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Reintegration
Bao Ngoc Giang

Renewed Motivation

I’m currently a 3rd-year university student studying pharmacy. Time has passed so quickly! Last school year, the Covid-19 pandemic caused a lot of disruption to my studies. During the outbreaks, my university friends and I volunteered to support the quarantine centers. We helped take people’s temperature and updated their case files. Sometimes, I was on the night shift because of the large number of people in quarantine. This volunteer experience helped me understand how meaningful and sacred my white coat is.

Currently, I am a part of my school’s volunteer club to help take temperature checks for patients at two hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City. Now, I am even more motivated to become a doctor!

Thank you very much to Pacific Links Foundation for being my rock and giving me more motivation to work hard every day. I know Pacific Links will always be by my side and support me on my journey.

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Sao is a courageous and bright young woman. A friend tricked and sold her as a bride into China when she was 15. In China, Sao gave birth to a baby girl and was sold onwards to work in a factory. When she escaped back to Vietnam, she made the agonizing choice to leave her newborn behind and rescued a neighbor who was in a similar situation.

Sao lived at our Compassion House for three years. She was the top science and math student in her high school. We are continuing to support her education. We couldn’t be more proud of how far she has come!

Trafficking Survivor

Reintegration
Bao Ngoc Giang

A Reunion To Remember

Each trafficking survivor that we meet leaves a mark. More than 20 years of separation, we reunited P. with her family. Her reunion renews the meaning of our work.

P., born in 1970, is a Hmong woman from Lai Chau Province. Her parents passed away. She was tricked and sold to marry a stranger in China over 20 years ago. Last December, she was rescued by the Chinese police and returned to Vietnam.

P. faced many difficulties reintegrating as she did not know how to speak Vietnamese and cried every day thinking about home. P. wanted to go home, but she could not remember where her family lived. Everyone at Pacific Links Foundation’s Compassion House tried to comfort her and helped her feel like she was at home, but she still felt homesick, especially when alone. The year she was trafficked to China, her sister had just turned 15. After many days of searching, we finally found her family.

The day P. reunited with her sister, she learned that her sister had a nearly 20 years old son. He only knew of P. through his mother’s stories. Feeling touched and overwhelmed, her sister said, “I never thought I would see my sister again! She had been gone for so long. I appreciate all that you have done! How lucky I am to see her again and bring my sister home with me!”

P. shared: “I am delighted I found my family. No more crying!”

     Pacific Links Foundation Team

GEMS
Pals User

The Power of Education

My family is not wealthy by any means; my parents have to toil and work every day to raise me and my older brother. When I see their daily struggles, my belief in my educational journey grows stronger. Only through education can I get through life’s challenges and difficulties. Only through learning will I be able to escape disparaging prejudices against women and girls. Women are often not considered important in Vietnam, especially in some rural areas. Getting a proper education will help raise women’s status in society, so girls like me won’t be looked down on as before. Not only that, education helps me access more opportunities and more paths for the future. Education will lead me to success, so I can help my family.

Pacific Links Foundation’s GEMS Scholarship Recipient

SEEDS
Pals User

Making Dreams a Reality

I used to think about dropping out of school to help my parents farm because of our economic hardship.

Being interviewed for the SEEDS scholarship changed my life. I was once an average student since I didn’t have time to focus on my studies. Since I was young, I worked in the fields, helped raised the pigs, took care of housework, and watched after my younger siblings.

Fortunately, I received scholarships from Pacific Links Foundation since 9th grade. With the support and encouragement from SEEDS, I passed the entrance exam to enter high school. For three years in a row, I was the top student in my class. I received many awards in science and technology from my school and province.

I am very happy to receive news that I was accepted into medical school. My dream is to work in the medical industry, I want to take care of and help others.

Nhu is one of more than 1,500 high school students in our SEEDS scholarship program. She is currently attending medical school, working hard to become a dentist. She is from a farming family. Her parents have worked very hard to raise four kids.

Nhu, Pacific Links Foundation’s SEEDS Scholarship Recipient

Vocational Training
Pals User

Baking Dreams

One of our vocational scholarship recipients from Tien Giang recently opened up his own bakery in Saigon after gaining work experience and saving up money from the last 2 years.

“I am very lucky to have so many people care for me since I moved to Saigon. Pacific Links Foundation gave me the opportunity to attend vocational training. It’s almost been 3 years since…I work continuously these days. 6 am… [my baked goods] are sold out!”

We tried his baked goods, and can say that they are quite tasty!

We are so inspired by his passion, determination and creativity to be a great pastry chef! Before opening up his own bakery, he worked in a smoothie shop and bakeries to learn from experienced chefs. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he started conducting online courses to teach others how to bake.

Ngoc received our vocational training scholarship in 2017. Thanks to your support he graduated with honors in European pastries.

Pacific Links Foundation

SEEDS
Pals User

Overcoming Odds

Diep has overcome great odds to continue to go to school throughout her life. She is the first in her family to go to college and now the first to graduate.

