viethope newsletter sept 2010

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VietHope|423BrooklineAvenue# 199Boston,MA02215|info@ VietHope.org|www.VietHope.org 1

Issue XVIII September, 2010

Word from the Board

By Nam Nguyen

It was a year ago that I resigned as President ofVietHope. After 5 years as President, I felt it wastime for a changetime to bring in a new leaderwith fresh ideas and unbounded energy. It was timeto give someone else an opportunity to lead thisunique organization and family. It was also time forme to take a break and focus on my personal familyand our newborn son, Ethan. I am happy to reportthat Ethan just turned one and as it turns out, Ethanis one of the most productive fundraisers forVietHope (donations from baby shower and

birthday were made to VietHope in Ethans name).

As I thought about succession and transitioning thisimportant role within VietHope, the one candidatewho I felt would best lead VietHope during this

period of change was Lynn. From the founding ofVietHope to the present day, no one has dedicatedmore time and energy and contributed more toVietHope than Lynn. Lynn understands all theintricacies within VietHope and has deeprelationships with all staff and volunteers, studentsand donors. One example of Lynns invaluablecontribution is her knack for creating the VietHopefamily wherever she goes. When she was inVietnam for her Fulbright in 2003, she managed torecruit and build the core VietHope team in

Vietnam. When she was in Boston, the VietHopeBoston team was the most active in recruitment andsponsoring of events. Since moving to Baltimore in2006, Lynn has built a highly active VietHope teamand has secured a number of key sponsors anddonors. Sometimes I think Lynn thinks and dreamsof VietHope 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.VietHope is very lucky to have Lynn as President.

I am very proud of what the VietHope team hasachieved over the past year. The team has done a

phenomenal job in improving VietHopesoperational platform and focusing on the programsto increase impact and reach. This past summer,VietHope successfully implemented the second

Summit under the Youth Development Programwhere students came together for 7 days to learnskills, develop friendships and give back to thecommunity. VietHopes scholarship programscontinue to reach under-privileged students and givethem hope for a better future. Some of VietHopesstudents have graduated and found jobs, some haveearned scholarships to study abroadwhatever thesituation, each and every student is grateful to thedonors who have given them the opportunity of aneducation and hope for the future.

Happy Summiteers in Can Gio, Viet Nam

Ready for Summit 2010: VietHope Team Vietnam.

In this Issue:

Word from the Board 1

Laugh to Promote Education 2

A Night of Friendship and Music 2

VietHope Summit 2010 3-4

From a Merit Scholarship Recipient 5

VietHopes 4th Benefit Dinner 5

New Moon Foundation and VH Partnership 5

VietHopeisanon-

profitorganization

dedicatedtoVietnams

socioeconomic

development.Weat

VietHopebelievethat

thewealthofVietnam

liesinitshumancapital

anditsprosperity

dependsonwhether

weharnessthishuman

capital.Assuch,we

believethatgood

educationisindispensableto

Vietnamsgrowthand

itsfuture.

VietHopeisa501(c)3

non-profit.Wearea

volunteer-based

organizationwith20

activeteammembers.

VietHopemembersare

basedinBoston,San

Francisco,NewYork,

WashingtonDCand

SoutheastAsia.

Contributing

Writers:

NamNguyen

KathyNguyen

HanhMichelleLe

PhuongThanh

TamGiang

Editors:

NganDamLynnHuynh

QuangTran

www.VietHope.orginfo@ VietHope.org
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VIETHOPE NEWSLETTER


Laugh to Promote EducationBy Kathy Nguyen (Boston)

On May 1st, VietHope held its very first ComedyShow starring one of Asias hottest stand-upcomedians, Joe Wong, known for his appearanceson the Late Show with David Letterman and theEllen DeGeneres Show. The event drew a bigcrowd, including guests from Dartmouth and avisitor all the way from Kansas City! We weretouched by everyones support and in particular, bythe generosity of our Diamond Sponsor, South CoveCommunity Health Center, and our Gold Sponsor,Vinna Auto Body in Dorchester, MA. Withoutthese sponsors and the food donations from Bo DeBuddhist Meditation Center, Hien VuongRestaurant, King Do Baguette and Bakery, andVietHope volunteers, we could not have made theComedy Show happen.

VietHope volunteer, Van Nguyen, and Joe Wong

Of course, corporate sponsors only tell half thestory. We want to recognize our wonderful,committed volunteers. Thanks to Thanh Thu, Phu,Linh, Son, Phuong, Davis, Tinh, Nhu and the rest ofthe Wellesley VSA, for donating their valuable timeto the event, supervising the food stations, andselling tickets and raffle tickets. Without thetremendous energy and dedication of our volunteersand guests (some of whom stayed late to help cleanup), the event would not have been such a hit. Manythanks to the Wellesley VSA for helping us securethe venue at Pendleton Atrium at WellesleyCollege, where the Comedy Show took place.

