An Extraordinary 19 Years

In 1990, the Vietnamese government allowed the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre Dame to open a free school for some of the poorest children in Saigon. The first 17 students were the children of prostitutes, and the first school occupied a former pigsty.

The school moved into a row of rooms in 1998, which became the Anh Linh Free School. Jerilyn Fosdick Hirsch arrived as a volunteer English teacher in March of 2004. By the fall of the same year, with her husband Bob Mac Murdo, she founded Bridges to Learning to assist the school and its children.

2017 saw the Bridges to Learning’s work expand to the Viet Anh Primary School, which serves a more economically challenged rural area.

From the beginning, Bridges to Learning has supported, financed and funded projects that nurture potential and provide opportunities to under-served students and children.

• • Supported construction on a new secondary school;
  • Helped fund construction of an elementary school with a dormitory housing for orphaned or abandoned girls;
  • Helped fund dormitory expansion to provide housing for college-age women;
  • Helped fund new dormitory housing for boys;
  • Dormitory housing provides a safe and healthy home for up to 20 people; 
  • Provide resources for a computer center at the secondary school;
  • Assisted many students to meet curriculum standards and succeed with a government standardized test. The test allows them to move forward with their education;
  • Raised $1.6 million dollars to support the students and schools;
  • Sponsors provided 1,200 years of education to children who had no other means!

Today, drawing on the strength and support of our donors, supporters, and volunteers, Bridges to Learning strives to make a lasting change in the lives of children who need help.