Diep is from a small coastal town in the poorest areas of Central Vietnam. Her father suffers from a debilitating disease and is unable to work. Their family relies on social allowance (USD 75 per month) and her mother’s income from running a small coffee shop out of their home. In the time of COVID-19, her mother’s income has been wiped out, and Diep has been unable to help support her family.

Despite the tremendous hardship Diep continues to face, she remains resilient and continues to impress everybody. Her determination and fearless attitude inspire us. Diep is now graduating from one of the top universities in Vietnam with a major in Business Administration. While in university, she has consistently achieved the highest recognition in her field, including winning the “Innovation Award” for her healthcare proposal at her school’s Innovation Camp. To supplement her living expenses as a student, Diep worked part-time as a content marketing intern for a leading multi-national coffee brand, a teaching assistant at her university, and a part-time tour guide. On that of all of Diep was an active leader at her school and participated in Pacific Links Foundation’s extracurricular activities. Diep remains a devoted daughter and a source of pride for her ailing and aging parents.

One day, Diep dreams of becoming a marketing executive for an e-commerce company. Another day, she hopes to open a tourism agency and restaurants in her hometown to boost the local economy.

In the meantime, Diep is aiming to attend a graduate studies program overseas. She works hard to improve her English through Pacific Links Foundation’s online learning platform to earn a high score on the IELTS English Language Test.

Since 2017, Diep has received a University Scholarship from Pacific Links Foundation and has been a part of their empowerment and life skill-building programs. With all that she has overcome and more, we are certain that she will achieve what she sets her mind to.

Pacific Links Foundation

GEMS, News
Pals User

Reaching High

It was an honor to meet with Michelle Obama and be a part of her visit to promote education for girls in Vietnam! We’re excited to be a part Obama Foundation’s Girls Opportunity Alliance to help girls reach their full potential, by keeping them in school. We are grateful to have been one of the few selected for these wonderful opportunities.

Pacific Links Foundation

Reintegration
Pals User

Paying it Forward

Dao is a first-year student majoring in Pharmacy at the HCMC University of Pharmacy and Medicine. Growing up seeing her mom and the people in her village, often taking medicine without caring or thinking about medicine’s side effects, encouraged Dao to study Pharmacy. She hopes that she could work with other researchers to develop a new drug with no side effects. Dao wants to work part-time at a pharmacy to learn and gain more experience. Dao’s favorite subject is Chemistry. She finds the application of chemistry in everyday life and industry fascinating and practical.

Dao’s father is a veteran, but her parents got divorced when she was little. Dao lives with her mother in a small house that does not belong to them. Her mother works as a wage earner with an income of $100 per month to support Dao and pay for living expenses.

Dao remembers when she was six, her mom worked all the time, and the family did not have any food to eat, so an elderly neighbor always gave Dao food to eat. Her act of kindness left a lasting lesson on how to give without expecting anything in return. The neighbor became Dao’s first teacher and inspired her to help others and pass on the message of “pay it forward.”

Pacific Links Foundation

GEMS
Pals User

Building Confidence

Over the past two weeks, I have been studying at Camp and saw a lot of improvement. I am especially motivated to write letters in English, which I did not do too often in the past because I was afraid of making mistakes. I also used to be scared of speaking English to my friends. However, after being in a welcoming and non-judgmental environment where the teachers only spoke English, I now feel more comfortable listening to and speaking English. I am not as shy as before. I promise to continue learning English and spend 30 minutes each day on the LMS learning management system (LMS). I will try to learn more vocabulary, grammar, and practice speaking every day to improve my English.

English Camp Participant

Vocational Training
Pals User

Coffee Dreams

Dat’s parents separated very early, his mother raised him by herself in a very small house with no door and barely enough space to sleep and cook. The house is too small that his bicycle must be left outside in the alley.

His mom supports them through her small roadside coffee shop. In 7th grade, he learned that his family could no longer afford his schooling so he decided to quit school. He shared with us: “Seeing my mom work so hard every day but we still don’t have enough money to cover the tuition fee, I want to quit school and do something to help her.”

Dat really likes reading books, especially those related to psychology and human development. He proactively learns English, interpersonal skills from reading books and working. At the place he used to work, his supervisor and the team leader really appreciated his good work ethic. He is hardworking, responsible, and open to learning new things.

He also shared with us that his hobby and dream was to have his own coffee shop where people can come to truly enjoy the coffee. He also told us about how much he wanted to go to Dalat to visit the coffee farms to learn about how they grow, take care of, process and preserve the coffee beans before transporting them to other places to sell.

Currently, Dat is learning the art of coffee. Dat received a scholarship to attend a bartender training program to increase his employment opportunities and help him get closer to his dream.

We believe that as a hardworking and passionate person, Dat will go far in his life and we are proud of supporting his dream.

Pacific Links Foundation