Vietnam Country Report - Asia

2023

Lunar New Year Celebrations

As tradition, LVE Vietnam has started 2023 with New Year celebration on January 28 with participation of 12 LVE's activists. The event was for members to look back at 2022, shared their experiences on living values application in everyone's daily life. Relations and money were aspects where people had more difficulties but all members agreed that living values are very essential to help ones keep balance and made more precise decision. Go back and feeding the positive wolf is what all need to focus. And as usual, the atmosphere of LVE meeting was always nice, cozy, friendly with full of love. That was the new year spirit all LVE's members will carry forward for 2023.

 

Experience The Values with FairyLand Toc Tien

On the first week of March, LVE Vietnam and the representative of the Green Living Club of the Ho Chi Minh City Association for Women Executives & Entrepreneurs (HAWEE) has an interesting field trip at Fairyland Toc Tien EcoTourism Area (Ba Ria - Vung Tau) - a nonprofit project to protect and connect people with Mother Nature. Although the trip was short, it was a great opportunity for all participants to deeply experience the value Respect, Love and Gratitude and inspire staff of FairyLand Toc Tien about living values.

 

 

Workshop for Women's Empowerment Club

In 3 days 16, 17 and 19/3 LVE Vietnam has conducted a workshop at the American Center in Hochiminh city for 26 talented women from batch 12 of Women's Empowerment Club (WEC) which is fully funded by The U.S. Consulate. This is the fourth time LVE Vietnam has been selected as a partner to support WEC's mission to empower and create positive change for women and society in general.

Most of the members of WEC batch 12 said that they were familiar with living values, however, they all excited and agreed that they got much deeper insight into values and the role of values in all aspects of life through very simple games conducted by LVE's trainer Ms. Bich Ha. The 'Aha' moment came to all participants when they all discovered that values are always present within us, they just need to be recognized and awakened. Values are everywhere and values are the source of power, happiness and success and that were the values of LVE's workshop. 

Again, the atmosphere of love and respect, unity has brought all these talented women together, inspired them to extend the values to community.

The workshop received very high appreciation from organizing committee and the participating members.

 

28-Day Gratitude Journaling

For LVE activists to be more connected and deeper experienced value, LVE Vietnam keep going with practicing the 28-day Gratitude Journaling. 4 series have been conducted until now.

LVE Vietnam also has very productive meetings online and offline with 175 Hospital - the biggest military hospital in the south to introduce LVE activities. The meetings help Hospital's managers to understand the important of values application for doctors and nurses. Workshop might be conducted early in June. That will be great thing to have as it will greatly help patient's treatment.

 

 

Besides the above activities, LVE Vietnam has several online and offline meeting with Digital Power Media (DPM) - A start-up company who is owner of Chich Choe - an early childhood and young learner digital education ecosystem, the first of its kind to combine education and technology for the purposes of providing truly holistic educational experiences and connecting communities.

Chich Choe is working closely with the ALIVE board and LVE Vietnam to bring Values lessons and activities to life as rich, engaging, interactive digital and physical lessons and activities, always adhering to and protecting the core values of the programme and its learning outcomes. With technology serving the core values of education, Chich Choe can also mitigate the crippling inequities of learning access and socioeconomic status, while connecting together the irreplaceable networks of meaningful relationships that every child deserves as their safety net as they bloom and develop.

Both LVE Vietnam and DPM believe that Chich Choe can help all educators, wherever they are based, and inspire them with a pedagogical programme and operational system that is capable of spreading the vision, mission and values of Living Values Education at a national scale level, and being 'glocalised' to each unique culture, while preserving its universal authenticity, purpose, and impact.

 

2022

A snapshot of Living Values Vietnam in 2022

• January - June: Six journeys of 28-Day Gratitude Journaling Practices, involved 283 participants
• February 26-27, 2022: Workshop 'Experience and Application of Living Values' for 15 Heal Coaches
• March 12, 2022: online sessions on the special topic 'Time is life' for 60 participants
• March 25, 2022: Workshop 'Decoding love' for members of Labor Union of the Urban Railway Management Company, 150 participants
• April 21-23, 2022: 3 Day training on Living Values for members of Women Empowerment Club (WEC) sponsored by US Consulate in HCMC, 25 participants
• August 18-20: Workshop for Digital Power Media (DPM) for 30 staff including 5 from Board Management
• October 15: Workshop 'Your Core Values Your Strengths' for 35 RMIT Vietnam Alumni
• October 19-20: Workshop 'Discovering and Applying Life Values' for 108 Military Hospital for 38 medical staffs

 

2022 was a very good and productive year for Living Values Vietnam as it was able to conduct many seminars, workshops. For the first time it had been approached by government agencies like the Urban Railways Management Board (UMRT), HCMC METRO and 108 Military Hospital - the biggest government military hospital in Vietnam.

 

Learning from experiences of working online, right after the New Year, Living Values Vietnam has started activities to reach out to the community. It continued to inspire people to practice the 28-day Gratitude Journaling, having more understanding about living values. It conducted 14 round (28 days per round) and attracted about 500 people to practice for the whole of 2022.

