AUSTRIA: SAO BIEN Wins Vietnam’s Prestigious 2024 National Volunteer Award

Award Ceremony with Bui Quang Huy and Vu Duy Kien

The Austrian-based non-profit organization SAO BIEN - Room for Education is the first and only foreign winner registered in Vietnam

This award is a wonderful surprise and a tremendous honor, marking the culmination of an extraordinary year and serving as both a challenge and a motivation.”

— Ruediger Ruecker

VIENNA, AUSTRIA, January 10, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Austrian-based nonprofit organization SAO BIEN – Room for Education has been honored with the prestigious Vietnamese 2024 National Volunteer Award. This recognition highlights the organization’s outstanding contributions to financing and building schools for children in remote and disadvantaged areas of Southeast Asia, with a

particular focus on Vietnam. Since 2022, SAO BIEN has been recognized in Vietnam as a foreign non-governmental organization.

The Central Youth Union recognized SAO BIEN as the only foreign organization among ten awardees during a ceremony held in Lao Cai on December 29, 2024. The award was presented by Bui Quang Huy, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, Vietnam’s largest youth organization. Accepting the award on behalf of SAO BIEN, local project coordinator Vu Duy Kien expressed deep gratitude for this outstanding recognition.

SAO BIEN began its work in Vietnam in 2016, inspired by a transformative volunteering experience of its creative mind and driving force, Thomas Farthofer. Moved by the warmth and openness of the local communities, he launched a mission to create lasting educational change. “This award is a wonderful surprise and a tremendous honor, marking the culmination of an extraordinary year and serving as both a challenge and a motivation” said Ruediger Ruecker, founding president of SAO BIEN. “Our dedicated Vietnamese volunteers, organized in the national Starfish Club, are the heart and soul of our work. Their unwavering commitment deserves the highest praise.”

Over the past eight years, SAO BIEN has financed and built more than 50 schools in Vietnam, investing over 20 billion Dong and positively impacting thousands of students in remote and impoverished areas. These achievements were made possible by the dedication of private and institutional partners, such as the United Nations Women’s Guild Vienna, Mattel Asia Pacific, and the premium Vietnamese fashion brand Aristino. All SAO BIEN officials work entirely on a voluntary basis, underscoring their commitment to maximizing the impact of every contribution.