HOUSTON, TX – Sunflower Mission (SM) and VNHelp have completed building a 4-classroom school in Bac Lieu Province, VN. The completion ceremony for Cua Ga Elementary School was held on November 19, 2008.

“We are pleased with the teamwork,” said Mr. Tuan Dao, SM’s chairman. “One of the core strategies for enhancing SM’s services to the children of rural Viet Nam is by offering our construction network and expertise in collaboration with other organizations to develop and construct schools in the needy areas. By leveraging our combined capabilities and resources, we will be able to reach many more children as is otherwise possible.”

VNHelp contributed $10,000 to the project; SM contributed close to $18,000 making total costs close to $28,000 to build the 4-classroom, 2-bathroom school in Doanh Dien village.

The school was built for the purposes of:

• Creating a safe and encouraging education environment for the children in the area
• Promoting education in the rural area and encouraging parents to send their children to school.
• Facilitating the school conditions for the children here so that they can catch up with the children nationwide.
• Contributing to the sustainable development of the commune.

The old Cua Ga school had 4 classrooms located along the river bank. Those classrooms were in deteriorated conditions and in desperate need of replacement due to erosion of the river bank. More than 350 elementary students in the commune need to be supported by these classrooms.

Bac Lieu province has a population of more than 800,000 inhabitants and is located about 280 km south of Saigon. The majority of people live by farming, fishing and small commerce.

Sunflower Mission is a 501(c)3 organization committed to improving the lives of the people in Vietnam, mainly through educational assistance programs. It is a U.S.-based, non-profit, non-political, non-governmental organization.

VNHELP is a non-profit, tax-exempt, charitable organization dedicated to assisting children, families, and communities in Vietnam through self-help programs in the areas of education and health care, and to promoting cultural exchange between Vietnam and the United States.