 

 

Back to normal after Covid-19, people are more conscious about health. People, especially in corporate world are more aware of the importance of keeping life in balance for their staffs. Mental and physical health are both important. More companies in Vietnam began to search for ways to help employees to improve their health, make them feel happy in workplace. Living Values have been putting in the spot for some leaders looking for deep route of peace and happiness.

 

Starting from February, when lock-down and other restrictions were just released, Living Values Vietnam held the first offline workshop for 15 health coaches to understand what living values are all about, why it was so important and how to apply it to real life.

 

 

Living Values Vietnam were very happy for the first time be able to bring values to the government enterprises. On March 25, 2022 the 'Decoding love' workshop was successfully conducted for 150 members of the Labor Union of the Urban Railway Management Company.

 

In nearly 3 hours, 'LOVE' was decoded through a variety of activities to allow participants to experience and understand the necessity of living values. Love is a very familiar concept, but love from point of view of values is very unique even for working environment like one of Urban Railway Management Company. Putting values such as Love and Gratitude into practice helps to increase peace, improve the working environment and thereby increase work efficiency. The head of the Labor Union said that they will continue to work with Living Values Vietnam to have more activities in the future.

 

 

From April 21 - 23, Living Values Vietnam has proudly brought up a third workshop at the American Center in Ho Chi Minh City for 22 talented women from batch 11 of Women's Empowerment Club (WEC) funded by The U.S. Consulate General in HCMC. Most of participants said the workshop was greater than they expected. Many people shared that for the first time that they really understood and felt by heart what living values were all about, and how it could help people to find their inner power. Again, the atmosphere of love and respect, unity has brought all these talented women together, transformed and empowered them to move forward with their two month community projects.

 

Ms. Bintu Musa-Harry, the representative of the US Consulate General in HCMC came and made a welcome speech where she expressed how she highly appreciated Living Values Vietnam's effort and thanked Ms. Bich Ha for being such a wonderful trainer.

 

 

One of the biggest and most meaningful event for Living Values Vietnam in 2022 was cooperation between Living Values Vietnam and Digital Power Media (DPM) - a start-up company who will develop special platform to bring living values to all elementary schools. MOU about cooperation has been signed by both sides and Living Values Vietnam is excited that living values will reach many schools in the near future. To support the process, Living Value Vietnam has conducted seminar on Values to 30 staff including 5 from DPM's Board Management on August 18-20.

 

 

On October 19-20, Living Values Vietnam has successfully conducted a two day workshop 'Discovering and Applying Life Values' for approx 30 medical staffs of Intensive Care Center of 108 Military Hospital. This was the very first workshop ever done by this Hospital to help participants to understand about living values, and how effectively to apply it into patient treatment while keep themselves positive and happy. Participants gave many good comments on the workshop and look forward for more workshops in the future.

 

 

Last but not least, for volunteers to be more connected and deeper experienced value, Living Values Vietnam also organized two offline sessions and one online session on the special topic 'Time is life', giving lot of valuable experience for people to manage their life in meaningful way.

 

 

2021

The director of the ALIVE Associate in Vietnam, Ha Nguyen, shares the vast reach of LVE in Vietnam, some of the wonderful effects of this approach, and research.  LVE is being implemented in drug rehabilitation centers, schools, universities and a variety of community centers including with street children. LVE trainings have taken place with 18,000 teachers, with NGOs, social workers, businesses and with the general public. A weekly television program with an LVE. Activity done by students became popular throughout the country.

Watch video here and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

 

1. Offline meeting of LVEC volunteer team - Jan 2021

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Offline meeting of LVEC volunteer team
• Date undertaken: 9 January 2021
• Attended: LVE volunteers
• How many participants/people involved: 20
• Purpose: Looking forward and experiencing further on the values

2. TTE Training - April 2021

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: 4-day TTE training
• Date undertaken: 3-4 April & 10-11 April 2021
• Attended: Kindergarden teachers at Kid's Smile School, Nghe An Province
• How many participants/people involved: 35
• Purpose: Apply LVE in teaching

3. Values Training - April 2021

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Values training
• Date undertaken: 15-16 April 2021
• Attended: Women Empowerment Club batch #10
• How many participants/people involved: 25
• Purpose: Training the values as part of women empowerment
• Details about the event: In one and half-day intensive training for 25 members of WEC, participants experienced the values of Peace, Respect, Love and skills to build a value-based atmosphere through activities facilitated by LVEC representatives.
  
  
  
  

4. Evaluating online syllabus of teaching - April 2021

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Evaluating online syllabus of teaching the values at the Open University of HCMC
• Date undertaken: April 2021
• Attended: Online team of Business Administration faculty and Technical department, Open University in HCMC
• How many participants/people involved: 8
• Purpose: Evaluation syllabus at first stage.
  
