On the morning of August 14, at the Hall of the Nhi Truong Commune Party Committee, the Vinh Long Union of Friendship Organizations, in collaboration with Samaritan’s Purse (SP), held a meeting with the Project Management Board of the “Community is transforming to adapt and thrive” Project.

Attending the meeting were Mr. Tran Ngoc Quang, Head of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Union of Friendship Organizations; Mr. Chau Huu Tri, Director of the Agricultural Extension Center; Ms. Tran Thi Hong Huyen, Deputy Director of the Agricultural Extension Center; Mr. Phan Viet Phu, Representative of the Provincial Center for Disease Control; Mr. Le Van Phi, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Nhi Truong commune; Mr. Thach Tran Giang, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Vinh Kim commune; along with members of the Project Management Board. On the SP side, the participants were Ms. Nhu Nguyen An Linh, Southern Program Manager along with her colleagues who are coordinators and project staff of SP.

At the meeting, representatives of SP and the two units directly implementing the project, namely the Agricultural Extension Center and the Center for Disease Control, reported on the results of the implementation of the activities of the Project "Community is transforming to adapt and thrive " in the first 6 months of 2026. Accordingly, the project budget allocated for 2026 (phase 1) is 4.6 billion VND, as of June 30, 2026, the project has disbursed over 3.6 billion VND (reaching over 78% of the planned progress). In general, the project has been actively implemented with many practical activities focusing on supporting people in 02 communes of Nhi Truong and Vinh Kim such as: Capacity building training for farmers, teachers and students behavior change in clean water, sanitation and environmental hygiene, on personality development and life skills training, on business management and the model of cooperative groups and cooperatives; organize refractive examinations and grant glasses, support scholarships for disadvantaged students; support machinery and equipment for farmers in service of agricultural production; supporting vocational training for disadvantaged youth in the locality...

Speaking at the meeting, representatives of the People's Committees of Nhi Truong and Vinh Kim communes highly appreciated the results achieved by the project, as reflected in the initial positive changes in the lives of supported residents and students, while agricultural productivity had also improved significantly. On that basis, representatives of relevant units suggested that the project continue to review and remove obstacles as well as based on the actual needs of the locality to have a plan to implement activities in accordance with the project framework in the next time.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Tran Ngoc Quang, Head of the Foreign Affairs Department of the Union of Friendship Organizations, expressed his appreciation to SP for its continued partnership and support for the province. He acknowledged and highly appreciated the relevant units for making great efforts to coordinate to jointly overcome difficulties in the early stage of the project, actively implementing the project's activities with a high sense of responsibility. He suggested that the relevant units continue to strengthen coordination in the coming period to improve the effectiveness of project activities and ensure that the planned targets are achieved.

News & photos: Quoc Nhan