It all started in October 1998, when 10-year-old Chi Nguyen held a sale of her personal collection of Beanie Babies and homemade almond toffee to help children in her parents' home country of Vietnam. Expecting to raise just $200 from her Bay Area neighbors, she ended the day with more than five times that amount.

The following summer, she made her first visit to Vietnam and the rural village of Giai Xuan, where her donation helped build and furnish a library. She also traveled to nearby Can Tho, where she met with former street children living in an orphanage, and was touched by their resilience and strength. Chi returned home determined to do more. Emphasizing the power of education to transform lives, she focused on helping children learn and go to school.

Capitalizing on her talent as a pianist and the musical skills of her older sister and friends, Chi organized full-scale concerts that garnered support and attention, and raised funds to help the street children of Can Tho. Working with the organization Viet Nam Health Education and Literature Projects (VNHELP), her efforts have raised $31,000 to provide clothing, meals, literacy classes and basic medical needs for more than 100 orphans.

At the age of 16, Chi is already a veteran of promoting children's rights, but her drive to do more to help children in Vietnam won™t let her rest. "I now have a dream of organizing a very large benefit gala event to raise (more money) for Vietnam next year," she explains. "I know that each of these children deserves an opportunity for a better life, and I firmly believe that education will broaden their possibilities."