Green Bamboo Shelter for ChildrenThis summer Uyen will return back to her birth-country of Vietnam to work at the Green Bamboo Shelter which provides support to Saigon street children ages ten to fifteen. Equipped with her cultural knowledge and language skills, Uyen will be developing an English-language curriculum which she hopes to implement during her time there. She also will be helping in the organization of extra-curricular activities for the shelter's children, such as sporting events, computer training, and field trips.
In addition to helping some of these children through her work in the shelter, Uyen recognizes that this fellowship will be a very powerful, personal experience for her as well. Though familiar with the country and the language, Uyen explains that she "won't simply be residing in Vietnam; I plan on living there and doing so with an open mind in the spirit of exploration—fully immersing myself in the culture of Vietnam through personal interactions with hopefully not only the people I work with but also the others I may meet on the way." Uyen hopes to walk away from this fellowship with first-hand experience of working in Vietnam which will inform her future work in the betterment of the Vietnamese community.
