Japa Vietnam's 2004 tour took place during the month of September with the participation of 9 people, one of them an American born female university student of Vietnamese origin. As customary we run from North to South, visiting people and communities involved in alleviating poverty in the countryside as well as in the cities.

The Provincial hospital of Cao Bang, in the northern regions of North Vietnam, has a long history of promoting health among the many ethnic communities of the province that live in far away rural districts. Japa Vietnam has been cooperating and assisting various small health education programs for nurses and paramedics in rural areas, since more than 10 years ago. When we started our first contacts with the medical staff there, the hospital had only one old ambulance and we were asked to help them to obtain at least another ambulance to meet the emergency needs in the nearby region. During our visit this year we were happy to see 11 new ambulances in the parking lot of the hotel where we stopped.

About 6 years ago when we visited a rural area in the Province of Nghe An we met an architect with a deep dedication to poor people. Under his initiative, we started a pigs' raising project led by a group of women of a rural community 5 years ago. Last year most families in one village were able to raise their own piggery and increase their incomes, a literacy program had started in newly built classrooms and a different project for raising pigs begun in a village nearby.

Down south in the province of Binh Thuan, where we had been deeply involved cooperating with rural communities for more than 12 years the villagers of Tan Tao presented us with a new plan of a cow bank. We helped them to obtain 10 cows for the poorest families 5 years ago and last year 73 families owned cows that had increased to more than 125. The program had been managed by a 12-member-committee of the Catholic Church there and part of the income created a scholarship fund for dozens of children to attend school. This project drew the attention of other communities and a village 60 km far from there has decided a similar program and invited us to cooperate.

Local people know well the needs surrounding them and the assistance we can provide from Japan produces multiplying effects when we discuss the matter together and they take the initiative in the implementation of the programs. We also experience this in urban areas with regard to programs for street children and housing for the very poor.