  

5. Online LVE syllabus and further support for teachers - June 2021

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Online LVE syllabus and further support for teachers at Kid'sSmile School
• Date undertaken: June 2021
• Attended: Teachers at Kid'sSmile School, Nghe An Province
• How many participants/people involved: 20
• Details about the event: Evaluation syllabus at first stage.
  
  

6. Online meeting of LVE volunteer team - May-June 2021

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Online meeting of LVEC volunteer team
• Date undertaken: 22 May, 29 May, 5 June & 23 June 2021
• Attended: LVE volunteers
• How many participants/people involved: 9 - 39
• Purpose: Sharing information about LVE activities, experiencing further on values.
  
  
  

2020

A snapshot of Living Values Vietnam in 2020

• 5-7, February, 2020: 3-day TTE training on how to apply LVE in teaching for teachers at elementary school of Wellspring International School, 42 participants
• 02 Feb, 09 May, 26 May, 16 June & 14 July 2020: 5 monthly meeting of LVEC volunteer team, 12-15 participants
• 08 June, 2020: Sharing experience in teaching values at the HCMC Open University, 30 participants
• 08 June ,2020: Evaluation session of online syllabus for teaching the values at the HCMC Open University, 8 participants
• 23 June, 2020: Offline meeting of LVEC volunteer team sharing information about future, experiencing further on the values, 15 participants
• 3-4 & 10-11 July, 2020: 4-day workshop on applying LVE for volunteers (teachers, professors, retired people, students, office workers, business people), 34 participants

 

In 2020, Living Values Vietnam has done a great job regarding monthly meetings for LVEC volunteer team. Together with training programs this is very important step to build up the resources in order to help Living Values Vietnam to reach out broadly to the community. Due to the Covid-19, the team were able to organize only 6 meetings both online & offline until July. One very special offline meeting took place at Minh Tran Garden with the participation of 15 members. It was a great day for them to be with nature, experiencing deeper on Peace value for self and Mother Earth.

 

 

In February, Living Values Vietnam has successfully conducted 3-day TTE training on how to apply LVE in teaching for teachers at elementary school of Wellspring International School. 42 teachers have attended and learned many new and valuable experiences on teaching. One senior teacher share how wonderful living values helped her to handle conflict situations among children. Many young teachers share they also apply living values in their family, teaching their own children to be more responsible, honours and friendly with people around"¦ The school's Vice Principal highly appreciated Ms. Bich Ha effort to help the school to apply living values in teaching which helped the school got lot of compliments from parents.

 

 

In June, Living Values Vietnam also been able to conduct two important activities for HCMC Open University. One was a meeting for Living values team to share experience in teaching values for the youth, the another was discussion and evaluation of online syllabus for teaching the values at the University level. The HCMC Open University's representative highly appreciated Living Values and committed to be the first university in Vietnam to apply living values as one official subject.

 

 

In July, the team has successfully conducted 3-day workshop on applying LVE. 34 people who are teachers, professors, retired people, students, office workers, business people has attended the workshop. All have proved themselves as living values activists, bringing lot of enthusiasm in applying values in to their families, companies, schools"¦

 

 

 

2019

1. TTE Training - Jan 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: 4-day TTE training
• Date undertaken: Jan 2019
• Attended: professors of Business Administration faculty, Open University in HCMC
• How many participants/people involved: 20
• Details about the event: 20 professors of Business Administration Faculty from Open University got TOF training. They planned to teach LVE to students in the year of 2020.
  
  
  

2. Value Card Giving - March 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Value cards giving
• Date undertaken: March 2019
• Attended: elderly people at Open house.
• How many participants/people involved: 60
• Our Purpose: To bring values, love, and support to elderly homeless people during Tet holidaysDetails about the event - 20 professors of Business Administration Faculty from Open University got TOF training.
• They planned to teach LVE to students in the year of 2020.

3. LVEC Team Building - March 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: LVEC team building
• Date undertaken: March 2019
• Attended by LVE volunteers include teachers, professors, retired people, students, office workers, businesspeople
• Participants/people involved: 15
• Purpose: Sharing information about LVE activities, experiencing further on the values.
  
  
  

4. Sharing LVE - April 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Sharing LVE to kindergarten teachers
• Date undertaken: April 2019
• Attended by Kindergarten teachers in Quang Tri and Tra Vinh provinces
• Participants/people involved: 60
• Purpose: Sharing information about LVE activities, experiencing further on the values.

5. LVEC Team Building - May 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: LVEC team building
• Date undertaken: May 2019
• Attended by volunteers include teachers, professors, retired people, students, office workers, businesspeople
• Participants/people involved: 9
• Purpose: Update of LVE activities, experiencing further on the values.

6. Sharing Values to Students - May 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Sowing a seed of love
• Date undertaken: May 2019
• Attended by students who gained CANUM scholarship 2019
• Participants/people involved: 50
• Purpose: Student experiencing Love value through activities by LVEC volunteers.

 

7. TTE Training - August 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Country: Vietnam
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: 3 day TTE training for teachers
• Date undertaken: August 2019
• Attended by: teachers at primary school of Wellspring International School
• Participants/people involved: 43
• Purpose: Train teachers to implement LVE at school.

