Since their first trip in 2002, United Campus Ministries (UCM) has helped construct three schools, three houses and one clinic in the rural villages in the provinces of Ben Tre, Kien Giang and the city of Can Tho in south Vietnam.

UCM will be leading a group of volunteers from Dec. 21 to Jan. 7 this winter to help construct two additional classrooms to a preexisting primary school outside of Ben Tre. There are 338 children living in the village who are of elementary school age. The first few years of schooling are critical for Vietnamese children in this area because they cannot be sure that they will have the opportunity to continue on to a higher level of education.

Five Shippensburg University alumni, six students and one campus minister have been fundraising their way to $55,000 in order to continue this service tradition. To help with the task, UCM hosted many fundraisers all year long leading up to the date of departure.

Saturday, Nov. 2, UCM hosted a 5K at the Student Recreation Fields to raise money for its trip. Nine runners and seven walkers showed up at 9 a.m. to brave the 47-degree weather and contribute to the Vietnam trip. Coinciding with the theme of UCM’s destination, bamboo shoots were posted around the trail to help guide runners and remind them of the 5K’s purpose.

Sophomore communication/journalism major Tu Ngo finished in first place with a time of 30:09.
For his prize, Ngo received a drawing created by one of the Vietnamese students UCM has met over the years in their trips to the country. Students from Grace B. Luhrs Elementary School swap drawings with students from the primary schools in Vietnam. On the back of the drawings students write about themselves so the child who receives the drawing can share a connection with a friend they’ve never met.

UCM began leading the service trip to Vietnam in connection with the YMCA of Vietnam, which arranges the project SU students get to work on. The YMCA also connects them with students from colleges in Ho Chi Minh City to serve as translators and work on the service project with the SU students.

SU students have stayed in touch with their friends from Vietnam and often wish to return to the country after their first trip.

Ann Schwartz, a 2005 graduate from SU was unable to join the service trip to Vietnam when she was a student and now joins the party as an alumnus.

“It’s an awesome experience and I’m excited because our group is a mix of alumni and students,” Schwartz said. After graduating from the social work major at SU, Schwartz has gone on to be a youth minister in Maryland.

Leading the students and alumni, the Rev. Jan Bye is eager to return to Vietnam again. Her daughter is adopted from Vietnam and has accompanied SU students to her birth country on two occasions. One of the greatest rewards for Bye and the volunteers from SU are the relationships they build with new friends.

Between now and December the group traveling to Vietnam needs to raise approximately $7,000. Donations are welcomed and tax deductible. UCM will be having a silent auction in the near future to help contribute to the trip.

In addition to the labor that SU students provide in construction, members of the community and high school students send school supplies and health kits with the UCM volunteers to Vietnam.
Any student can be a part of the service trip.

“Enable students to become world citizens, appreciate the diversity of God’s creation and to change themselves and their world,” Bye said to explain the goal of the journey.

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