Charity Project Faces Scrutiny Over Transparency Issues

The "Nuoi Em" Charity Project Faces Major Scrutiny Over Transparency Concerns

The charity project “Nuoi Em” (Raising Children) has recently come under intense scrutiny due to allegations of transparency failures. These include claims that individual children were assigned multiple sponsors and that the project's data contains inconsistencies. Hoang Hoa Trung, the founder of the initiative, announced on December 8 that all fundraising activities would be suspended and bank accounts frozen while an independent audit is conducted. This decision followed a two-day storm of criticism on social media regarding the project’s processes.

Central to the controversy is the alleged violation of the project’s core promise: that each child would be supported by only one donor through a unique identification code. The issue first came to light on December 6 when donor Alexa Phan shared her experience online. She stated that she sponsored a child in August 2022 under code NE03905, only to later discover that the same child appeared under another donor’s name. When she sought clarification, she was told her messages had gone unnoticed for nearly two years and was sent a sponsorship certificate that appeared to have been altered.

After her post circulated online, other donors, referred to as "foster siblings," began conducting their own informal checks. Preliminary findings shared within donor groups suggested more than 250 duplicated child codes, with some children reportedly linked to two to five sponsors in a single school year.

Giang Thi Lu, a child from Dien Bien province in northern Vietnam, had two different "foster siblings" providing support during the 2022–2023 school year. Photo courtesy of alexaphan’s Threads account

These findings further fueled doubts about the accuracy of the project’s database. Nguyen Huyen of Hanoi said she was shocked to find out that a child she sponsored in Dien Bien in 2024, a four-year-old, was listed as being only 57 cm tall, the same as a newborn baby. Vo Lan discovered that the third grader she was sponsoring was listed as only 90 cm tall, or the same as a two-year-old.

Lan says: "When I requested a review, I was met with an aggressive response. I stopped participating because I didn't expect them to be so unprofessional."

Though the project has grown to over 120,000 participants contributing hundreds of billions of Vietnamese dong (VND100 billion = US$3.8 million), the project admits on its website that there is "no audit" and funds still flow into Trung's personal account rather than an independent legal entity. Many donors also report being constantly badgered to pay "like debtors."

Pham Hong, a donor living in Japan, said she paid VND1.45 million in April for the new school year but was asked to pay again in October. "I feel let down. I went from being excited to visit my foster child to worrying about whether my money ever reached them," she said.

Others echoed similar frustrations. Hoang Minh, 30, and his wife from Hanoi, who have donated more than VND120 million to support 32 children, said volunteers often pushed for quick payments "like debt collectors," while inquiries went unanswered for months. Salina Nguyen said her assigned sponsorship codes changed so often that she lost track of which child she was supporting, even as payment reminders continued.

Hoang Hoa Trung, the founder of the "Raising Children" project, which has been operating since 2014. Photo courtesy of Trung

Founded in 2014 by Hoang Hoa Trung and the volunteer group Mountain Forest Light, "Nuoi Em" initially provided meals for a small number of children in remote areas. In 2018, the project adopted a technology-based "one person supports one child" model, which helped it scale rapidly nationwide. Each donor contributes VND1.45 million (about $55) per school year, with most of the funds allocated to meals and a smaller portion to school facilities. Beneficiaries are preschool and school-age children in remote highland communities who receive little or no state meal support. For the 2025–2026 school year, the project announced more than 120,000 donors supporting children in over 900 disadvantaged communes across provinces such as Dien Bien, Cao Bang, Ha Giang, Dak Lak, and Gia Lai.

Trung has received multiple honors for his volunteer work, including Vietnam Outstanding Young Face in 2019, Forbes Vietnam 30 Under 30 in 2020, and the National Volunteer Award in 2017.

Responding to donor concerns on December 7, Trung acknowledged shortcomings in volunteer conduct, including behavior that made donors feel pressured or confronted. He said the donation account has been used solely for charitable purposes since 2018, with operational costs covered by bank interest and separate sponsorships. On the issue of duplicated codes, he said no such cases had been formally recorded before December 6 and pledged a full review of the database.

Ngo Anh Tuan, founder of the fundraising platform Givenow, noted that while Vietnamese law allows individuals to organize charitable activities, strict regulations govern accounting and fundraising. Recent charity disputes, he said, suggest these rules may not always be fully followed.

As the controversy continues, educators worry most about the children who depend on the program. At Na Bung Kindergarten in northern Dien Bien province, principal Lo Thi Khoa said state support remains insufficient to meet young children’s nutritional needs. The school currently relies on "Nuoi Em" to provide additional meals for 327 pupils. "If the project stops, the children's meal portions will have to be reduced, directly affecting their attendance in class," Khoa says. The project has already transferred more than VND88 million to the school to cover meals for the first two months of the academic year, funds that have been used to pay food suppliers.