My Nonprofit Reviews

Here we publish a letter from one of our volunteers, Duy Lyford. The FB account Akira Nguyen mentioned in his letter was later said by Thomas Le Cao Tam that he created it, Joy missed recording the conversation though.

Duy Lyford: duy.lyford@gmail.com

To Whom It May Concern,

My name was used without permission, in stories that are not true, by a person I do not
know, Akira Nguyen. I cannot comment on all her stories I will address those that have
affected my family and the friends I’ve made through Aid for Kids.

I have known the Degenhardts for more than 20years-they were key in my adoption
(from Hanoi) and those of my 5 siblings (from Hue, Ho Chi Minh, and Phnom Penh). It
was Joy Deegenhardt who personally brought me to America at the age of six-my family
are grateful for the work Joy and the Degenhardts have done for us.

My personal relationship to AFK became more professional when I joined AFK as a
volunteer and eventually directing a project of my own design through AFK. As a
volunteer I was involved in a number of foreign aid-projects. Some of these projects
included taking dentists/dental students across Southern Vietnam to provide free dental
care for hundreds of local children. The volunteer students I worked alongside were
amazing-and their contributions to the community were immediate.

I was also involved in projects to reunite families; displaced for myriad reasons,
including adoptions. In fact, my eldest sister was able to reunite with her biological
sister in Hue on a similar project a few years earlier. I had the privilege to join the team
that would find and eventually reunite an adoptee, Rachel Shultz to her biological
Vietnamese family. This adventure will be a memory I’ll cherish forever.

It was a shock to see that Akira would accuse the Shultz family of any wrongdoing—
there are few people I hold in higher regard than the Shultz family. Through their
impressive personal fundraising efforts, a modern bridge was financed and built near
the home of Rachel’s biological family. It was a functional bridge that still stands today
and one that has transformed the lives of the local village.

The donation raised by the Shultz led to a practical solution, which resulted in immediate
and significant impact on a whole community. Rachel’s Bridge was such a thoughtful
idea and should serve as an example to all NGOs on how to use financial donations
effectively. Akira’s accusation of wrongdoing by any member of the Shultz family is
absurd.

My father died in 2010—we asked those affected by his death to withhold flowers and
instead to donate that money to AFK in his memory. I do not know how many people
contributed money in my Dad’s honor. We trusted AFK to put any donated money to
good use—my sister visited Vietnam in 2011 she visited an education center built with
financial aid from AFK. While there my sister saw a plaque with my Father’s name, hung
on the wall in his memory and thanking him for contributions.

Akira has stated that I was disappointed on my visit to Cam Ranh Bay in 2013 while
visiting a library supposedly built in my Dad’s memory—However, I have never been to
Cam Ranh Bay. This story is completely false and one that I will not forgive.
In 2013 I quit my job in the US and moved to Vietnam to lead my own education project
under the banner of AFK. It was a volunteer project in collaboration with a children’s
rehabilitation center in HCMC. The goal of the project was to provide special education
training to teachers and the staff working at the center. It was incredibly fulfilling to
work at the center.

Prior to arriving in Vietnam I had attempted to raise money for the project. Though I fell
well short of our fundraising goal of $25,000 USD—I was too excited about the project
to be disheartened. I was passionate about the good we would accomplish, and
believed once people saw the work we’d garner the financial support to fund the project
long term.

Unfortunately, after 7 months of work the money I had raised for the project was
exhausted and my own personal savings was nearly gone. With no money to continue
the Autism Education Project, and the dwindling of my own personal saving I made the
pragmatic decision to find a paying job. It was a tough choice but driven by my personal
financial well being--nothing else.

Akira has claimed in her investigation that money I had raised was misappropriated and
kept in the pockets of AFK.I did transfer all donated money that I had raised to AFK, but
they in turn transferred this money to the rehab center that provided me access as
needed. I was the only person given access to the project’s funds and can verify that all
the donated money was used as intended.

The allegations against the Degenhardts and AFK are serious and if true would be
personally heartbreaking. However, by my account there are no merits nor truth in the
stories written by this so-called “investigative journalist,” Akira Nguyen. She has not
demonstrated professional integrity nor an ability to sound out facts from fiction. Her
reporting has been ill-researched and can be easily proven as false. I question the true
nature behind her agenda as the search for truth is clearly not her priority.
Sincerely,

Duy Lyford

Date: February 19, 2016
47 Xian Yang Bei Lu Shanghai, China, 200040
Contact #: +86 136 6152 3364