“The Garbage Girl” and the Journey to the US Embassy Scholarship

9X "loves"... picking up trash!

Tran Thi Ngoc Linh (center) takes a photo with her friends in the ASEAN bloc at a conference on environmental protection. Photo: NVCC

The first days of August became more special for Tran Thi Ngoc Linh (1993) when she became one of 20 outstanding faces representing Southeast Asian youth to receive the YSEALI scholarship from the US Embassy for young leaders in the environmental field.

Sharing her story, Ngoc Linh said that receiving the YSEALI scholarship was truly a surprise and a happy joy, because for someone who always puts environmental issues first like Linh, she had never once thought of using environmental protection activities to apply for a scholarship.

As a former student of the Faculty of Environment at Vinh University, Ngoc Linh is very aware of the problems that the environment faces and waste is one of the big challenges. Therefore, since 2014, whenever there is a program to clean up the environment, Ngoc Linh has registered to participate.

Her turning point was in 2016, when she went to Cua Lo and witnessed the trash ruining the beach's beauty, Ngoc Linh came up with the idea of ​​connecting young people to join hands to clean up.

“From the beginning, I was determined to do it even if only a few people responded. I personally did not expect that when I called and contacted other units, departments, branches and organizations, I would receive enthusiastic support from everyone and be more successful than expected on Earth Day. Starting from here has motivated me to continue organizing more activities to clean up the environment in the future” - Ngoc Linh confided.

According to Ngoc Linh, at first everything seemed difficult, but once we actually started doing it, it turned out to be not as difficult as we imagined. The 25-year-old girl shared: “In addition to cleaning the environment, any program that my friends and I organize also wants to help people, especially young people, raise awareness and perception about protecting and preserving the environment. That is the most important thing that I and the members want to aim for.”

Currently working for an environmental NGO and continuing to be the leader of the environmental protection group Let's Do It Nghe An, Ngoc Linh still cherishes and plans to carry out many other garbage cleaning programs.

The work that Linh and her group of friends are doing seems simple, but in fact, to pursue it until today, it is a long and persistent process. Linh herself confided: “Although my parents know about my work, they often do not support their daughter picking up trash all day, doing the job of eating at home and carrying the whole load. Many times when leaving the house, the neighbors ask where their daughter is going, my parents just say that she is picking up trash. It doesn't sound very good, but then I ignore it because I know what I am doing is absolutely right.”

Scholarship for Young Leaders

Tran Thi Ngoc Linh - a girl from Nghe An was honored to become one of 20 young people from Southeast Asia to receive the YSEALI scholarship. Photo: NVCC

Talking about the YSEALI full scholarship granted by the US Embassy, ​​Ngoc Linh said that her application for the scholarship was completely by chance. While participating in the YSEALI Workshop on environmental protection in the Mekong Delta held in Can Tho, Linh was introduced to this scholarship by the members. At that time, Linh thought she was just applying to try her luck, but unexpectedly, she was selected for the final interview round in July and won this valuable scholarship.

“Because I have to go to work, I could only spare a little time to prepare my application and the interview. However, I am very satisfied with my presentation, because what I answered was based on my experiences while organizing environmental programs and raising awareness for the younger generation,” Linh said.

At the end of September, this girl will begin a new study journey in the US as well as meet with many leaders and representatives of non-governmental organizations in related fields. According to the young girl, she is going to return to "pick up trash" on a larger scale and hopes to be able to organize activities to change the awareness of more young people in protecting the environment./.

The YSEALI Young Leaders Fellowship Program focuses on civic engagement, the environment, and social entrepreneurship and economic development.
Vietnamese citizens between the ages of 18 and 25, who are university students, or have graduated from university, college or higher education institutions, have leadership abilities demonstrated through academic results, extracurricular activities or work, are interested in community activities at school, work place and locality, and have good English skills, can apply to participate in the program.

Chu Thanh