Thanh Niên and Phoenix Foundation build their 10th border-area school site

A remote kindergarten in Vietnam’s Điện Biên province has reopened with new classrooms, teacher housing and upgraded facilities, marking the 10th border-area charity project organized by Thanh Niên newspaper and the Phoenix Foundation.

The Cà Là Pá site, part of Sín Thầu commune’s kindergarten school, was built in 2012. Its remote border location and harsh climate had left the facilities deteriorated, with mismatched and makeshift sections that no longer met the needs of teachers and children.

The new project covers nearly 1,000 square meters. It includes two classrooms, two rooms for teachers, a dining hall and kitchen, a tiled schoolyard, toilets, fencing, a gate, walkways and bicycle parking. Four classrooms built in earlier years were also repaired.

The Phoenix Foundation provided 2 billion Vietnamese dong after Sín Thầu’s local authorities and the Vietnam Fatherland Front called for support. Construction began on May 7, 2026, and the site was inaugurated and handed over on Aug. 30, ahead of the new school year.

Nguyễn Thanh Phượng, co-founder of the foundation, said the project reflected years of work donating educational facilities in remote and mountainous border areas. Nguyễn Ngọc Toàn, Thanh Niên’s editor-in-chief, described the journey from Ho Chi Minh City through Hanoi and Điện Biên to Sín Thầu, saying the trip showed both the country’s vast landscape and the challenges faced by the remote commune.

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With a deep sense of community responsibility, for many years the Phoenix Foundation has focused on building and donating educational facilities in especially difficult remote, mountainous and border areas.