Our project is complete, dear friends!

We squeezed every bit of every penny you generously donated into backpacks for our Camp Connect students, kitchen equipment and children's gifts for the Kindergartens. 

And we couldn't be more grateful for the children's clothing - every single item in our big suitcases were in the hands of a suitably sized recipient when we left! 

Before we say good bye, we'll bend your ear with some photos and observations, below.

We are very grateful to each one of you.

Thank you.

Til next time, 

Sam Khoshnevis

Susan Chambers

Lien Le 

DANANG: Camp Connect

SUSAN: "The young people of Vietnam have self-awareness and a desire to help others as part of their career aspirations. 

They are coached to know fluent English, and that sharing their goals with others is critical.”

SAM:  "The Camp Connect workshops online and in-person (and the daunting talent shows all participate in!) gave students skills and knowledge for their future and their general life."

SAM:  "The camp is very social, a perfect environment for student bonding.  I know they will remember each other and the camp forever."  

SUSAN:  "My world-weariness, lack of appreciation and self-judgment gradually dissolved as I participated as a volunteer teacher at the 2022 Pacific Links Summer Camp"

SAM: "Listening to their speeches and debates I could see that they have the intelligence and energy to become amazing leaders. They have the attitude to learn and the determination to succeed. They have courage and fearlessness. BUT they need more formal education – the opportunity to learn and grow.  

They have so much potential.”

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QUANG TRI PROVINCE:  

Then we went to Huong Ha district in Quang Tri Province. Areas of this province were the site of extreme warfare during the American/Vietnamese war.  

We were delighted to see friends from our previous visit to Quang Tri. Seated next to Susan in this photo is Madame Hong Van, Minister of Education in Quang Tri, who hosted us with such heart back in 2018.  And on her right is Tung Hoang, our friend and contact in Quang Tri (we mentioned him in an earlier letter to you). 

We visited two schools:  Huong Linh satellite kindergarten (Miet-Pa Cong hamlet, Huong Linh commune) and Vang Kindergarten, (Ba Tang Commune).  

Huong-Linh satellite kindergarten was opening, and Vang kindergarten has now been running for two years.  VES has built 3 kindergartens here, where there is overwhelming need, and plans are underway for more. 

Much of Huong Ha's infrastructure is underdeveloped. Roads are often in rough condition, and the water system is limited.

SAM: We were in a very remote area of limited access along the Laotian border where the sole crops are banana and cassava. Work is hard to come by. There are no stores. Kids are starving.  At a family of three’s house in the village, they told me they were surviving on 60 cents USD per day. 20 cents a person." 

LIEN: "In Miet-Pa Cong hamlet we witnessed the some of the poorest of Vietnam's poor. The difference between worlds felt bizarre, like some kind of time travel. There is our familiar world with the advancements of or time..AI, electric cars, etc.  And at the same time this one, where 3 of our dollars represents what most of us spend on our summer vacation?”  

SUSAN: "I realized the final few pairs of shoes were meant for the children with bare feet. The little ones who walk on hard pack red clay every day. There is nothing more meaningful than bringing and handing a small child a pair of shoes they can wear to school every day."

SAM: "We joined in celebrating - a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the brand new school with gifts and a festive tea."

"We noticed a number of children who were fragile and thin. Some appeared too young, we thought, for school. The teacher confirmed that they are the correct age. "

LIEN: "With your help, the kitchen is now equipped and operational. The VES lunch program will now provide the nutritional backbone for these children, year round: lunch, a second meal before going home, and with enough support, three meals. I hope.

To go there is to see how great the need, how much more there is to do."  

SAM: "Then we travelled to Vang Kindergarten. where two new classrooms were being opened.It had run safely through-out COVID with only one stoppage, as visitors are few." 

"Again we celebrated, offered gifts and enjoyed a visit with the children."

SAM: "The VES lunch program had been up and running for a year and a half at Vang Kindergarten. Here was tangible proof of the contribution of the VES lunch programs. In vivid comparison to the first school, these kids were visibly healthier." 

Lien Le | (604) 603-0499 | EMAIL US |