In the final days of November 2025, while many areas across Central and Central Highlands Vietnam were still marked by mud and damage after severe flooding, a truck quietly departed Ho Chi Minh City for the affected region. Its cargo was not commercial goods, but 15,000 brand-new notebooks, along with pens, erasers, and school supply sets bearing the logo of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade (HUIT). These essential items were contributed by the university’s faculty members, students, and benefactors, all with one shared hope: to help children in flood-hit areas continue their education and ensure that their journey to school would not be interrupted by disaster.
The main destination of the trip was Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School in the former Phu Yen area, identified as one of the schools most severely affected by the floods. During the flooding from November 19 to 21, rising water entered the school grounds and submerged many classrooms. Desks and chairs were overturned, bookshelves were soaked, and students’ textbooks, learning materials, and school bags were either swept away or badly damaged. Many students returned to class carrying empty school bags, with no notebooks left for taking notes.
In response, HUIT launched a donation campaign to collect learning materials from its staff, lecturers, students, corporate partners, and benefactors as part of the fourth “Nurturing Future Seeds” scholarship program. Within a short time, tens of thousands of notebooks, pens, backpacks, and raincoats for students were packed and prepared for delivery. The university decided to send a truck directly from Ho Chi Minh City to the former Phu Yen area, before continuing deliveries to schools in Dak Lak, Gia Lai, and Khanh Hoa, so that the gifts could reach students as quickly as possible and directly in their hands.
HUIT prepares to send relief packages to high schools in flood-affected areas
In this phase of the program, HUIT delivered 2,000 notebooks to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, the campus most heavily affected; 2,000 notebooks to Tay Son Secondary School in Quang My Hamlet, Hoa My Commune, Dak Lak Province; 1,000 notebooks to Nhon Phu Secondary School in Gia Lai Province; 1,000 notebooks and 400 pens to Phan Dang Luu Boarding Secondary School in Al Ba Commune, Gia Lai Province; 1,000 notebooks and 400 pens to Nhon Binh No. 2 Primary School in Gia Lai Province; 1,000 notebooks to Nguyen Dieu High School in Tuy Phuoc, Gia Lai Province; and 2,000 notebooks to Hoang Hoa Tham High School in Dien Khanh, Khanh Hoa Province. The remaining notebooks will be delivered to additional lower- and upper-secondary schools in the next phase.
The gifts were delivered to Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School in the former Phu Yen area
The gifts were presented to Tay Son Secondary School, Quang My Hamlet, Hoa My Commune, Dak Lak Province, in the former Phu Yen area.
At Nguyen Thi Minh Khai High School, where flood marks still remained on classroom walls, teachers recalled that many students had to help their families clean their homes and secure food before they could even think about replacing school supplies. When the HUIT team opened the boxes of notebooks in the schoolyard, many students stood watching quietly, gently touching the new notebook covers as though afraid it might all disappear. One 10th-grade student shared emotionally, “I thought I might have to stop studying for a while because I had no notebooks left. Now that I have new ones, I can continue learning with peace of mind.”
Mr. Pham Thai Son, Director of HUIT’s Admissions and Communications Center, said: “We understand that 10,000 notebooks cannot fully make up for the losses caused by the floods, but they carry HUIT’s message that these students have not been forgotten. As long as they can still come to school and hold a notebook in their hands to continue writing their lessons, the future remains open before them.” On behalf of the university, he also expressed sincere gratitude to businesses, benefactors, and kind-hearted supporters who joined the “Nurturing Future Seeds” program and helped students in flood-affected areas return to school with renewed hope and confidence.
From a night-time truck leaving Ho Chi Minh City to fresh notebook pages opened in schoolyards still marked by mud, HUIT’s journey of sharing sends a clear message: natural disasters may damage homes and school supplies, but children’s right to education must never be washed away. In safeguarding that right, HUIT has chosen to stand as a steadfast companion to students in Central and Central Highlands Vietnam.
HUIT Website Editorial Board Admissions and Communications Center