Website update (December 6, 2025)

Submitted by Thanh Tazumi

The biggest highlights of my recent trip between August and October 2025 came from my visit to Nui Hong (Pink Mountain) village. Here are a few pictures from Nui Hong:

Having tea with Thao Thi Sua and her dad. Sua is a grade 9 student from Nui Hong (Pink Mountain) village. Her dream is to finish high school and continue on to university. Her dad is a carpenter and building contractor, who has helped build and renovate dozens of houses in the village, but ironically he hasn’t had time to work on his house yet.

Thao Thi Say is in grade 8, and the oldest of three in her family. Say’s dream is to learn to play the guitar and the piano. She also wants to learn to speak English and Mandarin fluently so she can work as a tour guide.

Sung A Sau (turquoise shirt) is being interviewed by Tu (brown shirt) who is a recent university graduate supported by ICO. Sau is in grade 9, and his dream is to work for a company and become independent so he can support his family.

The local church hosted a feast for 80+ people, including scholarship recipients and a parent from each family. Students have shared that eating meat is a rare occurrence for them; this was a generous and delicious feast.

It was an honor to meet 27 out of the 30 middle and high school scholarship recipients from Son La province. Each student received 2 million VND ($120 CAD) which will go a long way in easing the financial burden on their families.