East Meets West Foundation

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East Meets West Foundation is a non-profit charitable organization acting in Vietnam, which describes itself as "the foundation for learning, healing and health." It was founded in 1988 by author and humanitarian Le Ly Hayslip, and is based in California, USA.

1 History
2 Mission
3 See also
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

East Meets West was established by Le Ly Hayslip, whose life story was chronicled in two books she wrote and in Oliver Stone's film, Heaven and Earth, based on her memoir When Heaven and Earth Changed Places. In 1988, she visited her native village in Ky La in Central Vietnam to begin healing of the war wounds and plant the seeds of reconciliation.

From Le Ly's early projects - Mothers Love Pediatric Clinic and Peace Village Medical Center - East Meets West emerged as a respected non-governmental organization (NGO) in Vietnam, which realized many socially important projects in the country.

In the nineties of the last century, the Foundation received a grant from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and constructed the Village of Hope, a shelter and safe heaven for 180 needy children from Central Vietnam.

In 2006, East Meets West Foundation co-organized medical equipment donation for Viet Duc Hospital in Hanoi.

[edit] Mission

The Foundation declares its belief, that every person should have access to clean water, proper medical treatment and decent education, which are estimated as fundamental elements of normal life.

It operates in the fields of public health, education, and economy aiming to help Vietnamese people to achieve self-sufficiency.

Among the key programs are: providing low-income children with a good education, clean water and vital medical care, surgery program to heal heart defects in children (Operation Healthy Heart), scholarship program to improve educational outcomes (SPELL), dental program, support for children with disabilities, innovative clean water program.

The Organization in partnership with Atlantic Philanthropies also participates in building of Vietnam’s medical and educational infrastructure, including university libraries and general hospitals. A 200-bed cardiovascular center in Hue and a twelve-story English Language training center in Da Nang were recently completed.

In the year of 2005, the Foundation spent 1,670,383 USD on its programs.^[1]