    

8. LVEC Team Building - September 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: LVEC team building
• Date undertaken: September 2019
• Attended by LVE volunteers include teachers, professors, retired people, students, office workers, businesspeople
• Participants/people involved: 10
• Purpose: Sharing information about LVE activities, experiencing further on the values.

9. Sharing Values to Students - October 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Sowing a seed of happiness
• Date undertaken: October 2019
• Attended by students of primary and high schools
• Participants/people involved: 32
• Purpose: Student experiencing Happiness value through activities by LVEC volunteers.

10. LVEC Team Building - November 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: LVEC team building
• Date undertaken: November 2019
• Attended by LVE volunteers include teachers, professors, retired people, students, office workers, businesspeople
• Participants/people involved: 10
• Purpose: Sharing information about LVE activities, experiencing further on the values.

11. Value Card Giving - December 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: Giving Value cards
• Date undertaken: December 2019
• Attended: deaf students, patients and staff at hospital.
• How many participants/people involved: 310
• Our Purpose: Sharing love, support, and introduce LVE through Value cards.

    

12. Sharing LVE - December 2019

• Name of Associate/Focal Point: LVEC
• Name of person submitting: Nguyen Thi Bich Ha
• Type of Activity: 3-day workshop of applied LVE in business culture
• Date undertaken: December 2019
• Attended by influencers, media, business people, NGOs
• Participants/people involved: 34
• Purpose: LVE and its impacts to business and organizations.
  
  
      
   
  

 

Loving Living Values!

Although only quite recently established, the new ALIVE Associate in Vietnam, Living Values Education Centre (LVEC or Chi Hoi Khoa Hoc Tam Ly - Giao Duc Gia Tri Song in Vietnamese) has been quick to get going under the leadership of ALIVE Director Nguyen Thi Bich HA who reported briefly on some of the recent activities. These started with visiting homeless people during the New Year period in March 2019 and sharing values cards with them as well as some life-supporting gifts. In April there was a two-day workshop for 30 kindergarten teachers in Tra Vinh Province and a four-day event for 30 teachers in Quang Tri Province that was combined with Pacific Links' First Aid Training Programme for Teachers. This was followed in May by a sharing session between LVEC and a group of scholarship students.

2015/2016

The Extent of Living Values Education in Vietnam

Since the first LVE Training in Vietnam in October 2000, to the end of January 2016, LVEP in Vietnam has organized 247 trainings (from 2 to 4 days) for 18,040 educators. Hundreds of thousands of participants in Living Values Education activities include students of different ages, teachers, professors, social workers, psychologists, education researchers, youth, parents, people under drug rehabilitation and more.

Types of schools and places served:

• Kindergartens: for normal children and for children with autism
• Elementary and High schools: public, private, and international schools.
• Universities: public (Hanoi National University of Education, National University of Economics) and private (Van Hien, Thang Long universities)
• Provincial Community College
• Psychology Institute, psychology association
• Students' Culture House, Children's Culture House of HCMC
• HCMC Communist Youth Union, Provincial Women Union
• Provincial Population policy and Family Planning Agency
• International NGOs in Vietnam.
• Committee for HIV/AID, Drug Rehab Centers
• Hospitals: for children with cancers, for hospitals' staff and nurses
• Open houses for disable children, orphans
• Churches, pagoda
• TV Channels: VTV, HTV
• LVEP centers: living value cafés for public, living values courses for parents.

 

Success Stories

Story 1: Official Living Values Education course at the Faculty of Social Work at Hanoi National University of Education (HNUE)

The course "Values Orientation and Living Values Education" has been part of the curriculum of the Bachelor degree of Social Works at HNUE for more than three years. It is essential for future social workers to explore and practice living values for themselves and then, to help people in their careers. The course is 30 hours, in which 20 hours are for practicing and experiencing through group work, discussion, role play, reflection and the arts. Students find it very interesting, positive, creativeand stress-free, unlike other courses. Particularly, they find it easier to talk about 'hard-to-share' problems. Selective activities from Diane Tillman's book, "Living Values Activities for Young Adults" are used, and the focused values are Peace, Respect, Love, Tolerance, Honesty, Humility, and Responsibility. Other values are integrated throughout the course. Video clips and songs from Youtube, as well as real life situations are also used for group discussions. Ngo Thi Thanh Mai, a Master of Social Work and the professor in charge of the course, finds that besides students' personal experience, it is very important for the professors teaching the course to be an example of values while teaching and interacting with their students.

Below are sharings from students who attended this course:

Pham Thi Ly - student of Class 16
"I was so lucky to take the "Living Values Education" course as I received a lot of benefit. Anytime I studied a value, I realized how much I was still lacking. I didn't know how to tolerate, how to forgive mistakes of others or how to use the value of love with my near and dear ones. This course gave me moments of silence, and a chance to calmly think about what happens in life. I learned how to love people, and how to live my life in a meaningful way so that I can be a good citizen and contribute to the society and the community."

