Check-in Time: 6:00pm Friday May 23
Check-out Time: 2:00pm Monday May 26, 2003
With the rising Vietnamese-American population in the US, there is a growing demand among the young to have an environment where they can get involved, develop their cultural identity awareness and learn about their cultural heritage. To develop such an environment, there is a need to build a strong group of young community activists who are equipped with good leadership skills and great enthusiasm to bring about positive changes for the community.
Although there have been many youth-led community organizations, there has not been an effort to bring them together in a unique opportunity where they can network, share their experiences and the difficulties over years of community involvement, and develop their leadership skills together.
With that in mind, the Vietnamese Culture and Science Association (VCSA) has organized the Youth Leadership Development “Len Duong” Camp. “Len Duong”, which can be interpreted as “Embark on a Journey”, is the official name of this national youth leadership development camp. It has been available to all young community activists from across the nation for the last four years (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002).
During that time, over 1300 students and/or young community activists have sharpened their community skills and realized their potential as future leaders. They return each year more motivated, more equipped for and committed to community involvement. Based on the feedback we have received from campers from across the country in the last four years, and on tracking actual community involvement, the impact of these camps has been one of the biggest success stories in the Vietnamese-American community.
The goal of VCSA’s National Youth Leadership development camp is to develop future leaders for Asian-American communities, specially focusing on Vietnamese-Americans.
The objectives of the camp are to:
Increase by 10 percent the number of campers who will be taking active leadership role after the camp (as measured by the number of youths who will become officers of their respective organizations after attending the camp);
Increase volunteerism by 20 percent (as measured by the number of youths involved in community activities after the camp);
Build a network where young people can share experiences and ideas;
Encourage friendship and open possibilities for the future collaboration of Vietnamese-American youth-led organizations across the nation in community projects; and
Build cultural heritage awareness to bridge the generation gap in the Vietnamese-American community; increase by 15 percent the number of campers who become more committed to learn about their roots and their cultural heritage.
Vietnamese-American Student Association officers for all U.S. universities, especially Houston, Dallas/Fort Worth, Austin, College Station, San Antonio, Oklahoma City, Kansas City, and Georgia.
Leaders of other youth-led organizations with a strong interest in community involvement.
Measure Success
To measure our success, we will:
Request evaluations from campers and post the results on our Web site.
Count the number of campers who become officers in their local community organizations after the camp.
Track the number of campers involved with community work and see an increased by 15 percent (i.e. 15 percent of campers after the camp are inspired to become leaders or active members in an organization); gather first-hand accounts.
Encourage campers to help organize the next camp Len Duong.
Resource Staffs:
1 - LEAP (Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, Inc). www.leap.org.
2 - Ms. Le, Duy-Loan, Texas Instruments Senior Fellow, Houston, TX.
3 - Dr. Nguyen, John C., Lighthouse Leadership Training, San Antonio, TX.
4 - Mr. Watkins, Jeff, Executive Director of YMCA International Services.
Ngoan
Le is presently the Managing Deputy Commissioner/Chief Program Officer of the
Chicago Department of Human Services. With
an annual budget of approximately $250 million, the Chicago Department of Human
Services is responsible for providing the social service safety net for Chicago
residents through Children Services, Youth Development Program, Homeless and
Domestic Violence, Crisis Intervention and Economic Development.
Prior to this position, Ngoan spent over ten years working for the State
of Illinois. She served as the
Assistant to the Secretary of the Illinois Department of Human Services, the
Deputy Administrator for the Division of Planning and Community Services of the
Illinois Department of Public Aid and Special Assistant to the Governor for
Asian American Affairs.
Ngoan also spent nine years serving as the first Executive Director of the Vietnamese Association of Illinois. She built this all volunteer organization into a nationally-known community based comprehensive social service agency providing assistance to newly arrived refugees from Southeast Asia.
A refugee from Vietnam herself, Ngoan is active with efforts to advance the Asian American community in general, and the Vietnamese community in particular. She has served on the board of many national and local organizations, including National Asian Pacific American Legal Consortium, Leadership Education for Asian Pacifics, National Immigration Forum, Asian American Institute and the United Way Council of Chicago. Ngoan was appointed by President Clinton in May of 2000 as one of the fifteen community leaders to serve on the President’s Advisory Commission for Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She was the only Vietnamese included in President Clinton’s official delegation to visit Vietnam in November 2000.
