Education Vietnam Project #13312

Community Music Program for Vietnamese Youth

by Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund

Project Report | Jan 13, 2026
A Very Talented New Student

By Phoebe Nerone | Co-Founder

Dear Friends,

Happy January, and a Happy New Year!

As the new year rolls in, we are excited to welcome it and all the adventures it has in store for our music program. This month, we are delighted to introduce one of our music students, Bao.

Meet Bao, she’s 13 years old and in the 8th grade at the local middle school. Bao lives with her mother, who's a healthcare worker at the local clinic in her town. Her mother works many long hours at the clinic to help provide care to the community while simultaneously providing for her family as a single parent raising Bao on her own.

Bao has been in our music program since March of 2025, where she plays the violin and loves it. Before entering our program, Bao found herself bored after school and at home. As an only child, she spent a lot of time on her own and sometimes struggled to find activities to draw her interest during these hours. Since joining our music program, Bao’s free time has drastically changed and looks very different. These days, she fills her afternoons and evenings practicing the violin around her house, learning new musical pieces, and even sharing practice time with friends. Bao feels very happy to be a part of the music program, which has helped her feel more confident and happier.

Since starting the violin, she’s taken huge leaps in the learning process through committed focus and support from friends and our wonderful music teacher. She’s become one of the top violin students playing difficult and complex songs in Suzuki. We are very proud of all the hard work she has done, and we can’t wait to see what surprises she has in store for us next.

Through your support, we can continue providing a supportive, creative, and encouraging environment for students to explore their interests and find their hidden talents. We are excited to continue to support students in the arts, and we hope that you are just as excited as we are.

We hope you enjoy the winter months wherever you live!

Phoebe and the Rock-Paper-Scissors Team

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Sep 20, 2025
Meet Our New Music Teacher!

By Sara Nerone | Co-Founder and President

Khanh

Dear Friends,

In July my daughter Phoebe and I spent a month working with our staff and students in Vietnam, along with our long-time volunteer and Board member, Rozanne, who has traveled to Vietnam for several years to teach our string students in the summers. This summer was very exciting because we had hired an additional string teacher in February, and we had yet to meet him in person. Meet Khanh!

Khanh is an accomplished alumnus of the Ho Chi Minh City Conservatory, where he specialized in Theory, Composition, and Conducting. Throughout his career, he has accumulated diverse experiences, including serving as a lecturer for various music courses in Nha Trang city and multiple local music centers. As the leader of the renowned band, Kite Music, Khanh has captivated audiences across Vietnam, performing at events and resorts. In addition to his teaching role, he demonstrates exceptional talent as a music arranger, orchestrator, and composer, showcasing his skills as a multi-instrumentalist mastering various instruments throughout the years. We are so lucky that Khanh, and his wife moved back to Cam Duc to live and teach. His wife is also a music teacher, and both play multiple instruments!

When we were in Vietnam this summer, Rozanne was able to work with him and the students, and she just said repeatedly what a talented musician and teacher Khanh is. He has a great, happy, kind personality and it’s clear that the students love him. In addition to having Khanh, we’ve also gained his very talented 9-year-old daughter, Vy Ha. She is a violinist and a singer. She participates in most of the classes and is a great inspiration!

Thank you all for your continued donations and support for our programs in Vietnam and giving us the opportunity to hire another fantastic teacher. I’ve added a couple of fun photos here of our art students and giving bikes as well as Khanh, his daughter and students! We could not provide so many opportunities like these for our students without your help.

Sara

Khanh's Daughter

Rozanne and Friend!

Phoebe and Friends!

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May 21, 2025
Playing the Violin Makes Me Happy

By Sara | Co-founder

Bao

Dear Friends,

Thank you for supporting our music program for underprivileged students in Vietnam. This year we have had a few high school students that will be leaving for college in the fall, so we are very excited for them! Because of this, we have recently been recruiting new students into our program, and we would love to introduce you to one of them! Thank you all for supporting us as always!

Please meet 11-year-old Bao. Bao is in the 6^th grade and lives in a small village about five miles from our school Her mom drives her to her violin lessons on the back of her motorbike 2-3 days a week. As I mentioned, we recruit students who have had difficulties in their lives or come from families that need additional support. Bao’s family is certainly in this category. Bao lives with her mom and her younger brother. Bao’s father left her mom alone with the two children when the kids were very little and has never been home since. Bao’s mom supports both on her own. She is 37 years old and works in a local wireless network shop. Bao’s father has never provided any financial support to her mom, so her mom works many hours to support her family. Boa’s younger brother is 8 years old, and Bao helps take care of her brother, by cooking meals, doing laundry and housework and taking her brother to and from school each day while her mom works, certainly a lot for an 11-year-old!

In school Bao loves math. She says she loves math because she is good at it! She also loves playing the violin. Although playing an instrument is new to her, and learning to play the violin can be difficult, she still loves it. Bao said to our teacher when her teacher asked her about playing the violin, “I feel happy, and I feel like I become gentler when playing the violin. The sound is special. I want to set a goal to study hard so I can play many beautiful violin pieces.” As one of the main goals of our music and art program is to build self-esteem and confidence, it is also to build a supportive community among our students. Bao commented that what she also loves most about taking our classes, is learning violin with the older students. “It makes me feel happier and more excited to learn” she says. One day Bao dreams of becoming a violin teacher!

Thank you all for your continued donations and support for our students like Bao, we could not provide so many opportunities like these for our students without your help. In July we are happy to have one of our Board Members return to Vietnam to work with our music students. She is retired music teacher herself and loves to play and teach a summer ensemble with the kids. We will send you another update then!

Have a great spring,

Sara Nerone

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