Dung became a GEMS (Girls Empowerment Mekong Scholarship) Scholar in 2020 when she was 15. After Dung’s parents’ divorce when she was four years old, they abandoned her and her three siblings to be raised by her grandparents. Occasionally, they receive additional financial support from her aunt and uncle, but this stopped due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Like many girls in similar situations, Dung has many obstacles in pursuing an education. She knows how important it is to study to overcome her economic hardship and continually put in more effort. 

As a GEMS Scholar, Dung receives support to continue going to school and opportunities to build workforce readiness skills for a brighter future. Education support covers school fees, uniforms, supplies, books, tutoring, health insurance, internet access, and tablet.

She loves using Pacific Links Foundation’s GLOW online learning platform to self-study English. Dung enjoys attending camps and workshops to learn new skills, build her self-awareness, explore career paths, and network with guest speakers and role models from around the world. When Dung has free time, she is a fierce badminton player. 

Today, at 17 years old, Dung is confident in her communication skills and English. She dreams of becoming a teacher to help disadvantaged students like her go to school. 

With the help of people like you, Pacific Links Foundation provides long-term education and workforce readiness skills development to over 500 disadvantaged young people like Dung every year. 

Dung shared, “Education is my only way to overcome our economic hardships. When I was under pressure to drop out to help my family make a living, I wanted to give up so many times. Luckily, Pacific Links Foundation is always by my side.”