SDM Dental Association Raises $3,000 for Vietnamese Orphans
Anhphi Nguyen (SDM’07) will go to Vietnam to deliver $3,000 from the BU Vietnamese Student Dental Association to needy children.
Just two days after graduation, Anhphi Nguyen (SDM’07) will travel to Vietnam to deliver $3,000 — raised by the Boston University Vietnamese Student Dental Association (VSDA) at a concert in December — to children in need.
The money will go toward buying beds, air conditioners, school supplies, and food for orphans and children with disabilities living at Chua Linh Son, a temple in Ho Chi Minh City. During her two-week visit, Nguyen will help rebuild parts of the temple that need renovation, such as the kitchen, and sleep on the floor alongside the children at night.
“You want to know that it’s going to benefit the children and not just the facility,” she says. “That’s why I personally have to go back and deliver the money.” Nguyen founded the VSDA when she was a first-year dental student four years ago, and each year since the group has worked hard to make a difference in the world. During December’s fundraising concert, called Dem Uoc Vong, 12 singers performed pop, country, and Vietnamese music.
“We try to do something other than just going to school and getting our grades,” Nguyen says. “Everybody’s concerned.”
Brittany Jasnoff can be reached at bjasnoff@bu.edu.