A huge shout out to our comedian, Joe Wong, whomade the night an overwhelming success! Peoplewere bursting with laughter from every corner ofthe room; some almost fell off their seats whileothers laughed so hard they cried. Joe was not onlyfunny, but also very friendly and warm, which madehim the perfect comedian for our show.

The Comedy Show helped VietHope raise a total of$3,406, with many tickets sold at the door. Witheveryone's support and help, we hope that this will

become an annual fundraising event, where we canall share a night of laughter while helping thechildren of Vietnam reach a brighter future.

A Night of Friendship and MusicBy Michelle Hanh Le (Fairfax)

On June 19, 2010, we had a benefit dinner held atthe private home of Hung and Michelle Hanh Lein Fairfax, Virginia. Hung is one of our Boardmembers. It was a cozy, intimate, and elegant

evening of music and friendship. As VietHope isstill relatively new to the Virginia area, this event

provided an avenue for VietHope to be introducedto those interested in knowing more about theorganization and its work. We raised over $5,000and recruited four new wonderful team members.Everyone at the event was very impressed withVietHope's accomplishments. VietHopes president,Lynn Huynh, recounted heart-felt stories andhighlighted some of VietHopes impressive results.Many of the attending guests said that one of themost intriguing facts about VietHope is that theorganization was founded by college students and isrun by students and young professionals.

VietHope was fortunate to have the talentedviolinist Hien Pham and pianist Dang Gien as ourmusicians for the night. The French food was

beautiful and delicious. We enjoyed everything onthe well prepared menu - from the Brie en Crotewith "VH" embossed on it to the wine loaded

Boeuf Bourguignone. We ended the event with newfriends, renewed support, delightful music, goodfood, and dear VietHope in our hearts. What a nightto remember!

VietHope volunteers: Viet, Hanh & Lynn

ScholarshipPrograms:

MeritScholarshipProgram:Provideaccesstoeducationforpoorstudentsinruralareasfromgrades6-12($120student/year).Meritisarenewalscholarshipprogramwhere-byscholarshipsarerenewedonyearlybasisuntilstudentsfinishgrade12,orfailtomeetVietHope

criteria.

UniversityScholarshipProgram(USP):Provideaccesstoeducationfordisadvantagedstudentsattheuniversitylevel($160/year).USPaimstodevelopanetworkofuniversitystudentsandpotentialcommunityleaders.Summeractivitiesare

organizedforUSPscholarstoengageincommunityserviceactivities.

CommunityScholarshipProgram:Providemonetarysupportforuniformsandschoolsuppliesfortheleastwell-offstudentsinVietnamfrompre-kthrough5thgrade.

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VIETHOPE NEWSLETTER


Reflections on VietHope 2010 Summit

By Phuong Thanh (Viet Nam)

VietHopes second Summit recently took place in

Can Gio, Viet Nam, from August 1st to August 7th.

Twenty-three recipients of the 2010 USP

scholarship joined a team of VietHope volunteers

and ten summit participants from last year, for a

week filled with learning, friendship, personal

development and community building.

As one of the summit planners, my role was to

oversee a number of activities during the summit.

Prior to it, I worked with the F1 students (returning

summiteers) on planning. The ten F1 students who

were invited to this summit were in charge of

communicating and coordinating with the F2

students (fist-time summit participants). Thank to

the F1 students bridging efforts, the F2 students

quickly bonded and were organized and punctual,

leaving positive impressions on guests as well as

facilitators at the summit.

F1 Students Returning Summiteers

F2 Students First-time Summiteers

I still remember the meals we shared, each table

brimming with chatters, conversations, and

exchanges of moi ca nha an com (Vietnamese for

bons appetits). On one occasion, VietHope

volunteers, Phong, Phuong, Hue, and Ky, surprised

everyone with a special delicious treat of ice-cream

for dessert!

Smiling & team building

The students absorbed the modules with impressive

speed and participated in the activities with

remarkable enthusiasm. On the day we learned

about group work skills, the students spent the

entire day working in groups. Group bonds becamenoticeably stronger. That day helped the students

recognize the strengths in one another, and

encouraged them to open up and share.

We spent two days on Thieng Lieng, a small island

which belongs to Thanh An, a poor commune

where books are considered rare treats. During the

stay, the students carried out several projects in the

local community, including improvement of the

local elementary schools yard, distribution of

books and reorganization of the schools library.

