Dear Friends,

What do you think when you happen to hear about or see pictures depicting the poverty of our countrymen in Vietnam? In addition to being one of the under-developed countries in the world, our beloved Vietnam is subjected annually to all kinds of natural catastrophes such as floods, monsoons, droughts, epidemics, etc. bringing even more miseries to the people.

At the same time, as Vietnam is moving toward an open market economy, the gap between the haves and the have-nots has widden significantly. For the poor and under educated people in Vietnam, making ends meet is already a major accomplishment. We have heard of many heart-broken stories: mothers selling their new born babies to strangers in the country or abroad because they do not have adequate food and amenities to take good care of their children; young girls falling into prostitution to help their families, etc.

Undoubtedly, these extreme miseries would cause numerous social ills such as robberies, murders, wide spread prostitution, drugs, homelessness, etc.

We firmly believe that most overseas Vietnamese, who are enjoying comfortable lives, must have felt very touched when told about the sad stories above, and must have wondered what can be done to help.

What most of us often do would be sending money and medicines to relatives and friends in Vietnam. But we are fully aware that this kind of occasional assistance does not solve the poverty problem on the long term. In any country, poverty and social illnesses are often results of inadequate education.

Over several decades now, Vietnamese people in general have gained, on the world stage, high regards for their intelligence, diligence, hard working habits, and most of all their willingness to learn. These positive straits would enhance the chance of combating poverty and social illnesses in Vietnam if our countrymen are giving opportunities to advance their education.

Project Tri' Viet was created based on that observation. In the humanitarian and non-profit spirit, Tri Viet is simply an educational project. Within its framework, CRCT Vietnam Society will design and build a bilingual web-based knowledge-booster centre dedicated to sharing knowledge with Vietnamese living in Vietnam. Educated and/or experienced Vietnamese living abroad and in Vietnam would transfer their knowledge to those in need in Vietnam in a direct and practical manner by contributing their knowledge and expertise to this multi-subject database website. Those who benefit from the site can also contribute by providing feedbacks and by advising current local needs aiming at the overall improvement of living conditions in Vietnam.

To achieve that goal, CRCT Vietnam Society would like to seek participation from all those caring Vietnamese living abroad and in Vietnam. To learn more about CRCT Vietnam Society and project Tri' Viet, please visit us at www.crctvn.com or contact us at our address below.

CRCT Vietnam Society
Suite C2 - 3889 Keith Street
Burnaby, British Columbia, V5J 5K4
Canada
email: info@crctvn.com

In addition to this, CRCT Vietnam Society is organizing annual conferences to provide opportunities to participants from all over the world to have a forum for discussion, project review, planning for new projects, etc. The CRCTVN Conference 2003 will be held in British Columbia, Canada. Please visit the above website for more details.

Your active participation helps ensure this project reaches its goal in a timely manner.

We appreciate your effort in forwarding this newsletter to your friends and relatives in an effort to make project Tri' Viet a successful one.

Thank you for your time, and we looking forward to hearing from you very soon.

Yours truly,

Nguyen Cam Thanh, Co-founder
Trinh Quoc Thinh, Co-founder