Foster mother Diệp Thị Kim Hiền with her two Cambodian foster children, students of Phạm NgọcThạch University of Medicine and Nguyễn Tất Thành University. VNA/VNS Photo

HCM City — HCM City’s family adoption programme for Lao and Cambodian students, part of the southern metropolis’s 2020–2024 work on people-to-people diplomacy and overseas Vietnamese affairs, has made a profound impact, strengthening the three countries’ special friendship.

At a review conference of the work held on February 21, Ngô Thanh Sơn, vice president of the municipal Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee, said last year, the initiative connected 95 Vietnamese families with 127 Lao and 35 Cambodian students studying in the city, offering them valuable cultural and emotional support.

As part of the programme, the city facilitated exchange visits, including a trip to Cambodia, where adoptive families had the opportunity to meet the students' families, providing reassurance to parents about their children's well-being.

The authorities also allocated over VNĐ748 million (US$29,304) to support host families. Other notable activities included a welcome ceremony for the foreign students to meet their adoptive families, a Việt Nam-Laos-Cambodia family day, and immersive cultural experiences such as a one-day-as-a-farmer event in Cần Giờ District.

These activities provide Lao and Cambodian students with opportunities to experience Vietnamese culture firsthand, fostering deeper bonds with their host families and strengthening the spirit of solidarity among the three nations, Sơn noted.

Sengchanthavong Khemphone, a Lao student at Phạm Ngọc Thạch University of Medicine, expressed deep gratitude for the programme, calling the experience “unforgettable.” The student said it has given Lao and Cambodian students a second home while studying far from their own.

It not only provides emotional support but also deepens their understanding of Việt Nam’s people, culture, and land.

Khemphone said the group is committed to excelling in their studies so that they can contribute to their homelands and further strengthen the friendship between Laos, Cambodia, and Việt Nam. VNS