When I was young, the stories I was told were not typical children's bedtime stories, but they were stories of the struggles that both my parents had to endure during and after the war. Here and there, I would hear stories from other Asian American friends of mine that would say they were embarrassed of their parents, yet growing up I was always proud of not just my parents, but the life that my grandparents, uncles, and aunts have made for themselves in America. I am extremely grateful to be raised in the environment of a 2nd generation Vietnamese American where I could be appreciative of what I have and how I grew up. 


Just like a majority of the Vietnamese population in America, my parents are also refugees, and that was something I was always aware of as a child. Though it was not until my freshman year of high school in which I had taken a course called Global, and learned how ongoing the refugee problem is. Currently, there are 80 million refugees in the world, and some have far worse living conditions than others. I am a member of the Boy Scouts of America in Crew 105 of Irvine, and this Eagle Scout project is the first step in my life in which I will try to help the world’s refugee crisis. The group of refugees I will be helping is Vietnamese refugees, around one hundred, residing in Bangkok, Thailand, that have not been able to obtain Thai citizenship over the last couple of decades, and therefore, it is more difficult to acquire a job. The objective of this Eagle Scout project is to provide teaching materials and classroom essentials. This aligns with the bigger goal of my Project Beneficiary Representative, who is a part of the VOICE NGO in Thailand, to use the materials to teach English in hopes that they have better employment opportunities. Ultimately, the goal of the VOICE NGO is to advocate for the refugees to resettle in the U.S. or Australia. I am hoping to raise $1200 in donations to accomplish this project. I thank you in advance for your contribution to my project.