CAPE MAY – From the first time she heard about Vietnamese orphans during the 1960s, Dr. Lois Vietri’s fascination with Indochina grew over the years. It culminated in the establishment of an organization that provides education, mentoring and leadership development programs for girls and women in economically-challenged communities.
Called Women’s Empowerment and Voice (WEAV), the non-profit organization aims to educate girls and women “for the best return on investment in developing countries.”
About 75 people attended a fundraising event Oct. 23 at The Chalfonte Hotel to raise awareness and funds for scholarships for 2017.
Vietri is the organization’s executive director. The organization focuses on communities in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam because there, culture and economics tend to keep girls out of school.
“There is no universal education there,” Vietri explained, “so education is not paid for. In the Mekong Delta region where the culture is most traditional, they need the girls to work in agriculture or aquaculture, so they are home.
“Boys tend to be educated beyond primary school,” she added, “but girls from poor families tend not to be educated beyond fourth grade.”
Since establishing WEAV in 2011, the organization has sponsored over 500 scholarships to help girls complete secondary and higher education.
“The power of education is to transform lives and the prospects of girls, their families, and communities,” noted Thanh Thuy Nguyen, WEAV Washington, director. “If half the population can’t read or write are devalued and oppressed, then they are unable to contribute to society.
“Girls are worth being educated,” she said.
“When I travel back to Vietnam, I see myself and my daughter in the young girls there. It’s personal for me to help these young girls get the quality education to achieve their potential. When they develop their own potential, they are able to provide for their own family and help lift up their country,” she continued.
Vietri, who retired from teaching at the University of Maryland in 2009, teaches at Rowan University. She first went to Vietnam in 1990. She recalled that many of her male classmates were drafted in the Vietnam War, and one of her best friends “came home in a body bag in 1967; he died from friendly fire.”
Over the years as she earned her doctorate, she attended classes with Vietnam veterans and Vietnamese-Americans.
In the 1980s she was asked to write a companion course for a Public Broadcasting System (PBS) series on Vietnam. In 1984, she was teaching classes at Maryland on the politics of war.
“I got involved with a volunteer group looking to build a prosthetics factory for Vietnamese wounded,” Vietri said, “and then educating Vietnamese business owners who wanted to do business with Americans.”
This led to a partnership between the University of Maryland and the State of Maryland where Vietri got to know hundreds of people. She co-founded the Maryland Vietnam Partnership, which holds educational programs and conferences, sponsors study abroad programs and has academic exchanges of Ford, Fulbright, and Humphrey Fellows.
“Our success is due to our in-country contacts,” she said, crediting a “silent” partner who was her first translator when she visited the country. “She came to visit me here in Cape May, and we talked about what we could do. We decided to start in a small village called Can Tho, where her ancestors were from.”
Initially, they provided micro-loans to women to start businesses and scholarships for schooling. Now, the micro-loan business is self-sustaining as more than 100 women’s businesses have paid back their loans and continue to contribute to future business growth.
Last year, 100 college scholarships and 160 primary and secondary school scholarships were provided. “We could grow by 50 percent next year with our in-country support,” Vietri said, “and my full-time attention.” She plans to retire from Rowan in 2017.
“I think I was one of those attracted to the Peace Corps when I was younger,” she noted, “but I was too timid to actually join. Now, I’m working with a network of people I’ve known for over 25 years; it’s become a family affair.”
Anyone wishing to donate to WEAV may donate online at www.weav.vn or by mailing their donation to WEAV, Box 2404, Cape May, NJ 08204.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