Le Thi Nhu Ngoc - student of Class 60
"I was so impressed by this short course. It changed my thinking and my perception in a positive way. Now I can understand more about the 12 values, especially the value of Peace. Peace is not only in the relationship out there, but also in our mind, inside each of us. I learned the skills to get inner peace, to control my emotions, anger, negative feelings, and can apply them right in my daily life. Now I understand better about life and people. I am more open and feel better about myself. I have shared with many people about this course and wish they also could have a chance to learn and experience themselves. I hope there will be more courses on values training so that everyone can join and get benefit from it."

 

Story 2: An experiment by Mr. Nguyen Duc Hiep, a veteran and well-known teacher in Physics at Wellspring International Bilingual School, HCMC

"I have been teaching physics for 34 years. Before I read many books and also watched a lot of movies about values. I felt the values but could not understand much or get inspired from them, not even living with them. Only after attending the LVE Training of Facilitators workshop and seeing the values from the trainer did I then feel that I needed to change so that I could live with the values and help other people through my way of life and my understanding of the values.

I did an experiment with two of my consecutive evening classes of the same grade. Each class has from 60 to 70 students, let's call them class A and B. For class A, I kept teaching physics as I did before. For class B I integrated physics theories with living values. As class B's time is after class A's, normally the students and I were exhausted by then. But since I changed my way of teaching with the values, we both felt as if we had more energy. There was no sign of tireness and the lessons became more interesting.

For example, when teaching interaction energy I told my students that in life each one of us is under many pressures: pressure from society to have enough skills, pressure from family, our peers, or even from ourselves. If we can direct those pressures so that they are on the same direction, which means to have power and determination, we will achieve high performance.

For the law of attraction, I talked to students about hobbies. Instead of letting ourselves fall under the attraction of temporary, negative things, students can choose to have healthy ones such as reading books or studying English, etc.

Similar to action and reaction forces in physics, there are both positive and negatives things in our life. What we need to do is to eliminate negativity and promote positivity. Instead of seeing the thorns, we should look at the buds and take good care so that they can grow into roses.

About momentum, I asked students to think of negative and positive habits. A habit is when our actions have gained momentum. Therefore students should practice acquiring positive habits, then the negative ones will automatically be replaced.

After a while, my students of class B become very enthusiastic and self-independent in studying. Their grades are quite a bit higher than the grades of class A's students. Undisciplined students also became more mature. Hearing that class B had more fun, many class A's students asked me if they could change their enrollment to class B.

I told my students that professional knowledge certainly would help in their careers. However, living values can help in all aspects of their lives as they are very important foundation.

From my experience, in order to teach living values well we need to be more sensitive and very flexible with different groups of people so that they can get maximum benefits."

 

Story 3: Living Values Education at Binh Minh Village Drug Rehab Center, HCMC.

Visitors to Binh Minh Village Drug Rehab Center in HCMC are amazed to see patients reading in a relaxed manner and walking around with smiles on their faces. They feel the secret lies in the Living Values Education program which has been applied at PLV since 2006. Binh Minh Village's English name is Peace and Light Village, or as they also call it, People and Living Values (PLV).

PLV is a private rehab center established in May 15, 2002. Using education as the key approach, the management here considers 80% of the success of the treatment process to be due to "mental therapy". Based on the results achieved since its inception, PLV now applies two education programs simultaneously to change the behavior of drug addicts: the 12-step program and the Living Values Education's program for drug rehabilitation. They have observed that these two programs together produce the best rehabilitation effect for even long-time drug users, especially during the two final stages of the rehab process: building a new life style, new behaviors, and helping peers. The LVE program has very practical skills which can be applied in reality.

The founders of PLV had attended LVE workshops conducted by Trish Summerfield since 2000. At that time, they found LVE a simple but scientific, highly educative method, which could fit quite well with Vietnamese culture, especially for drug addicts. "Living Values Activities for Drug Rehabilitation" was created in 2005. They began implementing it in 2006. By the end of 2008, the positive results had won their hearts and infused them with inspiration. They then assigned a board member to focus on LVE to become PLV's trainer of LVE.

By the end of 2015, PLV has 50 patients who achieved long-term recovery, ten times the number of 2008. All of PLV's working staff, from the managerial level to cooks, security personnel and cleaners "¦ attended LVE workshops. There are no longer watching cameras or electric shock sticks, often seen in other rehab centers. PLV maintains a friendly and cooperative atmosphere amongst its staff and patients.

Below is the story of one of PLV's former patients.

Luc Thanh Tam, 32 years old

"I started to use drugs at the age of 14, when I was in 8th grade, with my friends in the neighborhood. At the beginning, only certain sleeping pills gave me feelings of light and joy. Sometimes I slept for a few days, forgetting any problems with my family or studies. I come from a poor family. Similar to many other poor families, my parents work hard to earn some money so most of the time they let us the kids play around. In 1998, I left school and moved from smoking to injecting. To get enough money for drugs, I robbed bracelets of small pupils on bicycles, and did other bad things. I was in jail several times. In 2000, when I was 17 years old, my family took me to a drug rehab center for two months. After getting out I relapsed, went to jail, then used drugs again. I spent time at many drug rehab centers, at least six of them.

