He is Boulanger René, 79, from Belgium, currently is chairman of Les Amis de Nha Trang Association. He has been considered as grandfather of many poor children in the city for supporting them on their study way...
He is Boulanger René, 79, from Belgium, currently is chairman of Les Amis de Nha Trang Association. He has been considered as grandfather of many poor children in the city for supporting them on their study way.
According to Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial Union of Friendship Organizations Ly Ba Lin, each year, Les Amis de Nha Trang Association donates about VND200 million to support school fees for poor children in the province. Mr. Boulanger René is respected for his good heart through his meaningful charity. Recently, he has been granted certificate of merit by the provincial Study Encouragement Association for his performance in encouraging study and sponsorship.
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Boulanger René remembered his first visit to Vietnam fell in 1995 – 1997. Before that, he had known about Vietnam through stories told by his Vietnamese wife, named Nguyen Thi Kim Anh. They met each other in Belgium and had 6 children, then they moved to France. His wife died. His children have got married. Three of them live in France and the others live in Belgium. He has settled down in Nha Trang alone and chosen here as the place to live in the rest of his life. In his view, Nha Trang is a beautiful city with favorable weather and friendly people. In his house, there’s a Vietnamese palm-leaf conical hat displayed in the most easily seen place. He said that it was a souvenir of his Vietnamese wife, and it was also the symbol of Vietnam, beautiful and graceful. He loves Vietnam as well as Nha Trang for this reason.
Every day, the first thing he does is boiling water for coffee, and then checking mail. Writing mails takes him a lot of time because most of the mails are from sponsors to poor children in Nha Trang. Most of them are living in France and are members of Les Amis de Nha Trang Association. He informs them about the children’s study and the spending of donations. He also says about new needy cases and asks them to look for more sponsors. In his living room, there’s a shelf full of files, which are of children who have been supported with school fees by the association from they came to the association till they graduated college or university. There have been such 260 files, 8 of which are under his sponsorship on his retirement pension.
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| Boulanger René gives scholarship to poor pupils. |
People in Northern Vinh Hai Urban Area, Nha Trang, have been familiar with a European old man with a kind face, white hair and simple dressing going to the market or doing exercise in the park. Passengers on Vinh Hai – Nha Trang buses also usually see him when he goes to meetings, supermarkets, exhibitions or business with the provincial Union of Friendship Organizations, the unit accompanying him in organizing activities to support needy children. He said he doesn’t travel by taxi because it’s expensive, and he doesn’t care to go by motorbike.
Every year, he also spends Vietnamese Lunar New Year (Tet). He said that when his wife was alive, his family used to have full Tet with many Vietnamese dishes. But now, living alone, he has simple Tet. This Tet, he only prepared some cakes and jams for entertaining. His guests are some friends, people working in the provincial Union of Friendship Organizations, supported children and their parents.
V.M.T, born in 1992 (Phuoc Long Ward, Nha Trang), who was supported school fees from her seventh grade to university by Les Amis de Nha Trang Association and is working in Ho Chi Minh now, said, “Mr. René is very charitable to poor children. I have great gratitude to his help in supporting school fees for me. In addition, he often encouraged me to study well. If possible, I want to join his association to give a help to other needy children.”
T.T
