ABOUT US
Who We Are
Global Village Foundation (GVF) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) NGO organization based in San Diego, California founded in 2000 by author and humanitarian Le Ly Hayslip. We are non-religious, non-political, and non-governmental. Our mission is to uplift the people of rural Vietnam and Southeast Asia through self-sustaining programs in education, healthcare, cultural preservation, and disaster relief, as well as the construction of schools and homes in impoverished regions. As volunteers working through hands-on engagement at the grassroots level, we provide valuable life lessons to both local and international recipients, encouraging literacy and supporting regional arts and culture.
Our Mission
Global Village Foundation’s mission is to advocate, educate, act, forgive, and reconcile in peace through humanitarian work. We seek to end human suffering by promoting global peace through nonviolence, and empower people to become better and stronger bridge builders with wisdom, knowledge, and compassion.
GVF has a long and fruitful history of partnerships with several international organizations, universities, and student groups. These partnerships have resulted in cultural exchanges and critical assistance to the people of Vietnam, Southeast Asia, and other countries. We aim to improve the conditions and expand the opportunities of people in difficult situations, so that they can uplift themselves from adversities towards a better future.
COVID-19 Response
The COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives in many ways, but impoverished communities have suffered greatly. Every corner of the world needs your help right now, and humanitarian outreach organizations around the world have continued to provide support. At GVF, we have responded dynamically to the changing and challenging conditions that the pandemic has created. Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic limiting international travel, we have been focused on giving back locally with a cross-cultural exchange experience here at our San Diego, California headquarters. Please see our Apprenticeship Program page for more information. We would also like to invite you to join us on our Heaven & Earth Pilgrimage: Vietnam in Spring 2022. Our pilgrimage will begin locally, expanding nationally and internationally as the conditions from the pandemic allow. For more information, please check out our Events page.
Le Ly Hayslip has proven herself to be a courageous woman of many interests and has multiple talents as a humanitarian, philanthropist, and peacemaker. Over the last 40 years, she has devoted herself to the children of Asia while building a bridge of peace between the United States and Vietnam. She is the author of two autobiographical bestsellers, “When Heaven and Earth Changed Places” and “Child of War, Woman of Peace,” which were adapted for the film “Heaven and Earth” by Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone.
Le Ly Hayslip is a Vietnamese-American who grew up in a poor village near Da Nang, Vietnam during the US / Vietnam war. Le Ly witnessed firsthand the horrors and hardship of the war in Vietnam, and overcoming all odds, moved to the US in 1970. In 1986, Le Ly returned to Vietnam and was stunned by the devastation, poverty, and disease left by the US / Vietnam War. Seeing an opportunity to make a difference, she founded The East Meets West Foundation and later the Global Village Foundation and became a bridge-builder by bringing American groups back to Vietnam to help restore her motherland and open the dialogue of peace between the two nations. By 1988, Le Ly was hosting and partnering with several international organizations, universities, and student groups from various countries to support volunteer projects, promote cultural exchanges, and provide critical assistance to the impoverished people of Vietnam, Southeast Asia, India, Sri Lanka, and many more.
In 1989, Le Ly Hayslip published her first of two best-selling autobiographical novels describing her life growing up in war-torn Vietnam – “When Heaven and Earth Changed Places”, followed by “Child of War, Woman of Peace” in 1993. Published in 17 different languages around the world, and as a rare primary source of the US / Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective, both novels made their way into the curriculum at numerous Universities across the US for Asian Studies, Woman’s Studies, Literature, and Vietnamese Conflict. In 1994, Le Ly’s autobiographical novels were adapted for the silver screen by Academy Award-winning director Oliver Stone. The film, titled “Heaven and Earth,” as well as her novels, remain among the few published sources describing life during the US / Vietnam War from the Vietnamese perspective.
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Global Village Foundation
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