1.Scholarships to orphans and children from poor families:
Most of the children in the villages of the more remote areas are so poor that many of them have to beg or panhandle to sustain themselves. They suffer severe malnutrition; no one looks after their well being and education; they possess no faith in the spiritual and moral values of a human being. What will the future of the Vietnamese people be, when so many of their children are existing in such a state of misery? Any political-social system will pass, but the Vietnamese people will persist. Thus, the livelihood of the future of the Vietnamese people depends on the vitality and the education of today’‘s children. Helping those poor children with the means to further themselves is to plant the good seed for their life as well as for the nation. That is the ambition that gave birth to this program.
The effort is tailored toward children who show the need for financial support in order to attend schools. The selection is based on the application submitted by the students, direct contact, or recommendation from the people in the village. They are required to maintain a passing grade to continue receiving this support. Their school performance is therefore being monitored closely. Once the student passes the 12th grade, the scholarship is transferred to a new applicant. Outstanding students are granted scholarships to attend a university of their choice.
Each selected student will receive $30 per semester or $60 per year. The friends of this program may choose the students that they wish to sponsor. Many of them sponsor more than one child. Each year, those benefactors will receive at least one letter of appreciation from the child that they support. The students’‘ files, including their acknowledged receipt of the financial aid, their thank you letters, and their report cards, are maintained at the TBF’‘s office at the VNBC.
For college students, the scholarship is more generous, because those students may have to live far away from their home to attend college. The selection process is very demanding. Those students have to go through three separate interviews with three different members of the TBF in Viet Nam. Scholastic achievement, financial need, virtuous behavior, and the strong desire for higher education to serve mankind are the criteria that the interviewers place emphasis on. A unanimous decision is required for the student to be accepted. Once selected, the student will receive $500 per year, depending on conditions. They will continue to receive the granted amount until graduation, provided that he/she adheres to the conditions under which previously accepted.