you can easily feel her passion and drive for what she is doing. “I am very excited to see how many Vietnamese adoptees are coming together for this momentous reunion in Vietnam,” she says. Trista herself struggled to find her own reunion years ago. Born Nguyen Thi Thu in 1970, Trista left the country in 1974 and was raised an American girl. When she received her adoption file from her adoptive mother at the age of 25, however, she began her long emotional journey to learn about her past. She took Vietnamese courses and found her biological relatives, eventually having a reunion with them in Hawaii in 2001. Now 39, Trista is helping others start down that path with Operation Reunite.

When asked what she hopes to accomplish, Trista simply says that she “hope[s] everyone is able to walk away from the experience with a sense of love and respect for their homeland.” Thirty-five years after Operation Babylift, Trista and Operation Reunite bring some of those same Amerasian adoptees full circle. I invite those of us who will be in Saigon this April to come out and help welcome them back.

Operation Reunite: http://operationreunite.org/

Contact: phong.quan@onevietnam.org