Fifteen years ago (2004), my husband and I visited Athens the first time in celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary. It was during those days that we made decision to start up some new initiative to carry out the mission of civic education that both of us have dreamed of a few years back. We came back with a dream and a commitment to realize that dream. My husband quit his teaching job and dedicated full-time to start the non-profit. We had a dream of establishing an online institution that teaches civic education, business management, civic leadership and personal development to the general audience in Vietnam and around the world to impart knowledge in the country. We also wanted to establish an online library of translated books for 100 great books of all time into Vietnamese and make them available online for those who want to learn to download and read. We want to bring knowledge to those who might not have the conditions to go to university. We started simply with that intention and a strong commitment to make it happen. And as we build it, they would come!
Coming back to Athens this year (2019) also to celebrate our anniversary we were full of positive emotions. Fifteen years have gone by, the Institute for Civic Education in Vietnam has reached 14 years of age and it has become one of the very first online institutions for the Vietnamese audience that teaches civic education, business management, entrepreneur and leadership in Vietnam with an online library of 16 translated books from Plato, Aristotle, John Locke, Thomas Pain, J.J. Rouseau, to name a few! ICEVN has impacted more than 3000 students mostly in Vietnam, reached out to readership from 144 countries, had 2.5 million visits annually, and served a network of more than 100,000 subscribed readers from across the globe, mostly in Vietnam. It was also well known among social activists in Vietnam who are searching for training or studying material for civic engagement and civic leadership. The web site was also connected with a network of more than 160 blogs inside Vietnam to promote civic engagement and transparency in Vietnam. It has been an incredible journey for everyone involved. Scholars, community activists, youth activists, students, teachers, lawyers, reporters, women activists, and people from all walks of life showed up and together we created an incredible community of learners, teachers and practitioners who continue to strive for excellence and reaching to our best human potentials. Our life was never the same! Two years ago, I also stopped working in corporate work to dedicate full-time to this work and it has been the best two years of my life, as I align my passion for education with my work! Despite the hardship and adversities being thrown at us, we never feel so much alive!
As we came back to the original place when 2500 years ago, Aristotle defined the Greek four characters of a “good person” in his famous book “Ethics”, we felt so much grateful and connected with him and other philosophers despite the space and time difference. Human nature and human values do not change, only how we apply and practice these values and adapt them to the modern society have changed. We came back to Athens to be reconnected with these ancient philosophers, but we also came back to appreciate the decision that we made 15 years ago, without which there would be no ICEVN (www.icevn.org). When you set the intention and made a commitment to a dream, and tirelessly follow the list of actions to enable you to approach the goal of that dream, you will make it into a reality. We have experienced that throughout the past 15 years and intend to continue with a bigger dream for the next decade. We are forever grateful for the inspiration we received when we first visited Athens years ago and it came a full circle now as we came back and revisit this place. Thank you Athens, for the inspiration and the wonderful memory that made our life forever changed.
Anhlan the Coach 