parenting a child with special needs

in the early years our partnership was bilateral, only between ige and the institute for religious studies, when i was the director. over time, i realized that it was no longer bilateral; it had already expanded to other universities in the u.s. such as brigham young university, a leading u.s. university with regards to religion and religious laws, which i and other vietnamese universities and partners continue to affirm. there is a diversity to our collaboration that assures the success of our cooperation on the religion and rule of law project in vietnam, and possibly in the southeast asian region as a whole. the importance of the partnership, i believe, can mainly be seen through the new research directions that have come about such as religion and politics, and religion and society. these topics were critical but there was not much focus or interest before, even among the scholarly as well as political circles. the introduction of studies on religion and the rule of law as well as the practice of rule of law proved to be universally applicable and highly essential today. our partnership and projects that ensued was [and continue to be] very timely. our projects address the need to discuss religious issues in various countries and regions. this represents a strategic feature of our partnership as i mentioned previously. another aspect of the partnership i should acknowledge is ige’s leadership as we build better understanding of each other. we have all agreed that if we merely focus on theoretical research, that would be good, but not good enough.

more importantly, we should also aim for our ultimate goal to improve practice. it is the practice of true religious life that determines small or big success.

we work together to make strategic annual plans and then we implement them in a variety of ways.for example, we always seek to invite those who work on religious affairs [to participate in our religion & rule of law programs]—so that they gain better understanding and application regarding their work. academia gains improved knowledge, and above all, actual religious life improves as it helps attract religious communities, clergy, the dignitaries and the religious elites so that they can engage more and support this program. all those three groups (i.e. managers, academia, and religious people) are key target groups of the program, which makes it practical. to conclude, our partnership has helped improve the understanding, affinity and awareness regarding religion in vietnam. ultimately our partnership has contributed to positive changes and revisions of policies related to religion in vietnam.