Latest Foreign Assistance Briefs

- Japan’s Personal Closet M&V has held a charity party in Tokyo to raise funds for Doctor Tadashi Hattori’s charitable activities in Vietnam. The doctor has provided free eye treatment to patients in Vietnam for the last 10 years. Vietnamese Ambassador to Japan Doan Xuan Hung spoke highly of the event and thanked Hattori, the company and individuals who supported the charitable activities to bring light to many Vietnamese cataract patients. The Christmas Charity Party raised 6.5 million JPY ($81,250). Hattori, a Japanese ophthalmologist who specialises in cataract surgery, is President of the Asia-Pacific Prevention of Blindness Association (APBA). Besides providing free treatment to underprivileged Vietnamese patients, he helped train Vietnamese eye doctors and nurses, and called for the donation of medical equipment to hospitals in Vietnam. (Quan Doi Nhan Dan – People’s Army Dec 9)
- Yamaha Vietnam held a program entitled “Festive presenting 2012 Yamaha gifts – Yamaha granting safety helmets to children” on December 8th at Hermann Gmeiner school in Vinh city, Nghe An province. According to the organizing board, at the program with the message “Safety for children, future for the country”, the company granted 18,401 safety helmets, worth VND 2.3 billion, to children in Vinh city. At the event, General Director of the company Ono Masaru said that the program is to echo Decree 34 issued by the Vietnamese Government regulating that children at 7 years old or more should wear safety helmets when participating in traffic. The company hoped that the nice safety helmets would improve the public awareness and acts on traffic safety in general and safety for children participating in traffic in particular. (Quan Doi Nhan Dan – People’s Army Dec 8)
- With the annual charity bazaar typically held in November as the main fundraising activity, the Consular Women’s Club of Ho Chi Minh City has this week donated five houses and medical facilities worth over $9,000 in total in the city. Remaining proceeds will be used for charity purposes in the coming time. (Tuoitrenews.vn Dec 7)
- Children in My Yen Commune, Thai Nguyen Province, have 10 new classrooms as a result of a project jointly funded by local authorities and the Boeing Company. The project also received in-kind contribution from the alumni network who studied in My Yen in the 60s. The $250,000 school project was officially opened today (December 6), exemplifying the public-private partnership between Dai Tu District People’s Committee, the Boeing Company and Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. Boeing representative, Kevin Heise, said these new school buildings create a richer environment for teachers and children at school and will improve the quality of teaching and learning. “My Yen Primary School was established in 1989 with eight temporary classrooms. The 10 new classrooms will help the 27 teachers and 360 students enormously. We now have enough rooms for study, library, music, drawing etc. The new school meets the national standards for primary schools, set by the Ministry of Education and Training.” My Yen School Head Master Mr Do Quang Hoc said. (dtinews.vn Dec 6)
- Tobacco giant Philip Morris International Inc., through the Vinataba - Philip Morris Limited, presented nearly VND2 billion (over $90,000) to the Can Tho City Red Cross at a ceremony in the southern city on December 4. The grant will fund the continuation of a project to build 50 charitable houses for poor households, two bridges and facilities for schools in Can Tho City until the end of 2013. Philip Morris International Inc., in co-operation with the Can Tho City Red Cross, have helped build 120 houses, supply safe water and water tanks for 650 poor households living in polluted areas and created favorable living conditions for 406 disadvantaged households to improve their living standards, with total funding of nearly VND4.9 billion ($235,000). (Nhan Dan – The People Dec 5)
- The Japanese Business Association in Vietnam and the Japanese Economic Association on Dec 3 awarded 24 scholarships to students in Vietnam’s central province of Thua Thien-Hue. The scholarships are worth $200 each, granted to outstanding students of Hue University, aim to strengthen cooperation between these associations and the university as well as between the two countries. Hue city has established cooperative relations with many cities of Japan, especially Fukuroi city in Shizuoka prefecture in supporting local educational institutions teaching Japanese language. Since 1992, 160 schools have been built in Vietnam with support from the Japanese government, providing a better learning environment for tens of thousands of children. (Nhan Dan – The People Dec 4)
- Australian Pat Farmer will run a marathon from the north to the south of Vietnam from December 9 to January 16. The journey will begin from the town of Mong Cai in northern Vietnam then head south, running through Hanoi and HCM City. The run will finish in the southern province of Ca Mau. Following the run, Farmer intends to jet ski along the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta River from Ca Mau and will finish at Nha Rong Harbour in HCM City. The main journey will cover about 80-85km a day, completing about 3,000km in 40 days. Farmer will be accompanied by Vietnamese running partner Mai Nguyen Dinh Huy. People are urged to support Farmer and help the Australian Red Cross raise $275,000 for a clean water project. (Vietnam News Dec 3)