The U.S.’s Asia Foundation and the Vietnam Study Encouragement Association on July 17 handed over scholarships to 53 poor high-school students in the Red river delta province of Nam Dinh. Each of the students, who achieved outstanding academic performances, receives a year-long scholarship worth VND290,000 per month, said Nguyen Toan Bao, Chief of the Secretariat of the provincial Study Encouragement Association. The Asia Foundation now has 17 representative offices in Asian cities, including Hanoi, which focuses on promoting peace, development and renewal in disadvantaged areas. After almost seven years of operation, the foundation has doled out over VND900 million worth of scholarships to local students in Nam Dinh province. It has also provided schoolbags, clothes, English-Vietnamese dictionaries, wheelchairs, birthday gifts and presents during Tet festivals for the needy students. (Quan Doi Nhan Dan – People’s Armny July 18 p8)
