Interns from a food company in Holland were inspired to raise money for a school in the Mekong Delta by the work of a local fund to support poor students.
The bricks to build the much needed new Tran Thoi School in Cai Nuoc District, Ca Mau Province have just been delivered thanks to the goodwill and support from a group of students in Holland called the Young Waves.
The young Dutch students, who work for the Friesland Food Company, raised the money needed for the school because they heard about a program operating in Vietnam to provide poor students with their study needs.
The setting up of the program called the Firefly Light Fund was inspired by a story of a poor schoolboy called Mac Dinh Chi.
According to legend, Mac Dinh Chi (1280-1346) was born into a poor family.
He was intelligent and highly interested in learning.
But his family was too poor to buy oil and provide him a light for studying.
Chi caught fireflies and put them in an egg shell to obtain light.
A boy is happy to have a new school soon
At 24, he passed a national exam and got a degree akin to today’s doctorate, and began to work as a government official.
A subsidiary company of Friesland Foods called Dutch Lady Vietnam set up the fund to encourage young children to overcome learning difficulties.
When the Young Waves heard about the story of Chi they were very impressed.
Despite the distance and the huge difference in cultures they agreed to raise money to support the cause.
The Young Waves was started in 2005.
Interns for the group are selected by Friesland Foods.
Every week they work for three days and attend training for two.
After successfully completing their internship the company employs them full time.
They gave their free time to raise the money.
Gidion who is in charge of training at the bottling section at one of the Dutch plants said, “Our first idea was to hold a lottery. Then we thought we would suggest to our colleagues to donate a few hours pay to the fund.
“After approval by headquarters, we went ahead with our plan. Banners were made for the registration stalls for the employees to put their names down to donate a certain number of working hours.
“As Friesland Foods is a big company, a total 383 hours was soon sent to the Firefly Light Fund.”
The group organized other fund raising activities like running, playing sports and betting on weight loss.
Friesland would pay €2 (US$3.2) for every kilo an employee lost, while those who couldn’t lose weight had to give €1 ($1.6) to the fund.
The group raised €14,500 ($22,600) in a short time.
The Friesland Foods board of directors gave another €14,500 and the money was sent to Vietnam to build a school.
Friesland Foods Dutch Lady Vietnam decided to use the money to build a new secondary school in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau.
The Young Waves training program manager in Holland, Jos de Vries – Mud, was very pleased with what they could achieve.
“The fund raising exercise is a practical responsibility and part of the training program.
Some of the trainees dropped out of the course or changed to another program, but the contributions from those who finished were of great significance.
What they have done is far more than expected,” the manager said.
Speaking at the school’s ground-breaking ceremony, Friesland Foods Dutch Lady Vietnam General Director Jan Bles said, “The contributions of Young Waves members as well as Friesland Foods to the building of this new school shows that the supportive spirit of the Firefly Light Fund has radiated out from Vietnam to reach people far away.
“It is due to the sympathy and efforts of Friesland Foods employees that these poor Vietnamese children have been given a better opportunity to go to school.”
“I hope the children at this school will learn lessons of love and compassion. It will be a place where seeds of knowledge grow, helping the children to open doors to a brighter future,” Mr. Bles added.
The Firefly Light Fund was set up in 2002.
It is a charity program of Friesland Foods Dutch Lady Vietnam.
Since it was established, the fund has offered thousands of scholarships and built five schools nationwide to improve schooling for poor children.
The bricks to build the much needed new Tran Thoi School in Cai Nuoc District, Ca Mau Province have just been delivered thanks to the goodwill and support from a group of students in Holland called the Young Waves.
The young Dutch students, who work for the Friesland Food Company, raised the money needed for the school because they heard about a program operating in Vietnam to provide poor students with their study needs.
The setting up of the program called the Firefly Light Fund was inspired by a story of a poor schoolboy called Mac Dinh Chi.
According to legend, Mac Dinh Chi (1280-1346) was born into a poor family.
He was intelligent and highly interested in learning.
But his family was too poor to buy oil and provide him a light for studying.
Chi caught fireflies and put them in an egg shell to obtain light.
A boy is happy to have a new school soon
At 24, he passed a national exam and got a degree akin to today’s doctorate, and began to work as a government official.
A subsidiary company of Friesland Foods called Dutch Lady Vietnam set up the fund to encourage young children to overcome learning difficulties.
When the Young Waves heard about the story of Chi they were very impressed.
Despite the distance and the huge difference in cultures they agreed to raise money to support the cause.
The Young Waves was started in 2005.
Interns for the group are selected by Friesland Foods.
Every week they work for three days and attend training for two.
After successfully completing their internship the company employs them full time.
They gave their free time to raise the money.
Gidion who is in charge of training at the bottling section at one of the Dutch plants said, “Our first idea was to hold a lottery. Then we thought we would suggest to our colleagues to donate a few hours pay to the fund.
“After approval by headquarters, we went ahead with our plan. Banners were made for the registration stalls for the employees to put their names down to donate a certain number of working hours.
“As Friesland Foods is a big company, a total 383 hours was soon sent to the Firefly Light Fund.”
The group organized other fund raising activities like running, playing sports and betting on weight loss.
Friesland would pay €2 (US$3.2) for every kilo an employee lost, while those who couldn’t lose weight had to give €1 ($1.6) to the fund.
The group raised €14,500 ($22,600) in a short time.
The Friesland Foods board of directors gave another €14,500 and the money was sent to Vietnam to build a school.
Friesland Foods Dutch Lady Vietnam decided to use the money to build a new secondary school in the Mekong Delta province of Ca Mau.
The Young Waves training program manager in Holland, Jos de Vries – Mud, was very pleased with what they could achieve.
“The fund raising exercise is a practical responsibility and part of the training program.
Some of the trainees dropped out of the course or changed to another program, but the contributions from those who finished were of great significance.
What they have done is far more than expected,” the manager said.
Speaking at the school’s ground-breaking ceremony, Friesland Foods Dutch Lady Vietnam General Director Jan Bles said, “The contributions of Young Waves members as well as Friesland Foods to the building of this new school shows that the supportive spirit of the Firefly Light Fund has radiated out from Vietnam to reach people far away.
“It is due to the sympathy and efforts of Friesland Foods employees that these poor Vietnamese children have been given a better opportunity to go to school.”
“I hope the children at this school will learn lessons of love and compassion. It will be a place where seeds of knowledge grow, helping the children to open doors to a brighter future,” Mr. Bles added.
The Firefly Light Fund was set up in 2002.
It is a charity program of Friesland Foods Dutch Lady Vietnam.
Since it was established, the fund has offered thousands of scholarships and built five schools nationwide to improve schooling for poor children.
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