Following our 2011 mission in the deep southern part of Vietnam, our team BeCause has completed another successful mission lasted 4 days in Dong Nai, Khanh Son and KonTum during the Tet holidays season of 2013. Unlike the prior year where our projects were mainly transforming dangerous “monkey bridges” into safe and concrete bridges for the children and communities of remote areas in Long My, this year’s projects focused primarily on building new water filtration systems and libraries at 5 elementary schools in KonTum province, where we had a chance to visit as part of our charity mission. 2 new water systems were built because clean water is essential to life, yet some young lives are missing even this most basic necessity. 3 new and renovated libraries were also built in the schools to allow students the opportunity and resources for better learning. Our mission also included some very emotional visits to Francis Shelter in Dong Nai, and elementary schools in KonTum and Khanh Son, where we thoroughly enjoyed distributing school supplies, such as pens and pencils, candies, slippers, and “li xi” (red envelopes) to the students in the spirit of Tet. It was heart-warming to witness the smiles and laughter on their faces. Even though it was so little that we had brought to them, they were greatly thankful. Our trip up to the mountains to visit Thanh Son elementary school was an unforgettable experience. Due to unfamiliarity of this region and difficult narrow mountain roads, our team arrived almost 2 hours late at the school, where 452 students patiently waited our arrival just to receive a pair of slipper. They need these slippers to walk a few miles each day from and to school. The most heart wrenching experience for all our team members was to witness some very difficult living conditions of the terminally ill children and seniors at the Francis Shelter. We know we must do more to help. Suffice to say, this year charity’s mission has developed all of us to be more aware of the challenges other people and children in Vietnam are facing each day, and more importantly, it has helped us appreciate what we have. The experiences, the memories, and friendships created during the trip will last a life time. Most vitally, our charity mission enabled us to understand the critical needs of some very unfortunate people. To help we must do more and that is our team’s goal for 2013 — we collectively will make a difference in improving the lives of those in need. For a report in Vietnamese, please visit <a href=”https://www.facebook.com/notes/because-vietnam-charity/nh%E1%BA%ADt-k%C3%BD-h%C3%A0nh-tr%C3%ACnh-4-ng%C3%A0y-t%E1%BB%AB-thi%E1%BB%87n-c%E1%BB%A7a-nh%C3%B3m-because-2013/426586234090724″ target=”_self”>our Facebook post.</a>