In the Summer of 2016 and 2017, the DELTA program made its official debut and began its first projects. The DELTA program is a student-led English program based in rural Vietnam, with a goal to help ethnic students receive a better education. This article focuses on one of the pilot students, Nguyen Ngu Thuong. He had the opportunity to teach English and work on other projects with students in Vietnam.
Nguyen Ngu Thuong applied to become a DELTA student because he believed the Vietnamese education system does not do a good enough job teaching the students and supporting their interests. In the early years of DELTA, Ngu Thuong, along with a 12-year old student named Thuy, raised 1,137,900 Vietnamese dollars for an elementary school in an under-developed mountain area, where they taught English to younger students. They also taught English to 2nd-4th graders at a Kaho ethnic church for 4 weeks.
“My aunt Hang and I went to a church of the Kaho ethnic minority in a village in Di Linh. It’s about 5 km from my house or more. The Vicar of that church agreed for Thuy and me to teach an English class for ethnic children in grades 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in about 3-4 weeks. Thuy and I planned to teach 3 lessons a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, from 17:00-18:00). The children are very nice and their pronunciation is also very good. Thuy and I taught in that class for 2 lessons. The Vicar is very exciting and he wants to continue this class for more than 1 month. I am thinking about his suggestion because I really want to teach for those students but I am in grade 12 now, I have to learn to pass into my favorite university. But If I have free time, maybe I will teach them every Sunday evening. My aunt told me that I should buy boards and markers for the children because they need to have group activities. I think that idea is great but I think it’s not possible for them because I want to spend it on scholarships for children in my class.” (Nguyen Ngu Thuong, former student of DELTA program)
The DELTA program has expanded over the past 5 years and now has many active students and alumni in Vietnam. The students are continuously engaging in different service projects and creating new plans to make small and big changes in their community. While developing soft skills, they get to create stronger bonds with the people they support. For example, several students recently sent a gift to their local healthcare workers and also completed community projects to help people in need, during the rise of Covid-19. The students in Vietnam also occasionally contact and work with the US students. Now, DELTA and AASuccess students will usually meet virtually every week to update each other and collaborate on projects.
We had an interview with Ngu Thuong recently: https://blog.aasuccess.org/reconnect-with-a-delta-success-student-after-5-years/
