In the largest city of Vietnam - Ho Chi Minh City - poor children who have to work from their very early ages can be found in any corner of the streets. They're called "street children". Their parents are well below the poverty level, and they cannot afford their own children's daily living expenses. The children, therefore, are forced to work on the street, selling anything they can. Even on a good day, they don't make more than one dollar.

Understanding the difficult conditions those children have to suffer, the Daughters of Charity in Ho Chi Minh City founded the School of Love, which have been a second home for many of the street children. Here they receive the education that any child at their age should receive, and most importantly, they receive love and care from every staff member of the school.

On May 17, 2007, as part of the Vietnam Study Abroad Program headed by Dr. Hung Le, students from the Psychology Department in St. John's University had a visit to the School of Love. During their visit, the students brought boxes of books on behalf of the VCDS to the children. All the books were children's books, and they're donated to us by Random House Children's Division . At VCDS, we share the compassion with the Daughters of Charity in HCM City; we believe children should receive the best facility needed for their education development. On behalf of the children in the School of Love, we would like to express the most sincere thanks to Random House Children's Division

We're also indebted to Cynthia Gordon from Random House Children's Division, who was very active in helping us collecting those children books.

More images taken from the visit (Click on the images to enlarge)

Children at the School of Love welcoming Students from St. John's University:

Graduate students distributing the books:

School children enjoying their new books!:

Thank you Random House from the School of Love (Vietnam):