Michelle Obama visits Mekong Delta, promotes girls' continued education

Obama went to the southern province of Long An on behalf of the Girls Opportunity Alliance to talk with local organizations and authorities and promote continued education for girls.

She was accompanied by American actresses Julia Roberts and Lana Condor, NBC’s Today Show's co-anchor Jenna Bush Hager and Vietnamese actress Ngo Thanh Van.

Michelle Obama hugs a former student who has overcome challenges to continue her studies. Photo by VnExpress/Manh Tung.

She said she would like to see more contributions from the society to support teenage girls and would work with more celebrities to inspire people.

"I want to support local educational organizations because they know clearly the challenges that local girls have to face. We will come up with the most feasible, sustainable solutions," Obama said at the Can Giuoc High School in Long An.

She also joined a soft skills class for girls and talked with local members of Room To Read, a non-profit organization focusing on girls' education and children's literacy in Asia and Africa about how they overcame difficulties to achieve success.

The Obama Foundation had stated that she would donate more than $500,000 in proceeds from merchandise around her memoir "Becoming" to support girls’ education worldwide.

The Girls Opportunity Alliance, which was set up by the Obama Foundation in 2018, aims to support international efforts to ensure more girls have lasting access to education.

The program has contributed to providing more than 1,500 bicycles for girls in Vietnam's rural areas, allowing them to attend school more easily, thereby decreasing the dropout rate.

Obama will depart for Malaysia to attend an Obama Foundation event, set to gather 200 civic leaders from the Asia-Pacific region in Kuala Lumpur from December 10-14. Together with actress Julia Roberts, she will discuss her time in Vietnam and the journey to becoming a successful woman.