December 2007/January 2008
Luan receiving his exercise books
Nursery school
The director and one of the teachers at the nursery school in Vinh Hoa asked us to help them buy supplies for the 43 children in their care. Nursery schools are an important part of rural Vietnamese society, allowing both parents to work when there is no family member to care for young children. We bought colored markers and modeling clay for each child. Our cost: $32.00.
School supplies
We purchased and distributed sets of 10 exercise books to 2,117 students in 22 schools – 14 elementary schools, 7 middle schools and 1 high school. As usual, these students were recommended to us by their teachers and principals, and each was personally handed a gift wrapped package of exercise books.
Happy with new clothes
School clothes
We are often asked to buy school clothes – white top, blue pants or skirt – for these children. Some have one set of school clothes, many of them wear whatever they have. Because we were very well funded on this trip, we were able to buy school clothes for 943 children in 15 schools. The kids appreciated getting the exercise books, but the clothes got a lot more smiles.
March/April 2007
Janie distributes notebooks to elementary school students.
As we were in Vietnam late in the 2006-2007 school year, we did not purchase any textbooks this time. We purchased and distributed sets of 10 exercise books to each of 582 students, all identified by the teachers and principals of their schools as not having enough basic school supplies.
186 students in Phuoc My Trung Elementary School
160 students in Phuoc My Trung Middle School
186 students in Ba Vat High School
100 students in Hung Khanh Trung B Elementary School
July/August 2006
Dreams of the future
We purchased and distributed 335 sets of textbooks and 7,940 exercise books to 1,010 students in fifteen schools in nine towns. Of the 335 sets of textbooks, 155 were for grade 5 students as their curriculum changed this year. As usual, each set of exercise or text books was gift wrapped (free by our book supplier) and presented to each student individually. At several of the elementary schools, students made speeches thanking us for helping them with their education.
Got my books, waiting for my teeth!
We also provided scholarships of about $12.50 each to twenty exceptional students in Nha Trang.
January/February 2006
We helped students in sixteen schools on this trip, including one new elementary school and one new middle school. We are now helping poor students in eighteen schools in nine towns.. Because it was mid school year, we purchased enough exercise books and pens to get the kids through to the end of the school year. Next summer we plan to purchase textbooks for the new school year for as many schools as our budget allows. In all cases except for the two high schools we purchased and individually distributed 10 exercise books and five pens to each student. For the high schools we purchased 20 exercise books. The exercise books cost about twelve cents each and the pens about six cents each.
Celebrating our gift of exercise books
Phuoc My Trung Elementary School -
122 children.
Phuoc My Trung Middle School - 82 children.
Phuoc My Trung High School Ban Cong - 100 children.
Phuoc My Trung High School Ba Vat - 71 children.
Hung Khanh Trung Elementary School A - 23 children.
Hung Khanh Trung Elementary School B - 78 children.
Hung Khanh Trung Elementary School C - 57 children. This is one of our new schools.
Thanh An Elementary School - 80 children.
This is exciting!
Thanh An Middle School - 57 children.
Vinh Hoa Elementary School - 78 children.
Tan Phu Tay Elementary School - 101 children.
Tan Phu Tay Middle School - 59 children.
Tan Binh Elementary School - 116 children.
Tan Binh Middle School - 39 children.
Khanh Thanh Tan Elementary School - 80 children.
Long Thoi Elementary School - 57 children. This is our other new school.
July/August 2005
We provided assistance to students in ten schools on this trip, including two new elementary schools, one new middle school and one new high school. We have now helped students in sixteen schools in eight towns in Ben Tre Province in the Mekong Delta. As usual, students were recommended solely on need by the principal of each school, and the textbooks and exercise books were handed to each student individually. The families of these students can’t afford to buy textbooks or enough exercise books for the students to write in, and our help makes it possible for some of these students to remain in school, for some of them to return to school after dropping out, and it improves the learning environment for all of them. Along with the list of students, each principal gives us a request for their most urgent needs, and we try to match these requests with our budget.
Fourth graders at Phuoc My Trung Elementary School with their new textbooks
Additionally, we provided gifts of $200,000 Vietnam Dong ($12.61 US) to each of 20 students in Nha Trang for the purchase of school supplies. These are poor students who are performing well in school, and the gifts are presented to them by the school principals as an award for their achievements and an encouragement to continue to do well.
