My grandmother was a huge inspiration to me when I was growing up and remains an inspiration to me today.

She was an Eastern homeopathic doctor. At her core, she was a truly kind hearted woman and she always put others before herself. Most people who live Vietnam have to pay out of pocket for privatized healthcare and doctor’s visits can be very expensive. All her treatments were free and she helped many people without taking any money. When I was a little girl I lived with her, helped out with the household chores and did whatever she needed me to do so that she could dedicate all her free time to her patients. There were many cases where she cured patients that doctors had turned down. My grandmother was different from anyone I’ve ever known and she always put life first; in theory and in practice.

Although she never charged for her services, she had a donation box and whatever money went in there would go to the temple to support underprivileged people in her community. She made enough money to support herself by making pillows and blankets by hand. She was an extremely talented woman. She was a vegan and she loved nature and animals. Her breakfast, lunch and dinner were usually the same; fruits and rice. For the time that I lived with her, I ate what she ate. We mediated at night for two full hours before we went to bed. She was both strict and generous and she maintained this lifestyle until her death.

I always told myself that I wanted to be just like her when I grew up. I’m so blessed with a beautiful family and my husband, Loc, who is always a huge supporter of whatever I want to do. I’m blessed with my beautiful clients that are always there to support me. They are our angels. Living in America is a true childhood dream that was realized for me and my family. We can never take anything for granted. Because I want to be a role model for my daughter Sage and to give back to those in need in a way that honors my grandmother’s memory, I have decided to start the NINI FOUNDATION.

The mission of the NINI FOUNDATION is to help ease the suffering of people that are handicapped, living in underprivileged conditions, and the elderly in Vietnam who only have a short time left to live. So many people in Vietnam are struggling with food shortages, clean water and sickness and don’t have any money for treatment.

PrivateIy my family and I have been dedicating our time and resources to this for years with donations from friends and family. We’ve built many homes and twice a year we distribute rice and noodles, medicine for sick people and diapers for children. All of the NINI FOUNDATION members in Vietnam are volunteer workers and they dedicate time to check on the families we work with regularly. There are so many more people out there that need help and doing this only with donations from a few friends leaves us with a very small budget. I believe that we must each help each other and that little by little we can make a difference in someone else’s life.
 
As a policy, 10% of NINI STYLE services and NINI SHOP proceeds go directly to families in need in Vietnam.
 
Thank you for your love and support!