Operated by Catalyst Foundation, Vinh Quang Primary School educated approximately 100 children in Kien Giang province, along the southern coast of Vietnam, empowering local children to break the cycle of poverty through education.

The school is located adjacent to a garbage dump where 300 children live with their families in shacks made of refuse.  Children in this area are extremely vulnerable to human traffickers, looking for children to work in the sex trade in Cambodia, Burma and Thailand. Because of the garbage dump’s location near the Cambodian border, attempts to traffic the children who live here happen regularly.

To enable the school to support and empower more local children, True Volunteer Foundation funded a two storey extension doubling the schools size and adding much needed classroom space and resources.  Thanks to the extension works, Vinh Quang Primary School can now accommodate up to 300 school children. It also enables Catalyst Foundation to run more programmes for the entire community such as anti-trafficking courses, vocational training, healthcare, and counseling support to children, families and the community of Kien Giang.

All funds for the project were raised by a dedicated group of cyclists who took part in True Volunteer Foundation’s Cycle Vietnam event in November 2011. The team cycled 400km across Vietnam and Cambodia raising thousands of pounds to build a school in Vietnam and support Orphanage in Cambodia.