Community Service

CISS students are involved in a variety of community projects. We participate in an International Global Issues Network (GIN), fundraise for a variety of local and international charities, and have been the lead school in the annual HCMC Terry Fox Run. Many clubs have been generated by students’ commitments to a social cause: Anti Human Trafficking, Habitat for Humanity, Hand to Paw, … Such exposure to issues of social responsibility encourages students to develop their skills as global citizens while giving back to their community.

 • Terry Fox Run in November 2016, for the first time, the annual CISS Terry Fox Run was officially registered with the Terry Fox Foundation. This has allowed our school system to be recognized globally on the official Terry Fox Foundation website and more importantly, has added significant meaning and value to our students and staff in their participation in our Run. CISS is also the largest donor to the HCMC Terry Fox Run, with all funds raised from previous runs going to support the Programme in Pediatric Hematology Oncology Cancer Care in Vietnam (“Programme PHO”). The Programme PHO Consortium is a collaborative programme between the University of Medicine and Pharmacy (HCMC), UT Health Science Center (San Antonio), UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospitals (San Francisco and Oakland), Khoo Teck Puat-National University Children’s Medical Institute (Singapore), KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital (Singapore), and Institut Curie (Paris) for the purpose of building a national workforce for improving research, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes for children with cancer in Vietnam.

 • Habitat for Humanity (H4H) GIN Club has been running for 6 consecutive years. CIS was the first international school to partner with the H4H NGO. The H4H club became an inspiration to other international schools and students. Thousands of students in Vietnam are now taking part in the Habitat Young Leaders Build (HYLB). The H4H club has successfully fund raised to build three houses for underprivileged Vietnamese families in Long An province. The club continues its efforts in raising awareness about the issue of poverty and in fundraising for its fourth house to be built.

 • Buy No Rhino Campaign CISS winners of the 2017 Wild Rhino Competition were Nguyen Ha Chi (CIS) for the Senior Competition and Nguyen Dan Truc Chi (BCIS) for the Junior Competition. In 2019 two CIS Grade 11 students, Ha and Valison were each chosen to travel to South Africa and this year will carry on the tradition of the Wild Rhino Youth Ambassadors.

• Anti-Human Trafficking in May 2016, the AHT Club ventured to Cambodia to learn more about why human trafficking is an issue and met with some NGOs who have committed themselves to shutting down brothels and restoring the lives of victims. 

The GIN Saigon Conference: The Annual HCMC GIN Saigon Conference is held each spring. It usually consists of over 300 students and a dozen international schools from Vietnam, Laos, Taiwan, and possibly other countries in SouthEast Asia. CIS hosted this Conference in 2017 and 2018. During this 3-day conference, the students heard about 26 global and local issues; they participated in workshops and GANGs (Global Action Network Groups). The GANG group issues focused on: Animal Rights, Biodiversity and Ecosystems Sustainability, Education for All, Ethics of Science, Gender Equality, etc