Education Vietnam Project #13312

Community Music Program for Vietnamese Youth

by Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund

Project Report | Feb 18, 2020
Rock-Paper-Scissors Children's Fund Music Program Update

By Patrick O'Brien | Volunteer

Tu and His Mom

We wanted to update you on the journey of Tu, the young man in our program that recently left home to pursue additional violin training in Ho Chi Minh City. Leaving home and saying goodbye to his mom was difficult, but he was pursuing his dreams and that was something his mother has always stood behind.

Tu’s mother has been incredibly supportive of Tu and his musical endeavours from his very first day of class. She seems to have the same passion watching him play as he does playing. It is a very special bond.

“Tu is a very good son,” she said.

Tu has a uniquely kind energy, with a cheerful face who is always willing to be a help. His mom told us that he helps her around the house and also helps her at her job cleaning the school where she works as a janitor.

“He never feels ashamed to do that,” she said. “I love him very much.”

Tu’s diligence in his training has resulted in enormous progress. Last month he was asked to play at the Ho Chi Minh City Art Museum for the Lotus Art Project annual fundraising gallery night. A night of art and music benefiting non-profits doing work in the arts. A number of our visual art students’ work was also featured that and a few were sold. A portion of the proceeds from art sales that night, will be used to buy a piano for our music program.

When Tu’s mom heard that Tu was going to perform for the first time at such a big event she knew she had to be there to watch him in person. With the small group of artists and teachers and family making the trip to the city, Tu’s mom was front row for his debut performance.

“I was feeling so proud,” she said. “I was nervous for him because there were a lot of people there.”

Just being in the city at an event like that was something totally new for Tu. Before he went on, Tu said it wasn’t just the piece he was about to play that was making him nervous.

“I had never been at such a big event,” he said. “Let alone performing!”

It was one of many great nights for Tu and his mom on the journey Tu is on. He was given the opportunity and support to explore his creative passions and Tu is creating joy for other people now through the sounds of his strings.

“I think I have been lucky to be able to learn to play the violin,” Tu said. “This is my first instrument ever, however, I realize that I have a passion for it.”

Thinking back, Tu said he didn’t know what people thought of his performance, he just knew he was trying to play the best he could. There was one person there that did matter though.

“I loved it that my mom was there to see me perform.”

Thanks to all of you for your continued support of our wonderful and hard working students like Tu.

Links:

Permalink

Nov 19, 2019
Emotion is Translated into Melody

By Sara Nerone | Founder

Tu at his home

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your continued support! We wanted to share with you an update on one of our students. In 2015 we wrote about him starting in our program and some of that report is revisited here. Tu was 13 years old when he started with us. He lives with his older brother and his mom; his dad unfortunately left their family and has never returned. His mom has struggled and sacrificed to bring up her two sons alone. She cleans homes and does odd jobs to pull together enough money to support the boys and be able to send them to school.

Since Tu picked up the violin in our program over five years ago, he basically hasn’t put it down. Summer volunteers who traveled to Vietnam to teach the kids for us, always identified Tu and how incredibly talented he was, even for a beginner. Now 17 years old, Tu has surpassed our younger teachers in skill, so during the summer we sent him to Saigon for nine weeks to study with a more advanced teacher. Tu jumped at the chance and was so thrilled at the opportunity. He lived with a relative there and took six hours of lessons weekly, practicing for hours daily.

Tu’s mom always told us, even when he first started playing, that he would start practicing right when he woke up in the morning and that he loved playing more than anything. Tu’s mom says that being a part of our school and learning the violin has made Tu’s life much happier, and that he isn’t such an sad kid any longer about his father leaving them. As so many of us know, music can be an avenue for translating emotion into melody.

As partners in supporting this program, you all should be so proud that you have given a young student like Tu the opportunity to learn and explore his passion in playing the violin. Tu returned home from Saigon in August and has excelled even more than we expected, in fact, recently we asked him to work as an assistant teacher for us. Tu will be applying and hopefully attending college next year, we are sure that his violin is going with him! Although this video is before his summer in Saigon, you can get an idea of his talent!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3wh49dg2l8

Thank you again everyone!

Sara

Links:

Permalink

Aug 19, 2019
Music Program For Vietnamese Youth Update

By Sara Nerone | Founder

RPS Music Students

Dear Friends,

Thank you so much for your continued support of our after school strings program in Vietnam. As many of you know, the program started while my daughters and I were living in Vietnam in 2012, when a local student approached one of my daughters and asked if she could please teach him to play the violin. At that time, she taught him as much as she knew for the eight months that we were there, and from there, our program took off.

We became a licensed non-profit when we returned home to the states and eventually became licensed in Vietnam as well. Both of my daughters growing up had the greatest experience and opportunity to be a part of the string program at their school in Rhode Island, and be part of a great summer strings program in our home town. We wanted the students in the local community in Cam Duc, Vietnam, where we lived to have a similar after school opportunity, with both strings and art. This is how it all began, and we are so thrilled that you have worked with us to continue this program for the past six years.

All of the kids in our program have excelled in their daily lives, some have gotten into college and others on their way. Those students who are attending college are still playing their instruments and still a part of our program. They’ve created strong bonds between their peer students and mentors to the younger ones.

We have a number of new, young students who have joined our program that are doing so well. Thanks to your support we were able to send our top high student to Saigon for nine weeks this summer to take intensive training with a violin teacher there. He has recently returned home, but we have not had a chance to hear him play yet, but I’m sure that he learned so much. He was very excited for the opportunity to go to the city and learn; his mom says that his violin has become his life from morning to night.

Thank you again-and we hope that you enjoy the photos of the kids!

Sara

Links:

Permalink

‹ 1 ... 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 ... 16 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.