A loving tribute to STEP's premier educator and scholarship founder, Dorothie Flieger.
Scholarships and Bicycles Since 2009
In countries where education is not free, S.T.E.P. offers grants and scholarships to orphans, street kids, and the less fortunate, thus enabling each child to become a productive member of society. Students are monitored regularly for their success in the program.
A one-year scholarship costing $175 helps to provide tuition, school supplies, and required uniforms for primary, secondary, and high school students. A college scholarship costs $225 per year.
At this time, at least 5 scholarship recipients have graduated from college and have been able to sponsor students of their own, showing how this program can go full circle. The following pictures and information highlight our scholarship ceremonies since the beginning in 2009.
October 20, 2024
Today at 9:00 am Vietnam time, our STEP group in Go Vap, Vietnam, performed a scholarship program for 36 students. On the extreme left is Tano (Pham Thanh Hung), next to him is Kim Huyen, a STEP Scholarship graduate who now sponsors kids in this group. On the far right is Pham Dung, Tano’s brother, who handles the paperwork and was the MC. Next to Dung (pronounced "Zung," as the "D" is silent) is Ghia Hahn Nguyen. Gia is our first recipient of the scholarship when we started this in 2008-09. In 2016, Gia Hanh had cancer, and we visited her in the hospital. When we came back in 2019, Ghia was upfront singing us a song, “Never Give Up,” which brought us all to tears. Ghia is now in her third year of college. On the back behind the kids, it states - Cam On !, which in Vietnamese means "Thank You". 36 kids, $13,000.00 in scholarships, and 26 bikes for transportation to school show our program lives on and thrives.
Below are four of the 5 Nguyen brothers, along with Sister Minh Chi (Tano's sister). STEP and the Tano Pham family have "adopted" them and will ensure that they are taken care of with scholarships and living supplies. "STEP is so proud of these young men who lost their parents several years back and are moving forward. Keep up the good work, young men, and know we care for you. The entire STEP team is behind you, do good and have fun, we are only 8,500 miles away, but today we are right next to you."
April 2024
Below shows a New York visit from one of our original scholarship recipients, Ngan, from Go Vap, VN. After graduating from college, she became an English/Vietnamese interpreter and educator. She now lives in Germany with her husband Rudi and son Mike, and is also fluent in German. The family traveled to NY, visiting her S.T.E.P. sponsors and the original S.T.E.P. Board members for a Vietnamese dinner. S.T.E.P. is making a difference one student at a time.
Our 2023 visit presented 34 students with scholarships who are from single-parent or no-parent households. Twenty-eight students were in need of bikes to help with their mile-plus journey to school. The students rewarded us with their heartwarming song their their beautiful smiles. Please click on the picture and raise the volume to hear.
Tano and his brother Dung continue their late father's work promoting and monitoring the necessary scholarship program for students in need in the Go Vap District.
Click the picture to the left to hear Tano summarize the scholarship program for our audience.
After the ceremony, STEP travelers share a luncheon with the students and their parents. Many STEP travelers were thrilled to share this time with the students they sponsor, meet their parents, and have interesting English conversations to get to know their students and their plans for the future.
The students are wearing white shirts, and STEP travelers are in red.
Click below to view our November 28, 2020, Flieger/Hung/STEP Scholarship Ceremony honoring 32 scholarship winners and the donation of 6 bicycles.
In 2019, the annual Flieger/Hung/S.T.E.P. Scholarship Program provided educational scholarships and school supplies for 30 students, including elementary grades through college. S.T.E.P. also purchased 15 bicycles to ease the many-mile journey to school for the students. We enjoyed a lunch with the students and their families. S.T.E.P. also helped pay for the necessary blackboards for this refurbished Queen of Parish School.
In 2018, the annual Flieger/Hung/S.T.E.P. Scholarship Program awarded academic scholarships to 30 students, comprising nine higher education students and twenty-one students in grades 1 to 12. Bicycles were also provided for transportation to school.
In 2016, S.T.E.P. awarded 25 one-year scholarships to students from single-parent households. Pictures include S.T.E.P. travelers, school officials, scholarship winners, and their families.
