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Kien Giang's 3 Schools - December 2006

This is a brief account of the 3 day trip from chi Duy-Loan who flew back to Viet Nam to attend the completion ceremony of the last 3 schools (8 classrooms total) built by Sunflower Mission in 2006.

“On December 8, I left Houston to fly back and spend 3 days in Viet Nam. The main purpose is to attend the completion ceremony for the 3 schools in the vicinity of Kien Giang that SM has just finished: Binh Giang 2 (4 classrooms), Nam Thai (2 classrooms) and Co Khia. (2 classrooms). Mr. Hoang Huy Hoang, the other advisor of Sunflower Mission, accompanied me on this trip along with a large group of our members and supporters from Viet Nam, including 5 engineers from Silicon Design Solutions (SDS headquartered in San Jose with work force in Viet Nam), Seour Ngoc Hoa who heads our scholarship activities locally in Viet Nam, chi Ngoc Lang and anh Hoang who head the construction activities in Viet Nam, and many other supporting members.

“I have traveled the world and have seen poverty both in Viet Nam and in other countries such as India and China. But I was not ready for the emotional toll, especially at Nam Thai school. This particular school is located in the New Economic Development region with nothing around. The word 'nothing' here means exactly just that: NOTHING. Poverty is one thing but poverty in segregation is something else. One has to see it with one's eyes to feel the destitute isolation. Words don’t do justice: Seeing it gives you pain, living it is something else!

“Seeing the faces of the children reaffirms what I have always believed and that is 'often in life the difference between success and failure is simply OPPORTUNITY!' The glee in their eyes, the smiling faces with missing tooth, the giggling laughs, the questions they asked all remind me how intelligent these kids are! Contrasting that with the ragged clothes they have on, the shoeless feet covered in mud, the tangled hair on their heads . . . and it is a heartfelt sadness knowing the environment these children of ours have to endure day in and day out. Regardless of which of the two sides one focuses attention on, education opportunity can and will make a difference for them.

“Perhaps the presents we handed each and every one of them will make a tiny difference immediately in their daily lives: books they can use to write down what they learn, pens they can use to express their ideas, sleeping nets to protect them from constant mosquitoes at night, and backpacks to help ease the load they carry walking every day. In some cases, we handed out some cookies and toys, a luxury they have never seen before. All of this might be a drop in the bucket, a needle in the haystack, a drop of water in the ocean. Nevertheless, the ocean is indeed fuller because of that one drop.”

Ban Thach 2 – Ut Thia Primary School, Kien Giang province

Ut Thia elementary school is a two classrooms project which was completed in September 2006. Completion ceremony was held September 26, 2006. Sunflower Mission (SM) VN Project Coordinator, SM VN Scholarship Coordinator and SM supporters from Vietnam were at the Completion Ceremony. As usual, the students who attended the ceremony received gifts from the SM representatives.

Ban Thach commune is located in the remote area of Giong Rieng district of Kien Giang province. The Ut Thia primary school is in the Ban Thach commune which belongs to the Lang Sen village. The Lang Sen village is about 5km from the Ban Thach commune and you will get there by boat. The Ban Thach commune has 1085 students at Level 1 who are attending school. There is an additional 6% of the kids in this Level 1 age are unable to go to school due to economical hardship in the family and the distance to get to the closest school is too far. The average annual income per person is $200. Due to the poor soil conditions and the lack of land for cultivation, many workers in this village have to work for wages for others inside the village and in neighboring villages.

Dinh Hoa 1 – Rung Cam Primary School

Rung Cam elementary school is a two classrooms project which was completed in July 2006. Completion ceremony was held July 21, 2006. The Sunflower Mission (SM) VN Project Coordinator, SM VN Scholarship Coordinator and SM supporters from Vietnam were at the Completion Ceremony. As usual, the students who attended the ceremony received gifts from the SM representatives.

Dinh Hoa commune is located in the remote area of Go Quao district of Kien Giang province. This commune has a large number of Khmer population and is considered to be one of the poorest commune in the area. Dinh Hoa commune has a population of over 17,000 people living on farming and related works. This commune has 15 schools and they are mainly made of bamboo and coconut leaves. Many classrooms are badly degraded and posed safety risks for the students. The Rung Cam school has 3 classrooms but 2 have been badly degraded. There are 6 classes which amount to about 140 students. These classes are operating in two shifts. Due to over crowding condition, there are about 30 students from this commune who attend school in the neighboring commune.

Dinh Hoa 2 – Hoa Truong Elementary School

Hoa Truong elementary is a two classrooms project which was completed in July 2006. Completion ceremony was held July 21, 2006. The Sunflower Mission (SM) VN Project Coordinator, SM VN Scholarship Coordinator and SM supporters from Vietnam were at the Completion Ceremony. As usual, the students who attended the ceremony received gifts from the SM representatives.

Dinh Hoa commune is located in the remote area of Go Quao district of Kien Giang province. This commune has a large number of Khmer population and is considered to be one of the poorest commune in the area. Dinh Hoa commune has a population of over 17,000 people living on farming and related works. This commune has 15 schools and they are mainly made of bamboo and coconut leaves. Many classrooms are badly degraded and posed safety risks for the students. The Hoa Truong school has 2 classrooms and they are badly degraded. There are 6 classes which amount to about 97 students. These classes are operating in two shifts. Due to over crowding condition, there are about 30 students from this commune who attend school in the neighboring commune, Thuy Lieu commune.

All text and images are from the Sunflower Mission website.

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