Charity work in Quang Ngai

Our team traveled from DaNang down the coast approximately 2.5 hours last night and arrived in the city of Quang Ngai. Prior to the  mission, our team was in contact with a local University, Middle School and Orphanage. It is here where we begin our charity work. It consisted of two events, first visiting children and giving gifts to the orphans, and second, visiting families homes to provide scholarships to 10 outstanding middle school students.

First, the orphanage:

The Phu Hoa orphanage has been in existence since 1963 and is currently run by 1 nun and 4 lay people. It is the home to 25 children who have been abandoned and left at the doorstep of the building. The government assists the facility to the amount of $20 USD per child per month. Some charity organizations send funds or supplies, but it is rare for an International Charity team to visit the children to show the love and care and compassion they truly deserve. As soon as our team van pulled into the parking area, wide eyed and beautiful children began to appear. It wasn't long before each member of our team was surrounded by children who craved hugs and love. We provided each child a gift package pre-ordered through our contacts in Vietnam, containing books, crayons, pens/pencils, and toothpaste/toothbrushes. The joy on their little faces was priceless.

Second, the home visits to the scholars:

As a team from Temple University School of Pharmacy, we know the daily struggles that many students from our own area endure and have been fortunate enough to provide many of them scholarships for outstanding academic and leadership activities. With this in mind, our charity team decided to use a portion of our funds raised to provide scholarships to 10 outstanding middle school students. The scholarship consists of 1,500,000 VND ($75  equivalent) which will pay for 1 year tuition, academic books and school uniforms for the child. The children were selected based on outstanding academic achievements and need. The professor at the local University gave a presentation the day before to the Scholars describing our intention saying " you have earned this honor through daily hard-work and dedication. It is the hope of our team for this to continue so they can become leaders in their community and provide a better life to those around them". Most of the recipients of these scholarships have lost either one or both of their parents and are being raised by grandparents. Each student was genuinely grateful and displayed shy, yet, sincere gratitude for this amazing honor. Almost all of them promised to study hard and do well in school so as not to disappoint our team!!!