Binh Rybacki

"Binh Rybacki" (nee Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh) (1957-) is a Vietnamese social activist, founder of non-profit organization Children of Peace International for helping needy kids in Vietnam.

Biography

In 1975 at the age of 18, Binh and her relatives escaped from Saigon, which was soon captured by the forces of Northern Vietnam communist regime. After moving from one refugee camp to another the family finally settled in Colorado, USA.

There Binh Rybacki converted to Christianity and began to attend Lutheran Church, later studied at University, married and had children.

In 1993 visiting Vietnam as a translator for a medical team, Binh was deeply impressed by suffering of Vietnamese children at hospitals and on the streets. She also found one of her mother's old friends, Sister Tan, who cared for 27 orphaned children in an old monastery. Binh began to help her to care for the children even after coming back to USA.

The first attempts to help the kids of her homeland brought Binh to the creation of a humanitarian organization - Children of Peace International, which was incorporated and given non-profit status in 1996.

Binh, her husband Jack, and their sons, Preston and Spencer, made personal sacrifices to contribute to programs in Vietnam. They changed their accommodation for a smaller one and decided, that Binh's salary from her day job would go directly to COPI.

From that time and on, Binh Rybacki spent her time helping needy and poor children in Vietnam.

In 2002 she was awarded the World Service Medal by Kiwanis International. Shortly thereafter, in December of 2002 she quit Hewlett Packard after 25 years of service to devote full time efforts to caring for the women and children of Vietnam.

Activities

Binh Rybacki and her foundation are involved in a variety of humanitarian actions in Vietnam. They support schools and orpahanages with more than 4,500 children [cite web | title = DIRECTOR DEVOTES LIFE TO CHILDREN IN VIETNAM | work = Alliance for Youth Achievement | url = http://www.allforyouth.org/vietnam.html | access date = 2007-05-21] , offer scholarships and vocational training, provide small interest-free loans for the poor, supply medical equipment, training, and other support for hospitals, built Vietnam's first pediatric HIV center in Ho Chi Minh City, fund construction of clean water wells and health care for the ethnic minority communes in Northern Vietnam, organize and sponsor American medical teams delivering dental and medical care to the needy in the country.

The activist often appear as a keynote speaker at international conventions on humanitarian issues.In 2005, Binh covered the problem of women and children trafficking before the United Nations Eleventh Congress on Crime and Justice in Bangkok, Thailand, tried to persuade the Taiwan Department of Criminology to ensure stop trafficking of women from Vietnam to Taiwan. [cite web | title = Acting Boldly: Through Struggles to Service | work = Janice Miller, "Women of the ELCA" | date = 2006-09 | url = http://www.womenoftheelca.org/boldwomen/rybacki.html | access date = 2007-05-21] While in Vietnam, Binh Rybacki often saved local children from being sold into prostitution and even "purchased" children herself to let them live normal life.

See also

* Children of Peace International

References

External links

* [http://www.womenoftheelca.org/boldwomen/rybacki.html "Acting Boldly: Through Struggles to Service" by ELCA]
* [http://childrenofpeace.org Children of Peace International]