It all began in 2010 when Anh witnessed a friend in pain as her legs became disabled after a serious accident. That summer, Anh and another friend decided to found HeartSays, a charity project that raises funds for the disabled, orphans and the needy elderly.

Every weekend Anh and some friends wander around the backpackers’ area in District 1 to introduce their project and try to sell as many wristbands as possible.

“Anh is a model of a young generation who performs well in academic fields and shows sympathy to other people,” said Truong Pham Hoai Chung, a teacher at the Yola institute, where Anh took a SAT course.

Currently 15 members, including local and international youth, have raised hundreds of millions of dong for the HeartSays fund. They have donated 70 wheelchairs to a hospital in District 8, visited and given presents to an old people’s house, an orphanage and the Oncology Hospital.

“I joined Heartsays in 2011 when I learned that there are still many people who are dealing with a difficult life,” said Kim Uyen, a twelfth grader at Ernst Thalmann high school.

Besides managing her own charity program, Anh has also gotten involved in international youth conferences. Anh has been chosen by her school to attend several seminars held in Vietnam and Korea over the last few years. Last summer Anh was one of 60 delegates to join the Yale/Stanford Johnson & Johnson Global Health Scholars Program, which discusses issues on world economics, culture and society at Yale University (US).

Anh has recently been accepted into the University of Pennsylvania and Cornell University, both of which belong to the Ivy League in the US. Anh was the only Vietnamese student who was chosen for the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business, which is limited to 40 outstanding students each year.

“I hope to learn about healthcare management in developed countries to apply in Vietnam,” said the 18-year old who is fluent in both English and French.