Phuoc My Trung Elementary School
134 children. Five exercise books for each student. The grade 4 curriculum changed this year so we also purchased new textbooks for 22 grade four students. One set of grade 4 textbooks for the year costs $6.37.
Phuoc My Trung Middle School.
59 children. The grade 9 curriculum changed this year so we purchased new textbooks for 59 grade 9 students. One set of grade 9 textbooks for the year costs $9.14.
A fourth grader shows his new textbooks to his mother
Phuoc My Trung High School Ban Cong
21 children. Ten exercise books for each student.
Phuoc My Trung High School Ba Vat
66 children. Ten exercise books for each student.and textbooks for students in grades 11 and 12. Grade 11 textbooks are $3.40 per set and grade 12 are $3.78. The high school students use fewer textbooks than the elementary and middle school students.
Hung Khanh Trung Elementary School A
31 children. Fifteen exercise books for each student.
Hung Khanh Trung Elementary School B
22 children. Textbooks for 22 grade 4 students.
Hung Khanh Trung Middle School
47 children. Textbooks for 47 grade 9 students.
Thanh An Elementary School
Thanh An Elementary School
77 children. Ten exercise books for each student.
Thanh An Middle School
89 children. Fifteen exercise books for each student.
Vinh Hoa Elementary School
94 children. Fifteen exercise books for each student.
Dien Lac Elementary School, Nha Trang
10 children. $12.61 per student.
Nguyen Du Middle School, Nha Trang
10 children. $12.61 per student.
January/February 2005
We added two new schools on this trip and are now helping poor students in eleven schools (six elementary, four middle, one high school) in six towns in Ben Tre Province in the Mekong Delta. Students are recommended to us, based solely on need, by the principal of each school. We then buy exercise books, pens and textbooks and give them to each student individually at a ceremony at the school. Without our help some of these students would drop out of school simply because they can’t afford to buy pen and paper. Our plan is to purchase pen and paper first. On following trips, and as our budget allows, we will purchase textbooks, many of which can be reused, and keep the kids on maintenance with pen and paper.
Tan Phu Tay Elementary School
58 children. Purchased ten exercise books and five pens for each child. This is one of our new schools.
Tan Phu Tay Middle School.
52 children. Purchased ten exercise books and five pens for each child. This is our other new school.
Tan Binh Elementary School
110 children. Purchased five exercise books and a complete set of textbooks for each child. Depending on grade, the textbooks cost $3.80 to $4.95 per set.
Tan Binh Middle School
98 children. Purchased five exercise books and a complete set of textbooks for each child. Depending on grade, the textbooks cost $6.28 to $9.19 per set.
Khanh Thanh Tan 2 Elementary School
86 children. Purchased ten exercise books and five pens for each child. We purchased textbooks for this school last year.
Nhuan Phu Tan 1 Elementary School
106 children. Purchased five exercise books and a complete set of textbooks for each child. The textbooks are standardized throughout the country so the cost was the same as for Tan Binh Elementary School.
June/July 2004
We added two new schools this trip and helped students in eight schools in four towns, As before, all books and school supplies were purchased by us and given directly to each student.
Phuoc My Trung Elementary School
Purchased exercise books for 186 students and textbooks for 26 students in grade 3. We purchased textbooks for the other grades last year but waited until this year for grade 3 as the curriculum was changing. Textbooks will be recycled as long as possible.
Hung Khanh Trung Elementary School
Purchased exercise books for 79 students and textbooks for 16 students in grade 3.
Khanh Thanh Tan 2 Elementary School
Purchased textbooks for 11 students in grade 3
Tan Binh Elementary School
Purchased exercise books for 110 students.
Phuoc My Trung Middle School
Purchased exercise books for 180 students, textbooks for 10 students in grade 7, 57 students in grade 8 and 38 students in grade 9.
Hung Khanh Trung Middle School
Purchased exercise books for 166 students, textbooks for 18 students in grade 6, 61 students in grade 7, 42 students in grade 8 and 8 students in grade 9.
Tan Binh Middle School
Purchased exercise books for 99 students.
Phuoc My Trung High School
Purchased exercise books for 27 students
