Project XI Final Report

Children's and Education Project XI in Vietnam December 2004 and January 2005

We are proud to report that the Friendship Foundation of American-Vietnamese has completed another successful humanitarian project in Vietnam.

During this mission we sponsored twenty-five volunteers from outside Vietnam who worked with over thirty of our local Vietnamese staff people on a wide variety of charitable activities.

The project lasted for over a month with all of us traveling and working together during the first part. We then split into smaller groups to travel, educate ourselves, and continue our charity work. Some of our participants even made the long journey to Cambodia and the wondrous temple complexes at Angkor Wat while others saw the natural beauties of Ha Long Bay, the sand dunes of Mui Ne, the Ho Chi Minh Masoleum, and the fabled One Pillar Pagoda in Ha Noi.

During this project, we taught in the classrooms; provided scholarships for students from low-income backgrounds; conducted a health fair and food distribution day in a remote area; passed out almost one ton of school supplies, clothes, and toys; visited children and their families in the hospital wards; conducted remembrance services for those who died in the war on all sides; provided a Christmas party for the children in rural areas; contributed funding for new homes for two very poor families; gave choir concerts in schools and a home for the disabled; aided a number of families who have serious medical problems; provided food, blankets, and individual money gifts at the center for the handicapped and disabled; dedicated commemoration sites to remember our Foundation supporters especially Vietnam Veterans Tom McCafferty and Dr. Gerhard Flegel; and provided other help to the needy and the children. The Project provided direct and immediate assistance to over 6,000 students and people in Vietnam.

Of course, all of our participants visited important cultural sites, churches, pagodas, a mosque, and other important historical and ethnic locations. While the Foundation is not a religious organization, we did offer prayers for all of our supporters, friends, and families. We met many people including students, teachers, doctors and nurses, rice farmers, government officials, business people, women advocates, monks, and social workers. We visited a rural agricultural site dedicated to crop diversification, the various Museums in HCMC/Saigon City, the Tunnels at Cu Chi, market places, island resort areas, and even a few tourist sites.

We thank everyone who supported this Project. We thank you for your assistance, your donations, your advice, and especially your prayers. We are very grateful, particularly in light of the terrible Tsunami that has caused such tragedy, that all of our volunteers and staff have returned safe and sound. (Our Project is providing a donation for the Tsunami victims.) Once again, our Friendship Foundation has completed another successful project in Vietnam which was only possible because you cared and you helped.