Ngoan Le received many recognition and awards for her work including the “1991 Recognition for Outstanding Contributions to the U.S.” given by the U.S. Ambassador for Refugee Affairs Jewel Lafontant-Mankarious and the “1989 - Crain’s Chicago Business, 40 Under 40 most dynamic civic and business leaders in Chicago”
Dear fellow campers,
The Vietnamese Culture and Science Association is proud to announce its 6th Annual Len Duong Camp. This is a unique opportunity for campers to meet community activists of their peers from different regions with similar interests such as volunteerism, the desire to learn and sharpen leadership skills and deep commitment to community work.
Camp Len Duong’03 is located on a very scenic camp site offered by Cordova Conference and Retreat Center in Memphis, Tenessee. Campers will be able to enjoy workshops and forums focused on leadership skills development, in addition to many exciting games, which accentuate the importance of team building and team work as well as the uniqueness of Vietnamese cultural heritage and history.
There will be a "powwow" bonfire on Saturday night for campers to share their thoughts on community involvement. On Sunday night, the always exciting and thought provoking team competitions will take place. This year is the first year camp Len Duong is delivered outside of state of Texas to outreach more youths in the Mid-West and Central Area, the program will be changed and improved a great deal and promised to be very challenging and interesting.
So plan to be there! Every day is packed with meaningful and enjoyable activities. Come and join Len Duong Camp’03 Don’t miss out this camp because it will definitely be a memorable experience that you will want to come back to, year after year.
LEN DUONG’03 LOGO DESIGN CONTEST
On the 6th anniversary
VCSA would like to announce the contest for the Design of the Logo of Youth Leadership Development Camp Len Duong’03 to be held from May 23-26, 2003 at Cordova Conference and Retreat Center.
Who can participate? Everyone who has an artistic skill in designing the logo is encouraged to participate.
When is the deadline: Submit the electronic copy with a hard copy to be sent to
Len Duong’03 Logo Contest
c/o VCSA
11554 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77072
NO LATER THAN April 21, 2003.
What is the prize? The winner will be awarded $100.00 plus free registration for Len Duong’03 camp (in the value of $100.00) and honorary mentioned in the Opening Ceremony of the Camp (if the winner chooses to attend the camp). The winning logo will be used as the official logo for Len Duong’03 camp.
All Len Duong returnees are encouraged to participate. The logo design will be selected based on the following criteria:
1. Artistic value of the design.
2. Reflection of the “Youth, Teamwork, Enthusiasm, Volunteering” Spirit of the camp for the last 5 years (a torch figure or shape is preferred).
3. Simplicity so that it can be printed on T-shirt and promotional items without any technical difficulties.
!!!!!!PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR LOGO DESIGN BEFORE APRIL 21, 2003!!!!!!
Note: Please send the soft copy in picture format such as Corel Draw (.cdr) or Illustrator (.ai) or Window Metafile (.wmf) PhotoShop (.psd or .jpeg) to camplenduong03@yahoo.com
Winning logo from previous years:
LEN DUONG’03 ESSAY CONTEST
VCSA is pleased to announce the Len Duong’03 Essay Contest with the following details:
The purpose of the contest is to encourage young community activists from across the country to share their ideals in volunteerism and to encourage them to attend Len Duong camp.
Who can participate? Everyone who is currently active in a community group and wants to attend Len Duong’03 Youth Leadership Camp is eligible to participate in the contest.
How? Write an essay of 500-1000 words in English or Vietnamese describing the reason why you want to get involved with volunteer activities and/or community services? What inspired you to get involved in the community and what is your aspiration. You might also want to mention the reason why you want to go to Len Duong camp. You might want to share your experiences from the past Len Duong camps and what impact have it given to you (for anyone who has gone to Len Duong camp before).
When? The deadline to submit the essay electronically will be April 21, 2003.
What is the prize? There will be three Prizes for the three best essays. Winners will receive FREE registration fee to Camp Len Duong’03 and a Plaque as the First Prize, Second Prize and Third Prize Winner of Len Duong essay contest. The winners will be presented the Prize at Len Duong’03 camp.
