Tools for Preserving Cultural Heritage in the Central Highlands of Vietnam.

FVSO Founding President Dave Chaix, accompanied by 18 FVSO benefactors, returned January 30, 2025 from a 24-day travel adventure in Vietnam. A key mission was the opportunity to complete site visits at Kon Tum’s six VSO orphanage sites and the Sa Thay Boarding House located west of the city and 20 miles east of the Cambodian border. The tour group also visited the Sao Mai Orphanage in Pleiku, Vietnam.

These visits permitted the travelers, including Board Members Gene Mapa, Tom Solyst and Bart Ruud to observe physical conditions at each site, to explore potential future sustainable projects, and to observe the general health of the children. The Board Members are pleased to report that the children are in good health, happy, and grateful for the tidings they receive because of donor support. The college students we assist with monthly scholarship stipends, many of whom have lived at VSO sites for up to 13 years, were enchanting as they spoke in English and shared what they were studying, and where they were attending school. Our advanced education program is remarkable for its success.

At VS-1, currently home for 63 boys and 83 girls, we found that the children currently benefit from the loan of indigenous musical instruments valued at $2,000. VS-1 has no means to purchase these instruments because they have no funding for this kind of outlay.

Music is a tool for preserving cultural heritage. Through music, significant cultural traditions centering on expression of emotion, the celebration of the season of the year, preservation of ancestral stories and connectivity, and more, is foundational. Musical underpinnings should never be slighted or lost, not in the Montagnard culture, or in any culture. Music connects generations. Music provides a sense of community.

Board Members Dave Chaix and Bart Ruud have committed $500 toward preservation of the Montagnard musical heritage that will support the acquisition of indigenous musical instruments for the children to learn from.