Dear CHEER community of friends and supporters,
At the approach of Thanksgiving on behalf of the CHEER Board of Directors and advisors and over 5,000 students from K-16 and hundreds of teachers and families whose lives you have touched and transformed over the years we would like to send each and every one of you our most profound appreciation and a heartfelt THANKS for your continual Love, Trust and Support of our work in Việt Nam.
We are pleased to report on a very successful four weeks intensive work in October, 2015 in Việt Nam.
We kicked off the beginning of the 2015 school year with our annual Traversing Borders: Viet Nam Leadership Training Institute for Higher Education at Viet Nam National University, Ho Chi Minh City. Fifty-five young leaders, under thirty-five, engaged enthusiastically in our two-week intensive leadership training. The institutes have helped eager young leaders identify their current problems, to actively and confidently solve problems and imagine a better future for their university.
Nine students from VNU-HCM University of Sciences received CHEER Awards for Creativity and Innovation and Certificates of Achievement for projects to make their university green. VNU-HCM International University hosted the ceremony. The CHEER Award was created in 2013 to encourage students to design projects that can make a difference in their environment and communities.
We visited CHEER’s kindergartens in the poor districts surrounding Huế to deliver our annual school supplies. We presented hundreds of study corners and for the first time, awarded 100 scholarships to 1st through 7th graders who had attended CHEER’s kindergartens. These students were all identified by the local people’s committee as coming from poor families in Quảng Điền, Quảng Vinh District.
Forty high school students from Bình Điền proudly accepted scholarships for their academic achievements after a vigorous review by the most dedicated teacher, Mr. Lê Văn Cầu, with whom CHEER has had the pleasure to work for the last twenty years.
We presented CHEER Nursing Scholarship Awards to forty first to fourth year nursing students at Huế University of Medicine and Pharmacy/Faculty of Nursing. All students are from poor families living in rural or mountainous areas in central Việt Nam. Several students from second to fourth years received the awards for the second time as the result of their academic achievements and community service.
We visited Huế Thương, a vegetarian eatery with affordable meals for students in Huế which CHEER has supported since 2014. Some 350 healthy and vegetarian meals are served daily to university students.
We couldn’t have done these projects without your compassion and support for CHEER’s commitment to transform people’s lives through education, health, environment and culture. We hope you will accompany us on our journey to change the lives of students, teachers and families in Việt Nam. Enjoy your Thanksgiving with loved ones!
Peace and Love,
Nam-Hậu and The CHEER Team
