"This is Xi and her sister Tra. They were born in a poor village Sapa, Vietnam. Years earlier, when they were infants, their mother was kidnapped and sold to human traffickers in China. The loss of their mother was so devastating to their family that their father developed depression and became dependant on opium to help him cope and as a result he wasn’t able to care for his young daughters.

Fortunately, they have a loving grandmother who takes care of them and does all she can to give them a happy life. Their grandmother works hard on the fields to grow crops and they all have to go and beg tourists for food and donations just to survive. They desperately want to go to school full time education instead of part time like they are now because they must help their grandmother tend to the fields so they can grow food for each other. As a result, they are unable to get the school education that they so desperately need.

Their grandmother’s health is fading with age and she cannot continue to take care of her grandchildren in the same way much longer and she fears for her grandchildren’s future. Whenever I talk with them I cannot help but cry, they have been through so much and their struggles have never ended. I hope they get the happy life that other children have because they truly deserve happiness."

- Nguyễn Thùy ,Vietnam Ambassador