by Daniel R. Enbysk

“The dividing line between rich and poor is education,” says Tinh, critically acclaimed guitarist and founder of the Village School Foundation, an Illinois-based non-profit organization founded in 2002. The Village School Foundation creates educational opportunities for poor families in Viet Nam by constructing new schools in rural areas where there are no schools and by providing tuition grants to underprivileged children.

Tinh’s story is one of retracing the roots of his Vietnamese heritage, dealing with the pain of memories growing up surrounded by war and by deciding that the beginning of any effort to come to terms with his feelings about these memories must start with compassion for the future generations of a country full of hope—one still dealing with the losses resulting from a war over thirty years old.

Leaving Behind a Home and a Country
Tinh was born in a rural Vietnamese village northeast of Sai Gon where his mother was involved with South Viet Nam’s war effort and traveled around the country, leaving primary care of Tinh and his younger sister to their grandmother. Tinh’s mother met and married an American who worked for the State Department while stationed in Viet Nam. Upon completion of his tour of duty, Tinh’s mother left for the U.S. with her husband and their newborn baby, leaving Tinh and his sister in the familiar care of their grandmother.

Three days before the fall of Sai Gon, Tinh and his sister were taken out of Viet Nam to join their new family in the U.S. Within three months of their arrival, the family moved to Islamabad, Pakistan. Four years later, Tinh moved with his family again to Manila, Philippines where he completed high school.

Discovering a Voice
The next stop for Tinh was Salem, Oregon, where he studied classical guitar under harp guitarist John Doan at Willamette University. During the next four years, while earning a bachelor of music degree, he began to use the guitar to express the intense emotions associated with his memories of a war-torn Viet Nam. Having difficulty expressing his emotions in words, his guitar became a way to communicate the feelings from his heart to those of the listener.

While attending Willamette, Tinh was asked to open a show for a legend folk-blues guitarist, John Fahey. The two soon became friends and John became Tinh’s mentor for years to come. John was very interested in Tinh’s personal compositions about Viet Nam and agreed to produce Tinh’s album “My Vietnamese Suite” with one condition—Tinh had to play everything, not on the nylon strings guitar he was used to, but on the steel strings guitar. Tinh returned the favor and produced John’s next album, “I Remember Blind Joe Death.”

Rediscovering a Homeland
In 1994, Tinh took the opportunity to return to Viet Nam for the first time since his departure from Sai Gon. The visit made a deep impression on him. In particular, Tinh retells the story of meeting a frail nine year old girl on the trip.

“She lived in my old neighborhood. She was small and so skinny, a gust of evening Illinois wind would push her over,” said Tinh. ”I wanted to help, so I asked my aunt about this child and this is the story I got.”

“Like many other children, she just wanted to go to school. On her first day the teacher asked for her tuition money. The little girl replied she had no money. The teacher made her stand all day in the corner of the classroom. The next day, no richer, but still eager to learn, she went back to school. When she told the teacher she had no tuition money the girl was ordered to kneel in the corner of the classroom all day.

By the third day, the teacher made the girl kneel in the corner and hold a brick in each hand. By the end of the day, the girl could not stand up nor was she able to relax her tiny, exhausted hands.”

“If you put yourself in my place, at the moment after hearing this story, I think our feelings would be the same,” says Tinh. “My aunt paid the child’s tuition even though she had a child of her own and was making less than $50 a month.”