ARISE Shines in Hanoi, Vietnam

In May 2010, the ARISE life-skills curriculum was translated into Vietnamese. This event marks a wonderful opportunity for ARISE Foundation to bring its unique program to Asia, where there is a dire need for life-skills programs for at-risk youth. KNS Center is the organization in Hanoi that will be using the ARISE life-skills curriculum with elementary-age children. KNS stands for Ky Nang Song, which means “life skills” in Vietnamese.

Tran Hong Giang, the Director of KNS, approached the founders of ARISE, Susan and Edmund Benson, in April of this year to request permission to translate the ARISE life-skills curriculum. The Bensons agreed to provide their evidence-based curriculum at no charge as long as it was used by nonprofit organizations to benefit children.

The development and use of life-skills programs for at-risk youth is still in its infancy in Vietnam.  For this reason Tran Hong Giang looked to the United States for life-skills programming. He responded to the annual birthday offer made by Mr. Benson:  nonprofit organizations worldwide are welcome to translate the ARISE curriculum and use it free of charge, as long as ARISE retains the copyright. The ARISE life-skills curriculum, an evidence-based program used for more than 20 years, was a perfect match for what KNS envisioned for their program.

“During my extensive research for advanced life-skills training curricula, which could apply to Vietnam, I was impressed by what the ARISE Life-Skills Program offers. I found that ARISE has all the valuable components I wish to apply to our life skills center in Vietnam,” said Tran Hong Giang, in one of the many emails between him and Edmund Benson.

KNS Center is managed by the Vietnam Association of Psychology and Education (VAPE). The Center opened its doors June 7, 2010. Their team consists of experienced psychologists and life-skills educators with great enthusiasm to help the at-risk youth of Vietnam. Là tổ chức Việt Nam đầu tiên sử dụng Chương trình đào tạo Kỹ năng sống tiên tiến của Hoa Kỳ, chương trình đã triển khai thành công tại toàn bộ 50 bang của Hoa Kỳ và đang được ứng dụng tại Canada, Anh, Úc, New Zealand, Nga, Trung Quốc, Singapore, vv…KNS có chương trình đào tạo đặc biệt được thiết kế riêng cho từng lứa tuổi, từ học sinh mẫu giáo tới trung học phổ thông. KNS has special training programs designed specifically for students from kindergarten to high school. Their programs promote group participation and continuous family interaction in order to sustain permanent life-skills development for the youth they serve. Học sinh được học tập, rèn luyện kỹ năng theo phương pháp giảng dạy tiên tiến, trong một môi trường học tập gần gũi và thân thiện.

Có sự tham gia, trao đổi, gắn kết tương tác liên tục với phụ huynh và nhà trường để các em phát triển bền vững những kỹ năng của mình. Since ARISE was established almost three decades ago, it has trained and certified over 5,000 group facilitators (instructors) who have taught more than 4,000,000 documented hours of ARISE life-skills lessons in Florida alone. ARISE is used across the USA and in Canada, Jamaica, England, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, New Zealand, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Bosnia, Kazakhstan, Kingdom of Bahrain, South Africa, and now Vietnam. The ARISE curriculum is also available in Spanish.