Lighting Up Dreams {Vietnam}

I was once a child without a dream. I was born and raised in a rural village in Northern Vietnam, surrounded by mountains, rice fields, and mornings that began as early as 4 a.m. to work in the fields. I had no idea what a "city" looked like, nor did I understand what "education" truly meant. Until one day, when I was about five years old, a group of volunteer university students came to my village. One young woman gave me a small sweet cake a simple gift, but when I ate it, I cried because it was so delicious, more delicious than anything I had ever tasted, even more than anything I could have dreamed of. She didn’t just give me bread. She also gave me a bowl of hot porridge. And she talked with me. She patiently answered my endless, curious questions: “Where are you from?” “What is a city?” “Why do you have so much food?” “Why are you giving this to me?” She hugged me a tight, warm hug. It was the first hug I had ever received in my life. With my wild blondish hair and my smell of sweat and earth, even my own sisters didn’t want to play with me. That day, I felt truly loved for the first time, and for the first time, I had a dream to see the city, to go to school, and to grow up to become someone kind, like her. And once I had a dream big enough, I realized something powerful: no hardship could stop me. I walked to school barefoot on muddy roads, but in my heart

bloomed the joy of believing that education would change my life. I didn’t care that my family couldn’t afford much. I brought only plain rice and a few roasted peanuts for lunch, but I carried a flame of hope inside me. I believed that education could open a new path for me,

and that I would make it. I dreamed even bigger. I cut out pictures of a beautiful seaside city and pasted them above my study corner. I learned that one day, I would live and work there.

And now I do. I live and work in Da Nang, a beautiful coastal city. The moment I realized my childhood dream had come true felt like magic and it made me want to give that same chance to children like the one I used to be.

The "Lighting Up Dreams" project was born from that memory. I want to offer children from mountain villages like Pa Ong and Ta Om their very first journey a chance to see a bigger world, to feel loved, and to begin to dream. I believe even a single experience, a glimpse of

something new, is enough to light a spark in their hearts that may guide them for the rest of their lives. I don’t do this to prove anything. I do it because I was once one of those children. And I know this truth deeply: when a child feels loved, feels worthy, and feels that they, too,

are allowed to dream miracles begin to happen. If you’re reading these words, maybe you are already part of that miracle.

No matter who you are or where you’re from if you believe in goodness, then you are already walking with us. Love can begin with a sweet cake. And a dream can begin with a journey.

Thao Thai

Founder