Breaking Barriers

Nhu lifted the bow to her violin and started to play as the other musicians joined in harmony. Though she couldn’t see the instrument or the crowd, she could hear the melody and the audience’s applause when the performance finished. 

“I feel immense joy and pride every time I step onto the stage,” she said. “For visually impaired individuals like me, professional music opportunities are rare.” 

Nhu’s passion for music flourished when she joined the Samaritan’s Purse music programme at Nguyen Dinh Chieu School in Hanoi, Vietnam. We started the programme more than 20 years ago to help visually impaired students grow as professional musicians. 

We have supported hundreds of students like Nhu by providing scholarships that help with expenses such as instruments and transportation to and from music lessons and performances.

After many years in our programme, Nhu, 22, now performs at prestigious events across the city and has won many awards. “I truly cherish every opportunity Samaritan’s Purse has given me,” she said. 

An especially rewarding experience for Nhu is playing with an orchestra during the Samaritan’s Purse Dining in the Dark event. For one night, sighted individuals get a taste of what it would be like to be blind as they share a meal in the dark and attempt simple activities like walking around the room while blindfolded. 

“We host events like this to raise community awareness of the skills and capabilities of visually impaired individuals,” said Dave Kletzing, country director for Samaritan’s Purse in Vietnam. “The event also promotes a healthier worldview, both in terms of how visually impaired students perceive the world and themselves, and in terms of how the world sees them.” 

Nhu’s mother introduced her to music as a child, and it quickly became her refuge as she grew up in a world of darkness. Despite the family’s financial struggles, her mother was able to save and buy her an acoustic piano. 

As much as Nhu enjoys opportunities to perform professionally, she said that the greatest gift she has received from Samaritan’s Purse is a sense of community. “I remember the name and voice of every staff member because when I meet with them, I feel less alone; I feel loved,” she said.

A Baker's Dream

The music program is just one of the many ways Samaritan’s Purse is supporting vulnerable youth in Vietnam. We also provide scholarships for ethnic minority students to study at the well-respected Hoa Sua Vocational School in Hanoi where they learn skills such as embroidery, hotel management, baking, and cooking. We have supported hundreds of students since partnering with the school in 2002. We also provide life skills classes and opportunities to interact with Christian staff.

Dai, 16, grew up among the terraced rice fields of northern Vietnam and never imagined the possibility of pursuing a culinary career. “We were very poor,” she said. “We didn’t have money, but my parents still made sure that we were healthy and loved.”

Life got worse when her parents died and Dai and her three siblings went to live at a social work centre.

Dai’s future seemed bleak until she received a scholarship from Samaritan’s Purse to attend Hoa Sua and learn how to become a baker. She will graduate later this year and dreams of being able to help lift her family out of poverty. 

“After I work for a bakery in Hanoi, I want to go back to my hometown and open my own bakery to help my younger siblings and grandma,” she said.

Pursuing an Education

Manh was left at the gate of a social work centre as an infant. He never knew his parents or his birthday. Manh, now 15, has watched most of his friends be adopted into loving homes while he remains at the centre. 

He has significant health challenges and began to wonder if life would ever bring him anything other than pain and loneliness. But his outlook began to change when Samaritan’s Purse started an education programme at the centre last year. 

“Our lives at the centre revolved around a boring routine. Then, suddenly, Samaritan’s Purse came along and offered fun activities and genuine care,” 

Manh said. Manh is learning to speak English and other valuable life skills, like public speaking, through our programme. We provide scholarships for older teenagers at the centre to attend college in Hanoi, and he is excited to continue pursuing an education and a productive career. 

Our programme is also helping Manh and other orphans at the centre process the trauma of their childhoods. We want them to know that they are not defined by past experiences but by the God who created them in His image: “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).