My life had slipped up and was at worst. All I had in me was bad habits and tricks, totally negative aspects of life. I felt no more interest in life. I felt desperate, lonely and felt I would not be able to find a way to get out of it until my death. I did not care for myself and ignored any advice, and the sorrow of my dear and near ones. My parents found it impossible to take care of me any longer. In 2002, I was forced to enter and stay at Duc Hanh rehab center for four years, until 2006. At that time I had been diagnosed with HIV for two months. I was seriously weak, so weak I could not take drugs. I understood that drugs would soon bring me to death, but I could not escape the desire. I felt it was my destiny. When I almost collapsed, my family brought me to Binh Minh Village (PLV). It was at the end of 2006.

To stay at PLV for a temporary recovery so that I could use drugs again was my thought. I was required to attend several courses there but didn't think it would work. While I participated in classes, I also tried to take drugs. I was caught and disciplined by PLV's management, and came in and out of the center more than 10 times. I was on the list of badly behaved patients.

In December 2008, I seriously violated PLV's regulation by fighting. The management decided to send me back to my family. My father was so angry that he decided to send me to the government's compulsory rehab Camp which is in a remote location where one is subjected to harsh conditions in the wilderness. That terrified me, so I begged my Dad and PLV's management to give me one last chance.

I started to really study the 12-step program and the Living Values Education program. This program is quite different from other programs that I studied before. I gradually absorbed it, understood my real inner self and my thinking. My life style and my behaviours started to change. From the lessons, I practiced three values in my daily life, which are Honesty, Dedication, and Humility.

I need to be honest with myself and with others so that I can receive help whenever I get into trouble. Without honesty, no real recovery can be started. I became dedicated to learning and applying what I learned with lightness and in a simple way. I now humbly listen and learn from others and my peers, how they overcame bad habits, how to receive help and was able to receive criticism from others to keep myself sober.

After 8 months of hard effort, I made progress in maintaining sobriety and passed two test periods. I was chosen for further trainings and practice to become a counselor, facilitating the 12-step program and the LVE for new patients, with my enthusiasm and friendliness.

So far I have maintained sobriety for seven years. My health has recovered. HIV no more haunts me. It still exists, but it stays at its best level and I feel healthy now. I come to class every day to help my friends, play ping pong, volleyball, aerobics, and listen to music and watch movies during entertainment time. Every week I join discussions on different topics, evaluate the study results of patients, and draw conclusions to improve PLV's performance. Sometimes I also drive a truck to deliver meals to PLV's another site when the center's driver is busy. In general, I have many things to do. I am living light for myself and for others. I see myself as a useful person and feel good about what I am doing. Especially my parents are very happy seeing me become like this. I never thought I could become like the me of today.

I can see that beside the valuable support I received from many people, my determination plays a very important role. It awoke at an appropriate time. I am so thankful to my parents, who have tried hard until the last moment, when I was at the final line. I am so thankful to all the staff at PLV, since the day I started to here. I am so thankful to Doctor Bob Smith and Mr. Wilson, who created the 12-step program. I also want to send great thanks to the Living Values Education program and to the trainers and facilitators who brought the program to PLV and served us with selflessness. And my final thanks to the key personnel of PLV.

There is still one thing I do not want to keep inside. My younger sister, Luc Y Binh became an addict when she was 14 years old because of me. She spent time at several drug rehab centers and also followed me to PLV. She has put so much effort to study. She overcame the test periods and has become a counselor for the female addicts for two years. I feel lighter as I have partially compensated for the mistake I made.

What I wrote here is all true.

I still consider myself in rehabilitation and have to keep strictly to the principles of the 12-step program as well as nurture the values inside me. Attending regular N.A. group meetings is a task I am not allowed to neglect."

 

Story 4: Living Values Education program with the orpans at Loc Tho Pagoda, Nha trang
It has been five years since the day Bao Chau, a LVE trainer met with the Pagoda's Abbot to ask her permission to teach Living Values Education and life skills to the orpans brought up by the Pagoda and poor kids in the neighborhood. Chau and her team of volunteers overcame so many difficulties, including the lack of facilities and teaching materials. From 60 kids in the first class, with warm hearts and resilient efforts, for over five years the volunteers have brought Living Values Education to 520 children, from grade 1 to grade 5. The program's scale also expanded to 50 volunteer educators; they began with only eight at the beginning. Lessons and activities' focus on Peace, Respect, Love, Cooperation, Unity, Honesty, and Responsibility. The children also learned skills such as listening, presenting, reading, thinking development, money saving and protecting the environment and animals. Besides regular classes, at special events on Christmas day, Lunar New Year, International Children Day, and Autum Moon Festival values were integrated with many activities, games, and movies for the kids.

