French

Located at the end of a series of classrooms in Thu Duc City, which is under Ho Chi Minh City, a small class named The French Bakery has become home for many poor students with a desire for a better future.

Despite its small space, the class provides poor students with a valuable opportunity to secure a high-level professional skill: how to make bread.

The class, located inside the Thu Duc College of Technology, was launched with the aim of helping needy students live by themselves after finishing the training course.

“We are happy to find that the students have a passion and gain fundamental and professional knowledge in bread making from France just after being trained here for one year and a half,” said Hardiville Thi Thuy Van, country representative from the European Institute of Cooperation and Development (IECD).

“We also found that if the students are confident in communicating with others, they can make up their minds on their own.”

Choosing to be a laborer

It was 3:00 pm, six young students were squeezing white wheat flour on a big table made of stainless steel.

They were making croissants, one of the most popular types of French bread.

They are students taking part in a training course on making bread at The French Bakery.

The class, arranged in a modest space, is divided into two separate rooms equipped with modern appliances and baking tools.

All of these descriptions do not make the class differ from others.

The characteristic that makes it special is both its students and teachers are from poor families.

While most of them were born to families with many children, some of them are orphans.

They were not able to continue studying at a junior college or university because of poverty.

Tran Duy Thanh, 19, is a newcomer who enrolled in the class about three weeks ago.

During several months before being a student, Thanh was a delivery worker for a company to earn a meager income.

Thanh’s parents got divorced when he was just three years old.

He lived with his mother until she passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack.

The teenager has been left alone since then.

“I left school after completing the tenth grade to make a living as a laborer to help my mother,” Thanh told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

“When I was younger than 18 years old, I worked as a waiter in restaurants.

“Then I became a delivery worker when I was old enough for the job.”

Thanh heard of The French Bakery from one of his acquaintances.

“Despite not having any experience in making bread before, I wanted to try and secure a stable job,” he said.

Apart from the main instructor, Quentin Phillipe, a French baking expert, there are two other lecturers, Dinh Thi Truc Uyen, 25, and Nguyen Thi Nga, 24.

The two female instructors had previously ‘graduated’ from The French Bakery.

“My family has ten members, so I had to leave school after graduating from high school to work at home to help my parents,” Uyen recounted.

“Young women in my hometown — Dak Lak Province [in the Central Highlands] — often get married and have children if they cannot access higher education levels.”

That is why Uyen was excited to enroll in The French Bakery after being informed of the training course by an acquaintance.

“I was 21 years old then and felt puzzled at that time,” remembered Uyen. “I didn’t want to get married, as it was unsuitable for me then.”

Given her own difficult financial situation in the past, Uyen hopes to help as many people as possible, especially disadvantaged young people.

“I look forward to them being able to make a difference for their own life,” said Uyen.

A stable job

According to Trinh Van, a Vietnamese citizen who lives in France and serves as the information technology project manager for The French Bakery, which is technically a vocational school, the training course is meant to change an obsolete prejudice in Vietnam that considers bread making as an unstable job.

“Here, we show the students that being a baker can help them build a good future,” said Trinh Van.

“There are students who graduated from our school working at some famous bakeries, restaurants, and hotels everywhere.”

Students from three classes have graduated from The French Bakery since its launch in 2017.

The French Bakery has successfully trained nearly 40 students while around 20 others are taking the classes.

Among the graduates are some outstanding names like Hoa, who is now working for Maison Marou Bakery in Ho Chi Minh City; Thu, who is now a key employee at Bakes Saigon; and Khuong, who got a job at Fusion Resort on Phu Quoc Island just after graduating from the school in February.

On top of working in a professional environment, the students will also have many chances to meet with foreign chefs, to acquire more knowledge of other sectors relating to baking such as hospitality and cuisine, according to Trinh Van.

Ngo Van Hoang Khuong, 26, told Tuoi Tre he is content with his job at the moment.

As an orphan, Khuong was adopted by a Vietnamese citizen living in France.

His parents took him to The French Bakery to learn to make loaves of bread.

He has become a skillful baker after studying very hard for one year and a half in the class.

“I got up at 2:30 am every day to prepare for bread making,” Khuong recalled.

“At The French Bakery, I was not only taught skills of making bread but trained in getting daily work organized so I can handle everything quickly.”

The French Bakery is a school with a mission to train young people living in impoverished conditions in making bread.

The initiative was jointly launched by the IECD and the Thu Duc College of Technology.

School students are provided with accommodations and have tuition and food covered for the one-and-half-year course of study.

