Phuoc is a scholar. He is 24 years old. His family have been humble rice farmers for generations. He has 4 siblings. Twelve years ago, Phuoc was in a traffic accident and damaged his spinal cord. His legs are paralyzed. He often considered committing suicide. Phuoc’s parents gave Phuoc’s siblings small parcels of land to farm. The family looked down on Phuoc. Rather than providing Phuoc with land, his parents took him in to live with them.
Phuoc taught himself basic computer skills on computers around the neighborhood. He learned how to install networks and run basic software. Our Vietnam partner (Giving it Back to Kids) recognized Phuoc’s potential and encouraged him to apply to LSEE for a scholarship. His dream was to take an intensive six-month course in web programming. Phuoc was Phuoc, Ha Trung District accepted, but lacked the $1,700 needed for the course tuition and a computer. LSEE awarded him this amount. He is taking the course remotely from his home. He is halfway through the course, learning HTML, CSS, and JAVA Script. He already has a job offer. Since this turnaround, his parents provided a small parcel of land for him to build a home. Once he starts working, he will be able to earn enough money to build it. He may make more money than his entire family, combined!