The children are still naughy but also mindful, more positive, more tolerant, well-behaved, and kind. They know to make cards by hand for teachers, educators, and the nuns at the Pagoda on Teachers' Day, or on their monthly group birthdays. Love, the greatest value shown by the educators, gives them the faith to change.

Some time ago, the volunteer team organized a program called "My dream" in which each child could write about his or her own dream. One wrote: "I dream of sitting and watching the stars in the sky and seeing my Dad. Dear Dad, I miss you so much." In his letter he wrote that his father had died from an accident. Another child in grade 4 wrote that her dream was to grow to be a talented person and become an Abbot to take care of other orphans. Aware of seriouly sick children in hospitals who were less fortunate, they decided to make loving Pikachu for those friends. Naughty childrens sat quietly to make Pikachu with attention and love. Some even asked the volunteers for more paper so that they could make more Pikachu after class.

 

5. Stories from parents, teachers

Dang Thi Hong Nga, who has one 6-year old daughter and one 4-year old son, Thu Duc District, HCMC

"Thanks to the parenting class now I don't look at the weaknesses of my children any more. I know that what I focus on will grow. My daughter told me, 'Mom, I'd like you to come to that class more often. After you came, you stopped beating and rebuking me.' Before, I used to beat her when she made me angry. Then she would beat her younger brother. Now when I get angry, I tell her I'm sorry and she forgives me very nicely. I also talk to her and explain so that she can understand and behave better. When she was angry with her younger brother, I asked her, 'How did you feel when I was angry with you?' She said that she was very sad. I continued: 'So when you got angry with you brother, was he sad? What should you do?' She then said she was sorry to her younger brother. For other things, I discussed or negotiated with her with respect, such as if she eats slow, she's not allow to watch TV. It's quite effective."

Huynh Thi Kim Loan, a member of the staff at Hoa Mi Kindergarten, Phu Nhuan, HCMC

"Inside me there used to be sadness, and I worried about the past. There were also unhealed wounds. The LVE training gave me silent time to look into things that happened, accept and learn from them. I found out that everyone has values deep inside and I need to realize those values inside me and live with them. My inner wounds have healed since then. I have changed my job and practice looking at everything with respect. I see opportunities in my new job and am ready to learn. I learned from the trainer simplicity, tolerance, patience, and kindness. I will live with these values in my relationships with everyone".

Nguyen Thi Kiem, Sao Mai Kindergarten, Tra Vinh City

"I was so tired with my class of four-year olds. There were many undisciplined kids and their parents did not understand and were difficult toward me. After the Living Values Education Training of Facilitators sessions, I realized that I needed to give more love and attention to my pupils. I now understand that every child and every parent is unique, and they need respect. When I respected the differences and paid more attention to my pupils, they started to change. They listened to me more, became more cooperative, and more cheerful. One boy who used to shout out in class now listens attentively to stories. When the children changed, the parents started to change their attitude toward me. Everything become better and lighter."

Le Thi Diu Huyen, Vietnam Australia International School, HCMC

"After the Living Values Education TOF training, I started to teach Living Values to my little students. At first, I thought it would be hard for them to understand, but after awhile I saw that they progressed a lot. They are more aware of serving the self and behave nicely in all relationships. Especially their language skills developed quite fast. They are able to use kind words with quite deep meanings. For myself, I now listen better to their problems and have more respect towards them. That makes me feel light and happier in my interactions with the children everyday.

I was quite surprised when a parent shared with me that when she scolded her elder daughter, my student said, 'Mom, don't scold my sister, my teacher said that we have to live in peace and respect.'"

Tran Thi Hung Binh, Vietnam Australia International School, HCMC

"I participated in the Living Values Education TOF training in 2012, and first applied it to myself. I felt more peaceful and less angry with my students when they were naughty in class. I used the peaceful star lessons to encourage my most frisky student to be like the silent star in the story. He became better behaved and more cooperative.

In 2013, I taught four- to five-year old children to make a star chart based on the value of peace. They were very excited and happy when they received the values stars. I was also successful when teaching the arms to hug lesson. Through that my kids learned to control their emotions. They knew to count "1, 2, 3..." to eliminate their anger and were able to solve their problems with calmness and there was less fighting and vying for toys. They learned to share and play with others.

I believe I will continue to do well in 2014 and help my pupils be more aligned with living values."

6. Summary of Evaluation Reports: LVE Effects on Teachers and Students 3 months and 1 year after Living Values Education TOF trainings

By Axis Research Company - November, 2014

• Number of reporting forms collected from teachers: 110
• Time of TOF trainings: 2012 - 2013
• Cities: Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi
• Key values focused on in the classroom: Love (96%), Respect (94%), Honesty (66%), Responsibility (49%), Peace (44%).
• Use of LVE activities: all (23%), most (51%), some (26%)
• Duration: 5-20 minutes (82%), 21 - 40 minutes (18%)
• Frequency: Daily (23%), twice a week (23%), once a week (46%), others.
• 100% students have more self-confidence, respect toward teachers/ adults, honesty, interest in school, safe feeling physically/emotionally.
• Considerable improvement in respect toward peers, ability to resolve conflict, ability to cooperate, responsibility, ability to concentrate in class, ability to share/give opinion. Students are more united and care of each other
• 90% of teachers see positive improvement in themselves, from better to much better. They can control their emotions, and feel more peaceful, lighter, and happier.