On the second day, the students organized a

childrens fair. There were, among many gamesand activities, a drawing contest and a reading

time, during which the children simply got to

spend time reading as many books as they desired.

As the summit progressed, the students became

more mature, self-aware, and had very good work

spirit. A number of students demonstrated

leadership qualities, while others showed great

Ways to SupportVietHope: VietHope

welcomesanyonewhobelievesinourmission.ThereareanumberofwaysinwhichyoucansupportVietHope:

SponsorastudentthroughoneofVietHopes3ScholarshipPrograms

DonatetoVietHopes

infrastructureinvestmentprogram

SpreadawarenessaboutVietHopeandVietHopesmission

Donatetimeandenergyby

becomingaVietHopevolunteer



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VIETHOPE NEWSLETTER


efforts to overcome themselves. What brought me

joy was not the success of any individual student,

but rather the drive to self improvement that was

evident in all students.

The two summits have affirmed my belief that

Vietnams youth generation will continue to grow

and contribute more and more to themselves, their

community and country. A big thank to VietHope

for creating a rewarding program for all summit

participants, students and volunteers alike. Many

thanks to the F1 and F2 students; they are the ones

who will decide the success and goals of this

program. And their presence at the summit will be

the measuring stick for the VietHope activities to

come.

VietHope volunteer and a Summit planner, Phuong Thanh

Excerpts from F2 Students Reflections

After the summit I see that I need to change: I

want to smile more and become more open so that I

can understand others and also, understand myself.

(Vinh Huu, University of Medicine)

All those times when we sat and talked made merealize how different all of our situations were;some happy, some sad. But now that we are all F2children of the big VietHope family, we haveVIETHOPE STRENGTHso everyone, lets try toovercome the obstacles in life and reach for a lifefull of meaning and success!(Truc Linh University of Economics)

If we have what it takes let us help VietHopeachieve its vision of a prosperous Vietnam. I

believe this is the most meaningful way of thankingVietHope and this is what the organization wishesfor.(Tra Mi University of Social Sciences andHumanities)

VietHope events andactivities:

VietHopeTennisforEducationTournamentwilltakeplaceat

JeffersonDistrictParkinFallsChurch,VA,onSeptember18th,

2010,from8:00-5:00.Toknowmoreabouttheeventpleasevisitourwebsiteorcontactthe

organizer,MichelleHanhLeathle1997@ gmail.com

OngoingChangeforEducationCampaign.PleasecontactTinhBuiattinh@viethope.orgifyouwouldliketoknowmoreaboutthecampaign.

Visitviethope.orgforupdatesonupcoming

eventsandactivities.
http://www.viethope.org/http://www.viethope.org/http://www.viethope.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.viethope.org/http://www.viethope.org/http://www.viethope.org/http://www.viethope.org/mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


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VIETHOPE NEWSLETTER


DONATIONS FROM CORPORATIONVietHope would like to acknowledge thegenerous donations from its corporatesupporters.

Please join VietHope in welcoming new volunteers:David Truong, Francoise Hoang, Diep Doan,Jacques Vo, John Truong, Nhan Huynh, Thuy An

Nguyen, Nhu Thuy Tran, Phuong Thanh Nguyen,Van May Tran, and Hoa Ly Bui. We are veryfortunate to have their expertise, commitment andenthusiasm invest in VietHope.

To cut down on printing and postal expenses, please

send an email to [email protected] to receive anelectronic copy of the VietHope Newsletter. Thank

you.

for a prosperous Vietnam tomorrow

D o n a t i o n F o r m(Online donations accepted via

www.viethope.org)

The objective of VietHopes Scholarship &University programs is to provide financialassistance to children in poor rural areas inVietnam who cannot afford the costs ofcontinuing their education. The students areselected on the basis of financial need,

performance in school, and their motivation toexcel. Your contribution will directly support theeducation costs for these children.

Name:_______________________________

Address:_________________________________________________________________

Email:_______________________________

Please check one or several of the boxes:

I wish to sponsor a child throughVietHopes Merit Scholarship Program.With my support of $120/year, I willhelp children in Vietnam attain a higherlevel of education

I wish to make a contribution of $_____towards the University ScholarshipProgram

I wish to support and become moreinvolved in VietHopes work bybecoming a member for $25

I wish to make a general donation toVietHope in the amount of $______*Please make checks payable to:

VietHope, Inc.

423 Brookline Avenue, #199

Boston, MA 02215

______________________________

VietHope

Executive

Committee

Lynn Huynh,

President

Quang Tran,

Co-Vice President

Alan Tu,

Co-Vice President

Phong Nguyen,

Executive Director (VN)

www.VietHope.orginfo@ VietHo e.or

viethope newsletter sept 2010

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