US volunteers and local youths at a ceremony inaugurating a charity house for a resident in Tan Phu Tay commune of Mo Cay Bac district, Ben Tre province. (Source: VNA)

Tran Kim Phang, Vice President of the Vietnam Youth Federation of Ben Tre, said on March 16 that 15 volunteers from the YMCA of Greater Houston and the YMCA Vietnam Social Co. Ltd built toilets for children at the Tan Phu Tay Primary School and a charity house for a disadvantaged family.

At the Tan Phu Tay Primary School, they built and upgraded eight toilets at a cost of 229 million VND (9,700 USD) to better serve over 600 students there. Meanwhile, the charity house for a local family, covering an area of 32 sq.m., was built at a cost of 81 million VND.

In addition, the volunteers took part in English exchanges and folk games with local students. They also presented stationery learning tools and 70 sets of English learning books to the school.

Phang appreciated the US volunteers’ assistance, expressing his hope that the YMCA Vietnam Social Co. Ltd will help the Youth Union Committee and the Youth Federation of Ben Tre to connect with volunteers from around the world, including the US, so as to implement more social security activities and strengthen local youths’ friendship with international peers.

In 2023, thanks to the company’s support, many volunteers from the Institute of Technical Education of Singapore, the National University of Singapore, and the Singapore Management University came to Ben Tre to build schoolyards and classrooms in Ba Tri and Giong Trom districts at the total cost of 170 million VND.