The Sa Loong Project, Kon Tum, Vietnam

Sa Loong is a commune in Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Tum province, located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

According to the People’s Army Newspaper, as of 2023, Sa Loong is still a “particularly difficult locality with over 85% of the population being ethnic minorities. The people here still face many difficulties in getting medical diagnosis and treatment.” [1]

Talking with Father Ha Dang Hoi, a Dominican priest who is currently caring for Sa Loong, we learned that Dominican priests and brothers have been sent to Kon Tum since 2010. Over the past 10 years, they have built four boarding houses in Kon Tum for about 100 children. Here, hardworking children with difficult family circumstances are accommodated, cared for, and trained. However, because the conditions are still difficult, the priests can only provide food and accommodation for the children but cannot support their tuition fees. These 100 children are currently studying at secondary, high school, college, and university levels.

The dormitory in Sa Loong can currently only accommodate 21 secondary school students. In the commune, there are still many other small children who need help with their tuition fees, living expenses, life skills, and spiritual life. There are still many situations in which these children are forced to drop out of school or cannot attend school because of their families’ extreme poverty.

We, Live Like Trees (LLT), are working with Father Ha Dang Hoi to develop a plan to support the children in Sa Loong, including:

• Providing tuition fees for children who are in a particularly difficult situation but hardworking. The tuition fees will be directly transferred to the secondary schools where the children are studying. Each semester, these children’s academic results will be sent to parents, the responsible priest, and LLT.

• Organizing talk shows and courses to motivate, inspire, develop life skills and soft skills, and provide counselling on learning and careers for children and teenagers in the Sa Loong commune.

• Supporting the upgrading of dormitories to accommodate the living and study needs of more children.

This plan requires a large and continuous source of funding, knowledgeable and experienced trainers, a passionate organisational team, and volunteers who can come to Kon Tum to visit the children, the people, and help LLT organize events.

We invite all of you to participate in the Sa Loong Project. Your companionship and support are extremely meaningful and important to the Sa Loong Project. Your assistance not only helps build a new generation of young people in Sa Loong, but more importantly, it will contribute to the development of the local community and the overall quality of life in Sa Loong in a sustainable way.