By Sara | Co-founder
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 6th 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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