Please send in your essay and include your full name (last name, first name), your email and your home address. You can also send an electronic copy of the essay to camplenduong03@yahoo.com or send the hard copy to the following address:
Camp Len Duong’03 essay contest
c/o VCSA
11554 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77072
DIRECTION TO CAMP SITE
Cordova
Conference and Retreat Center
849 Rocky Point Road
Cordova, Tennessee 38018
(901) 754-7028
Click here to tour around Memphis/Tennessee
From Main point intersection
If you get lost, please call the Camp office, 24 hours:
(901) 754-7028
NIGHT EMERGENCY
(949) 394-8726
OR
Camp Organizing Committee Emergency
(901) 550-3601
To avoid the Memorial Day traffic jams, we highly recommend that you depart for camp at the earliest possible.
Airport pick up schedule
Out of town campers who plan to come to Len Duong camp can book your flight to Memphis (MEM) airport. The Transportation team will pick up campers according to the following schedule:
Friday May 23:
12:00noon
3:00pm
6:00pm
9:00pm
Please book your flights around that schedule. Email your flight schedule to the transportation team at transportation@vhkhvn.org.
May
7, 2003Fill out the Online Registration above and mail-in the payment (write down the Confirmation Number on your check upon receiving the confirmation number from the camp staff). Check should be made payable to Vietnamese Culture and Science Association) and mail it as soon as possible after registered online to:
Vietnamese Culture and Science Association
c/o Len Duong Camp
11554 Bellaire Blvd
Houston, TX 77072
For more information,
please contact your areaAustin, TX |
||
| Tuong Vu Nguyen |
(512) 899-2308 | tuongvu_nguyen@yahoo.com |
| Chicago, IL | ||
| Do Bang Lang |
(773) 549-1984 | banglangd@yahoo.com |
| College Station, TX | ||
| James Tran (Texas A&M) |
(979) 847-3803 | JamesTranUSA@yahoo.com |
| Dallas/Fort Worth, TX | ||
| An Thuy Nguyen |
(214) 755-0135 | nguyenat1@yahoo.com |
| Florida | ||
| Lan Anh Le |
(321) 207-0330 | minhVlananh@msn.com |
| Houston, TX | ||
|
Huyen Thanh Luu |
(800) 204-3649 | thanhluuhuyen@yahoo.com |
| Hoai The Nguyen |
(713) 539-1952 | thisidatinh@yahoo.com |
|
Iowa City, IA |
||
|
Ly Nguyen Vo
|
(319) 337-8606 | lynguyenvo@yahoo.com |
| Kentucky, KY | ||
| Ngan Kim Tran |
(502) 807-4554 | kimngan@win.net |
| New Orleans, LA | ||
| Daniel Francois Albert |
(504) 831-3779 | danielalbert@dotplanet.com |
| New York, NY | ||
| Bao Minh Pham |
(718) 921-7235 | mingoringo@hotmail.com |
Massachusset, MA |
||
| Hung Cong Nguyen |
wow2004@hotmail.com | |
| Memphis, TN | ||
|
Duy
Huynh |
(901) 438-4225 | deweybubba@yahoo.com |
|
Duy Minh Nguyen
|
(901) 380-1352 | mmnguyen@pcola.med.navy.mil |
| Ohio | ||
| Minh Ly Nguyen |
(216) 791-9143 | minhlyn@hotmail.com |
| Oklahoma City, OK | ||
| Dong Bui |
(405) 236-5437x202 | dbui@oica.org |
|
Los Angeles, CA |
||
|
An Nhu Huynh
|
(949) 394-8726 | nhu_an105@yahoo.com |
| Ottawa, CANADA | ||
| Thinh Minh Le |
(613) 260-7148 | minhthinh@sympatico.ca |
| Portland, OR | ||
|
Dung Luu
|
(503) 957-8968 | dakao98@yahoo.com |
| San Antonio, TX | ||
| Hy Phung Nguyen |
(210) 999-4019 | hy.nguyen@trinity.edu |
|
San Diego, CA |
||
|
Hoa Lien Vu |
(619) 459-6368 | lienhoa5951@hotmail.com |
| San Francisco, CA | ||
| Trang Thuy Pham |
(650) 497-6522 | trang.pham@leland.stanford.edu |
| Seattle, WA | ||
| Quang Tran |
(253) 639-3490 | quangqtran@hotmail.com |
|
St. Louis, MO |
||
| Dung Ngo |
(314) 303-5813 | ngod@slu.edu |
| Toronto, CANADA | ||
| An Thien Hoang Vo |
(416) 781-6806 | ann.vo@utoronto.ca |
| Benefactors |
 |
| Patrons |
|
JP
Morgan Chase Texas Instruments |
| Sponsors |
| CenterPoint
Energy Duke Energy Corporation Electronic Data System Company |
