Working together over the course of the 2012-13 college year, the 24 Irish Aid IDEAS fellows at the UCD business school raised over €6,300 for the Vietnamese charity 'Only Rice Is Not Enough' (ORINE). In so doing, they inspired the incoming group to continue the work, a commitment they made before even reaching Ireland.

"Deep down we all felt like we wanted it to happen. We knew about it from last year and they did brilliantly," explains Nguyen Ha Phuong, a current Masters student in Project Management at UCD. "The IDEAS cohort from last year were quite daring. We are very thankful for them kick-starting the idea, how they put it together and made it happen."

The previous group organised a diverse range of activities aimed at sharing Vietnamese culture. The largest event was held in February 2013 to celebrate Tet, Vietnamese new year. It required the group to undertake months of planning and preparation alongside their studies. Roles such as marketing were allocated in line with students’ course specialities, and the fellows also showed their versatility by contributing singing and dance performances, catering and a host of other talents to the event. The night drew an attendance of around 400 people, who also had the opportunity to avail of a quiz, a photo booth with national costumes, souvenir sales, children’s entertainment and, of course, delicious Vietnamese food.

Whilst Tet may have been the colourful centrepiece of the year’s activities, fellows did much else besides.

Returned fellow Duong Ha Phuong explained her role organising Vietnamese cookery classes: "There is quite a big community of parents who adopted Vietnamese children in Ireland. One lady helped us connect with other Irish families who wanted to learn how to cook Vietnamese food for their children in an authentic way. She was very nice to let us borrow her kitchen for several classes and we managed to raise more than 1,000 Euro."

Similarly, a number of fellows became involved in delivering language classes to the children adopted from Vietnam by Irish parents, an initiative that has been continued this year. "The Vietnamese class is more than a fundraising activity," says current fellow Vu Kim Hue. "It ‘brings’ Vietnam to the adopted children, who were born in Vietnam but do not have many chances to know about their original country. Besides, the children are so adorable and bright, which is an inspiration for our efforts."

Reflecting back on her time in Ireland, Truong Nu Dieu Linh explains the important place ORINE occupied for the group during their studies: "It meant a lot to us. It helped us glue the team together and we have a lot of great memories. Above all, we were able to help Vietnam even when we were far way. ORINE made our time in Ireland really meaningful and colorful."

Vu Thanh Mai, who coordinated the fundraising efforts, says she’s proud that ORINE Ireland achieved so much. Across all of Europe, only Germany raised more. "I just want to share our gratitude to the Irish people - our school staff, the Vietnamese adoptive community, our Irish friends - because without their support and their trust, we could not have achieved such successes for the charity."