Homepage•Articles by: Diane Truong

Author: Diane Truong

Reintegration
Diane Truong

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
Diane Truong

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

News
Diane Truong

Co-Founder Diep N. Vuong Awarded Prestigious Henley & Partners Global Citizen Award

Congrats to our president, Diep Vuong, on winning THE HENLEY & PARTNERS GLOBAL CITIZEN AWARD!

From Diep, “Human trafficking is the major issue of our time, representing the ugly side of globalization. It is all-pervasive and yet largely ignored. It means a great deal to my team and me to have this acknowledgment from a global firm such as Henley & Partners, and we hope that this year’s award will help drive widespread awareness about the work that we are doing on the ground with our partners. The more we recognize the painful realities of our world, the more effective we can be in addressing and correcting them. Human trafficking has become a global epidemic, yet the people who abhor it and want it to end far outnumber those perpetuating it. Let us find each other and work together to turn the tide.”

See press release