 

Inspiring Workshops, and Special LVE Sessions with Orphans, Addicts and Parents

January 7 - 10, 2016
A four-day Living values TOF workshop took place at Kids'Smile Kindergarten school in Vinh City, Nghe, a province in the northern region of central Vietnam, was led by two trainers, Bich Ha and Thu Van. All of the school's members, including the Chairman, two Board members, the school's Headmaster, teachers, nurses, and cook attended. Kids'Smile is a newly set up kindergarten and plans to recruit students from mid-February 2016. Mr. Trinh Trong Duong, KidsSmile's Chairman, shared that he had been searching and studying many education methods for kids from different countries but was not satisfied until the day he saw the Living Values Education books in a book store. He believes that LVE is the right approach, and fits well with the culture of Vietnam. He committed to bring the values into all aspects of his school and also set a vision to expand Kids' Smile network, along with LVE, to all five provinces in the northern region of central Vietnam.

 

Living Values Facilitators' group meeting on December 5, 2015
This meeting was the third facilitators' meeting in 2015 and the fifth one since LVRC's inception, with the participation of 15 facilitators, educators from three schools, one drug rehab center, and one volunteer group. Inspired by Trish Summerfield's sharing about the letter she sent to her father three months before he passed away, each participant wrote a letter for a person he or she chose. Mr. Hiep, a veteran teacher, said that he was very moved while writing his first letter ever to his son who studies abroad. Participants were then divided into smaller groups to share and exchange their experiences with the values, their success stories during 2015, and their plans for next year. The meeting continued with Pham Thi Sen, LVRC's director, who led all participants to visualize a visit to their old age, then return and plant their own values tree. We ended singing together a song about the meaning of living life. Everyone felt so light and inspired, getting closer after the meeting. Ngan Pham, a teacher at Vietnam Australia International School, shared that every time she attended a Facilitators' group meeting, she felt as if her mind was fully charged by the atmosphere, the trainers and the volunteers at LVRC, as well as by peer educators from other schools. Thanks to that she feels that she has become a charger for her family, friends and colleagues. They recharge with her and enjoy more happiness and enthusiasm for life.

November 23-26, 2015
A four-day LVE workshop was held in Ben Tre province in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam by two trainers, Pham Thi Sen and Lai Van Anh. 150 sisters from Cai Mon Lovers of the Cross Congregation in Ben Tre and in other nearby provinces participated.

November 28, 2015
A second workshop in 2015 for parents was conducted by Pham Thi Sen, LVRC's director at Tan Phu center, HCMC. A total of 116 parents participated and gave positive feedback about the program. Some of the feedback:

Ms. Truong Thi Minh Ngoc (from Saigon Times Magazine)
I like the four roles in one: being a mother, a teacher, a friend, and a leader to help my children develop physically and mentally, give them orientation, share with them and motivate them so that they can recognize their strengths and passion. I need to apply the core values more regularly to bring peace and sustain it for my family and for myself. I am ready to practice all I have learned to improve myself so that my children and I can have a better, happy, and peaceful life.

Mr. Nguyen Tien Dung (with one daughter and one son)
The knowledge I have learned from this course is so helpful. It is knowledge which other persons might not have a chance to learn in their entire lives. I can recognize the mistakes I made with my children and from now I will listen to them, understand, share, and give them direction towards the values so that they can become valuable citizens.

Ms. Pham Tran Thanh Nhi (an IT engineer, with 2 kids)
What I like most is about building the values as the solid foundation for our children's development, rather than focusing on the upper part which are the skills. The content would be more interesting if we have more real life examples about children's behaviours.

Mr. Ho Cong Huan (Project Manager, with 2 kids)
I like the sharing part about parents' experience and problem solving. I want to introduce this workshop to parents so that they can attend. The earlier the better. It would be better for those who will soon become parents, or who have kids at kindergarten level.

September 16, 2015: Exhibition at HCMC Women Union House
LVRC had a booth at the "Women and Creativity" exhibition at HCMC Women Union House under the theme: "A peaceful space for women to nurture positivity and creativity". Three hundred representatives from different women organizations in Ho Chi Minh city visited this booth and had chance to listen to the introduction about LVE and LVRC activities, and receive free value cards.

August 05 - 09, 2015: Living Values TOF workshop at Le Loi highschool in Ha Giang, a mountainous province in the north of Vietnam
The workshop took place during a tropical cyclone and was one of the longest distances that a Living Value Trainer had traveled. Trainer Bao Chau brought smiles in the faces of 30 teachers in heavy rain and cloudy days in Ha Giang. Nguyen Thi Thu Giang, one of the participants, said: "I recognize that I became lighter and less worried. I can be me and feel that I need to change my thinking, to think, talk, and do according to the values in the relationships with my family, friends, and co