2/1/2010 3:16:00 PM Wayzata students work to build schools in Vietnam
In traditional clothing, Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean members, from left, Heather Bergeson, Hannah Bergeson, Justin Pham, Megan Eckman and Sarah Porter. PHOTO: Mark Trockman
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To learn more about Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean, visit www.wsbto.com.
By Kelly Westhoff
This June, a group of Wayzata High School students hope to travel to Vietnam on a mission trip. Once there, they will paint the classroom walls in two new schools they helped finance. They will also help build a playground at each of the schools and lead the local children in mini day camps.
Unlike a lot of mission trips, these students won't be traveling with a church group. Instead, they will be traveling as representatives of an organization called Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean.
Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean was formed in October 2009. It is the brain child of Justin Pham, who is an 11th grader this year.
Last summer, Pham traveled to Vietnam with his family. His parents, who were born in Vietnam, have returned to the country several times. This most recent journey, however, was a first for Pham and his younger brother.
"I was shocked by the disparity of wealth in Vietnam," Pham said. "It was a big eye opener for me to see the difference between the haves and the have nots, to see the poverty so many people are living in. I started thinking about what I had back home - two PlayStations and two Wiis because, you know, I couldn't share with my brother - and I just felt awful."
As part of his travels in Vietnam, Pham said, his parents took him and his brother to visit orphanages and schools. Once again, Pham was struck by what he saw.
"You know those stories your parents tell you about how they used to walk five miles, one way, up hill and through the woods just to get to school? Well, we met kids who actually did that," he said.
Except their stories were worse. Pham learned about children in the south of Vietnam, where the Me Kong River branches and splints into hundreds of smaller arms, who had to cross foot bridges in order to get to school. These bridges had been cobbled together out of rope and scraps of wood. Plus, they were subject to the river's tides. If a child fell from one of these bridges while trying to get to school, he could be easily pulled underwater and drowned. This had happened on numerous occasions.
That a young child could die while simply trying to get to school angered Pham. He grew even more upset, he said, when he learned about a recently-passed law in Vietnam declaring children could not attend upper grades if they had not attended kindergarten. Without an education, many children in developing lands end up hawking goods on street corners, or worse yet, in the sex industry.
Pham was so affected by his summer visit to Vietnam, that when he returned to Minnesota, he could not stop talking about it.
With the encouragement of his parents, Pham drafted a plan to raise money to build new schools and proper foot bridges in southern Vietnam.
Pham's uncle had previously worked with a nonprofit organization called Viet Hope, which had already built a couple of schools in Vietnam. Drawing on this connection, Pham was able to tap into an existing system for getting the job done.
Next, Pham wrangled several friends into this plan, and that's how Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean was born.
Since founding the organization in October, the group of kids involved has learned a lot about what it takes to launch a fund-raising campaign, market their ideas, construct a Web site, communicate with corporate donors, enlist volunteers and speak to the public about their mission.
Ideally, they would like to raise $50,000. "That's a big goal," said Pham. "And we know we set it high. If we get $25,000 we'll be happy. It takes $5,000 to build one school. We want to build two, and a bridge and we want to employ teachers."
Leftover money would be used to build playgrounds and distribute bicycles to children who live far from school. The Wayzata students would also like to donate money to orphanages and programs that work with victims of sex trafficking and Agent Orange poisoning.
As it stands right now, the students involved will be footing their own travel bill to Vietnam this June. If the organization is able to collect its $50,000 goal, then some students might be able to travel with scholarship funds.
Parents of several of the students involved urged the kids to apply for nonprofit status, which they have now done.
"We have filed our articles of incorporation," said Pham. "I had no idea about all the red tape, all the rules and regulations we'd have to go through and how time consuming it would be to fill out that 70-page application."
On the other hand, Pham has been surprised at how many people have been willing to chip in a few dollars or offer advice to help the group on its way. So far the group has raised roughly $1,500. "Far from enough," Pham said.
"A lot of people don't take us seriously because we're just a bunch of high school kids, but we are serious," said Megan Eckman, an 11th grader and one of the students involved.
"All my life, I've been stuck in the Wayzata bubble," she said. "I've never experienced poverty, but this whole thing has opened my eyes. I'm surprised at how unaware I was about what is going on in the world."
For Eckman, the idea that her participation in this project might mean the difference for a Vietnamese child between a life on the streets and a life in a school brings tears to her eyes.
"To know that I will be able to change someone's life ..." She stopped mid-sentence before picking up again. "I know that I can't even realize how much my efforts might help these kids."
Hannah Bergeson, an 11th grader and another student involved, agreed.
"I've always been told that I can make a difference and finally I am." She estimated that so far she has spent more than 40 hours educating herself about Vietnam and the process of running a nonprofit organization, a valuable chunk of time for a full-time high school student.
"It's been stressful," said her sister, Heather Bergeson, a 9th grader and fellow member of the group. "Our list of things to do is so long."
She combats the stress, she said, by, "keeping my focus on the kids that need help. I have everything I need, and they need so much. It might be stressful, but I'm doing it so that they won't have to sell themselves."
Despite all they have learned, and all they have yet to do to get Wayzata Students Bridging the Ocean off the ground, Alex Zhu, another 11th grader involved in the group, remains committed to the cause.
"I'm amazed at how much we have done and at how much we can do," he said. "It makes we wonder, 'Why aren't we doing more?'"
Reader Comments
Posted: Friday, February 05, 2010
Article comment by:
Tim Lawhorn
What an absolutely inspirational story!
The compassion, dedication and perseverance shown by these students is a shining example of how the light of humanity can shine in the midst of the constant negativity which bombards us daily.