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Loic Desriac, a former French men’s U23 national cyclist, achieved the overall victory of the HTV Cup as the annual north-to-south tournament in Vietnam concluded in Ho Chi Minh City late on Friday morning in celebration of the Reunification Day (April 30).

Racing for Bike Life Dong Nai, the French cyclist secured the most prestigious yellow jersey of the tourney after 22 rounds.

Desriac had competed for several international cycling teams and been selected to the French men’s U23 national cycling team before relocating his career to Vietnam in 2012.

Bike Life Dong Nai also won the team championship for the best team performance throughout the total distance of 2,450 kilometers of the competition.

The results were officially announced after the final stage of the 2021 HTV Cup national cycling tournament came to an end on Friday morning.

Traffic congestion occurs on Bao Loc Pass in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam, April 30, 2021. Photo: Du Hai / Tuoi Tre

An unexpected incident happened in this last round as a traffic jam on Bao Loc Pass delayed its start for one hour on Friday morning.

As previously scheduled, the racers were expected to ride from Bao Loc City in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong to Ho Chi Minh City at 7:00 am on the same morning.

But they were stuck in traffic congestion on Bao Loc Pass, with traffic police officers and the tourney’s security forces scrambling to help them escape the situation after over an hour.

It was until 8:07 am that the cyclists were able to officially start their race.

In spite of the undesirable event, the 164-kilometer race offered spectators numerous captivating chases and breakouts.

Cyclists start racing from Bao Loc City in Lam Dong Province to Ho Chi Minh City, April 30, 2021. Photo: C.N. / Tuoi Tre

Eventually, Nguyen Minh Thien, a cyclist of 620 Chau Thoi Vinh Long, sprinted vigorously in the last kilometers to outperform other riders and reach the finish line in the first place.

In addition to recognizing Thien as the final round winner, the organizers presented the titles to Desriac and Bike Life Dong Nai for their achievements at the tourney’s closing ceremony.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Tan Hoai of Domesco Dong Thap brought home the blue jersey for the best sprinter and Javier Perez, a Spaniard racing for Ho Chi Minh City-Vinama and the defending champion, claimed the red polka dot jersey for the rider with the most mountain points.

Le Hai Dang, who was Hoai’s teammate, kept the white jersey for the best young rider.

The HTV Cup tourney has been held annually since 1989 and is considered Vietnam’s ‘Tour de France.’

In its 33rd edition, the competition took about 100 cyclists from north to south in celebration of Vietnam’s reunification on April 30, 1975.

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Homeless children in Ho Chi Minh City have been given an opportunity to learn many kinds of sport from their foreign coaches, as part of a French charitable program.

Poussières de Vie is a charity aimed at providing help and education for the most disadvantaged children in the southern hub through a series of lessons on sports, foreign languages, and computer science.

Apart from local volunteers, several foreigners have also contributed their parts to the assistance of the homeless kids.

Theo Castrogiovanni, Lucie Bayle, and Noemie Guillet, all 24 and from France, have been active contributors to the organization.

Having just graduated from their universities, the three have signed up for the charitable activities before starting a career in their home country.

Besides teaching French and English classes, the foreigners also show the children how to play a variety of sports every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning at Phu Tho Sports Center in District 11.

Despite not being professional athletes, the coaches teach lessons that are always helpful and interesting, such as taekwondo, volleyball, swimming, rugby, and others.

According to Castrogiovanni, he learned to play many types of sport when he was a student.

The French instructor stressed that it is more important that the kids have fun during their lessons.

However, those who are lazy and fail to follow the instructions of their coaches are also disciplined with push-ups, he added.

As language poses a communication barrier between the instructors and students, several Vietnamese volunteers have assisted in the interpretation.

Nguyen Van Hieu, 19, who has grown up from Poussières de Vie, has returned to help his ‘brothers’ and is currently a teaching assistant in the classes of the three French coaches.

“The instructors are very enthusiastic, approachable, and understanding, having a sincere love for the underprivileged children. They teach not only sports but also life lessons,” Hieu stated.

Not just for a better résumé

Like other young people in France, Castrogiovanni, Bayle, and Guillet spend one year after their gradation traveling and partaking in community service across the world.

The three come from different parts of the European nation but quickly became best friends after their first meeting in Vietnam.

According to Guillet, French youths between 18 and 25 years old often sign up for helpful activities to facilitate their job-seeking in the future.

However, not a better résumé but the journey and experience are what really matter, Guillet underlined.

Bayle also expressed her joy at being able to teach the Vietnamese children, considering her time at the charity a precious memory.

