Global Exchanged acknowledged by the Vietnam Women’s Union

on 15 December 2005 by VWU to confer the Merit Medal “For the Development of Women in Vietnam” - the VWU’s highest award - o­n Ms. Bhavia Carol Wagner and Ms. Elizabeth Sibley for their contributions in the scope of the Global Exchange (GX) scholarship program.

Global Exchange is a US non-profit organization founded in 1988 to promote social, economic and environmental justice around the world. It aims at increasing public awareness of root causes of injustice while building international partnerships, especially between the American people and people of developing countries.

Relations between GX and VWU was started in 1991 when Carol Wagner, a GX Board Member, visited VWU head office in her first visit to Vietnam. It was followed by a Vietnam visit of 8 American women hosted by VWU. Deeply impressed by the hospitality and beauty of the host country, Carol Wagner and GX become more and more committed to the development of Vietnam.

The GX scholarship program was started in 1994 to assist female pupils in the mountainous and remote areas of Vietnam, who are eager learners but face a lot of difficulties, thus having a lower enrolment rate compared to their male counterparts. VWU in cooperation with local authorities and schools is to select the most worthy candidates to receive a scholarship worth US$100. Under the supervision of local Women’s Union, the recipients use the money for their schooling and income generation activities. After 10 years, a total number of 255 girl pupils from 4 provinces have received a GX scholarship, which for many of them means a turning point in life.

Ms. Bhavia Carol Wagner and Ms. Elizabeth Sibley have contributed a great deal to the success of this program. Being the program founder in 1994, Ms. Wagner now has a key role in fund raising activities, spending a lot of her time in contacting and convincing good-will people to donate to the program. Ms. Sibley as program coordinator for the last 5 years has been working diligently over program management, such as fund transfer, sending the girls’ pictures and thanking letters (which have been translated into English by VWU) to the many donors in the United States. It is noteworthy that they have been doing these great jobs as volunteers along with their permanent jobs. Ms. Sibley have worked full-time as a social science librarian at University of California, Berkeley for 25 years.

Thanks to their contributions, the Vietnam Scholarship Program is expanding every year, helping to ease the hardship of numerous needy female pupils and thus enhancing the development of Vietnamese women. Through their practical and continuous efforts, they have contributed to the friendship between the people of the United States and Vietnam.