A Brief History
Our founder and CEO, CJ van Vuuren, is a South African woman who relocated to Asia in early 2010. Raised by a family who love animals, she has always had compassion for animals.
After relocating to Asia, CJ rescued her dog from a market in Bangkok and brought him with her to Vietnam. In early 2016, CJ's friend found a litter of abandoned kittens and brought them to her. Sadly these kittens ended up fading and died soon after adoption. However, CJ did not despair. She became an active foster at a local shelter, and eventually went on to start her own campaign. AWAsome was officially launched on the 18th April 2019! The organization has since grown, becoming one of the largest cat rescue operations within Ho Chi Minh City. With a dedicated team of rescuers, fosters, adopters and pet sitters, AWAsome has become a well known organization in the city. Despite all of our members holding full time jobs alongside volunteering with us, our team managed to rescue 250 cats between April 2019 and October 2021! |