Meanwhile, Castrogiovanni stated he had worked at a supermarket back in his hometown for a long time to save up for a trip to Vietnam.

The foreigner had spent six months working at the Poussières de Vie office in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum before coming to Ho Chi Minh City.

He has lived and worked in the southern hub for two weeks while his two female friends have been here for more than half a year.

Founded in 2002 by Patrick Desir and Oliver Petiot, who are both from France, Poussières de Vie is based in Kon Tum and Ho Chi Minh City, supplying help to thousands of homeless children.

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Tran To Nga. (Photo: AP)

Spokesperson for the foreign ministry Le Thi Thu Hang made the statement on Thursday in a press briefing held virtually in Hanoi, in response to questions regarding Vietnam’s reaction to the decision of the court in Evry, near Paris. The court declined to even hear the case as it claimed to have no jurisdiction over the wartime actions of the US Government, ruling that the US firms were acting on orders from the US Government which was engaged in a “sovereign act”.

Vietnam as a country has suffered devastating consequences of wars, including the long-lasting and serious impacts of Agent Orange/dioxin, spokesperson Hang said.

An estimated 4 million Vietnamese people have been exposed to AO/dioxin that the US military dropped in the central and southern region of Vietnam to clear out forests where they thought northern soldiers could be hiding, while 100,000 children have suffered from deformities.

“We fully support the Agent Orange/dioxin victims in seeking legal responsibility from chemical companies that produced and sold it. We are of the view that these companies have an obligation to redress the consequences that Agent Orange/dioxin has wreaked on Vietnam,” Hang said.

Tran To Nga, a 79-year-old woman with dual citizenship in Vietnam and France, has been for the past decade seeking damages from the multinationals in recognition of severe chronic health issues as the result of exposure to the toxin.

Nga said she would continue to file an appeal.

Spokesperson Hang noted that throughout the trial, the Vietnamese embassy in France has been keeping in contact with Nga and providing necessary support when appropriate.

Earlier on Wednesday, Vietnam Association for Victims of Agent Orange/dioxin released a statement emphasising the court’s decision rejecting Nga’s lawsuit shows that it denied the right of French citizens who suffered damage from foreign legal entities to be recognised by French law.

The statement also mentioned an announcement from Nga’s lawyers in which they said the court applied an obsolete definition of the immunity of jurisdiction principle that contradicted modern principles of international and national law.

Ships monitored

Asked for Vietnam’s comments on reports claiming that nearly 300 military ships of China have been encroaching waters near Truong Sa (Spratly Islands), Hang said relevant authorities of Vietnam “constantly monitor developments in the East Sea and maintain the protection of the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over the country’s waters in line with international law and the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

The spokesperson also reiterated that Vietnam has sufficient historical evidence and legal basis to claim sovereignty over the Truong Sa islands, in accordance with international law.

“As a littoral country and a member of the 1982 UNCLOS, Vietnam is entitled to sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction over its waters as defined in conformity with 1982 UNCLOS,” Hang stressed.

Foreign arrival protocol

Regarding questions over whether the complicated COVID-19 developments in several countries might affect policy for foreign arrivals into Vietnam, spokesperson Hang said in observance of COVID-19 safety, the country has halted foreign entries, and only allowed in a limited number of categories of arrivals – including foreign investors, technicians, skilled labourers, and business managers – but they all have to strictly comply with existing health protocols.

Currently, Vietnam is setting limits for foreign arrivals, including returning Vietnamese, as the country is focusing on battling domestic outbreaks, she said.

The foreign ministry continuously keeps updated with the pandemic developments around the world, and works with relevant authorities to adjust or relax entry procedures to realise the dual goals of containing the pandemic and promoting socio-economic development.

VNS

Nga, 79, accuses 14 multinational chemical companies, including herbicide manufacturer Monsanto (now under the Bayer Group of Germany), of supplying the herbicide and defoliant chemical – Agent Orange (AO)/dioxin, which was used extensively by the US army between 1961-1971 in Vietnam, causing serious consequences for 4 million people and severely poisoning the environment.

Regarding the Crown Court of Evry City’s ruling, Nga said she was not surprised as she was prepared. The woman stated that she will appeal immediately, kicking off a new journey no matter how difficult it will be.

On the evening of May 10, a committee in support of Nga’s lawsuit will meet to discuss the upcoming strategy. A press conference will take place on the morning of May 11 with the participation of French and foreign press agencies interested in the case.

Nga emphasised she will be at the forefront of a march in Paris on May 15 to oppose Monsanto and reiterate the lawsuit.