Growth
2010
Sunflower Mission plans to do the following in 2010:
· Build 10 classrooms
· Give out 1,500 scholarships
· Complete remaining 37 classrooms built between 2003 and 2007
· Elect a new board for the 2011 – 2012 term
2009
In 2009 Sunflower Mission:
· Built 10 classrooms (see the story below on the school named Vinh Thai)
· Gave out 1,479 scholarships (1,371 elementary through high school, 78 college level, and 30 Engineering and Technology scholarships)
· Completed maintenance on 25 classrooms built between 2003 and 2007
2007
Our Fifth Year – Core Values and Goals
This year marks a major milestone in the life of Sunflower Mission, its fifth birthday on October 29, 2007! When they began they initiated the 10 year goal to include certain metrics for success and certain core values that are not compromised. Their success goals included a financial goal of $1,000,000, building 100 classrooms, providing 10,000 scholarships, and guaranteeing that 97% of funds go directly to the projects. Their core values include noninvolvement with politics and religion, maintaining 100% of their focus on education, and building an infrastructure for the next generation. Through these core values, their infrastructure will enable the next generation to contribute and participate to teach them the values of civic leadership, connect to their motherland to remember where they come from, and to make a difference.
As Sunflower Mission ended their fourth year operation at the end of 2006, they had raised more than $500,000 and completed 50 classrooms. They had given out 2200 scholarships with 3 students graduating from college in 2005, and provided 98% of funds directly to the schools for 4 years! Many college students and younger children have participated in their activities here in America as well as those who have gone back to Viet Nam to make a difference. One of the co-founders, Duy-Loan Le, shares, “As I see the look on their faces, the excitement in their voices, the connection they make with their motherland, and, as they realize who they are, I become even more committed to these core values.”
Sunflower Mission plans to complete 20 new classrooms in 2008, and will once again focus the building effort to the provinces located in the south and west of Saigon (the Mekong Delta area). These areas have the lowest economic and education level in Viet Nam. Please refer to the Sunflower Mission website “Schools Completed” page for more details. Sunflower Mission will also increase the funding for the scholarship program to award scholarships for up to 1000 students in grades 1-12 and college.
2003 - 2006
The Schools
In 2003, 5 classrooms were built in Phuoc Hau and Thanh Thoi B. In 2004, 10 classrooms were built in Thanh Thoi A, Binh Phu, Phu My, and An Hao. In 2005, 15 classrooms were built in Khanh Thanh Tan, Tan Thanh Binh, and My Qui. In 2006, 20 classrooms were built in Binh Thanh, My Phu, An Hao, Dinh Hoa 2 - Hoa Truong, Din Hoa 1 - Rung Cam, Ban Thach2 - Ut Thia, and Kien Giang.
Here are descriptions and photographs of several of the schools completed in the last few years.
2009, Mona Supporters help Sunflower Mission Build a New School!
June, 2009
The latest project of Sunflower Mission is a six class room school named Vinh Thai, in U Minh Thuong district, in the very remote area of Vietnam of Kien Giang province. It will serve children in three nearby villages. This primary school is located near the main road connecting Kien Giang and Ca Mau, 70 km from Rach Gia and 40 km from Ca Mau. About 300 students attend the existing school which is falling apart. The new school will provide education for 600 kids a day and maybe even more if the need demands that there be three shifts of teaching vs two. This is a major school which means that it will be fully used and maintained.
Volunteer youth from Sunflower Mission eagerly await the opportunity to travel at their own expense to Vietnam and this new school for the inauguration in July, 2009. This is part of an annual volunteer "work camp" where American youth work alongside the children who will attend the new school. Together they help with the last finishing touches before the completion ceremony, planting trees, painting the buildings, bricking the courtyard and otherwise getting the school ready for occupancy.
The completion ceremony will take place on July 1, 2009. The school is modern and well-designed and will serve the nearby communities well for a long time. A huge THANK YOU to The Frees Foundation, the Mona Foundation, and Sunflower Mission for the financial and volunteer support necessary to make this school possible.
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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