VNHelp Scholarship Program (personal)

Vietnam's Future

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It was very nice of chi Lien to adjust the schedule of the scholarship ceremony to be this Sunday. I was therefore fortunate to attend at the University in Saigon, “Dai hoc Y Duoc”. There were over 70 students who were recipients of the scholarship sponsored by VNHelp. The students had a range of majors that they were studying. The ones I got a chance to speak to had majored in Music. They studied classical Vietnamese instruments and were able to perform for us before the ceremony.

All the children were disadvantaged in some manner. This was one of the main criteria which qualified them for the scholarship. Many of them lived in the country side and had parents that were farmers. In this case, theory had large family. One student told me she came from a family of eleven children. They travel to Saigon to attend the university and lived in dormitories of four or more students per room. There was even a recipient who was blind. She was awarded a scholarship even though she could not see yet has the aptitude for the university.

At the end of the ceremony, they open the microphone for questions. There were questions about VNhelp and its organizers along with questions about the Professors that were present. I was also surprise to discover that many questions were about the culture in the US. There was a natural curiosity about Vietnamese American. A student asked was did Vietnamese American celebrate Vietnamese holidays such as Tet and was there an infinity towards Vietnamese culture. I replied describing that there are those “Viet Kieu” who do not speak Vietnamese and have little to do with the Vietnamese culture. And then there are those who have a connection with the culture and long to go back. There exist both groups and I have oscillated between the two since more recently, I have gain a greater appreciation for the culture in which I was born in. I expressed that the American is desirable for immigrants and it is easy to loose interest due to the desire to assimilate.

There were also questions from the student about what life is like in the US. In particular, is the academic world that they wanted to learn about. I admitted that my life at the university was back in the eighties but that the University in California is less formal as compared to the ones in Vietnam. I gave the example that a student can approach a professor and speak to him outside of the classroom more casually. I also describe that when I live in the dormitory, it was fun both socially and academically.

There was also a question about radio or media in Vietnam as it is compared to the States. I describe that the news I hear on the radio and TV in Vietnam is different from what I hear and see in the US. The programming I hear in Vietnam does discuss some health issue such as the bird flu. I think it is not possible to hide this. However, there is an unbalance amount of boasting of the economic development in Vietnamese media. I understand that if there are more good examples, that this may raise the spirit and therefore the reality of the people. It is less depressing than American media. However, it is not representative of the reality sometimes. It is a bit of social engineering rather than reporting the news.

There was also interest to learn about everyday life in the US, in terms of what people do for fun. There was even a request to be sponsored to come to the US. I was rather surprised from a group of rather shy and soft spoken students, that they would be forward with such a request. I jokingly replied that I am leaving to go back on Thursday so I will sponsor them if they are ready to leave on Thursday.


I have a great admiration for these students. They have economic or other challenges which prevent them reaching their full potential. It is quite a great experience to witness an event where VNHelp can contribute to helping these talented students reach for their dreams.

posted by Sy Truong @ 5:38 PM 0 comments