The cafeteria run by Ho Chi Minh Child Welfare Foundation is named Green Bamboo Kitchen, located on 40/34 Calmette Street, District 1. It is also known as the Green Bamboo Shelter, currently home to 19 children who were previously homeless or victims of child labor. The children would help with catering activities and chores around the cafeteria, and the profits, in turn, are used to cover their tuition fee and basic expenses.
Many adults who had been raised and provided vocational training by the shelter voluntarily came back to work here on low wages, said Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tong, Vice President of the Vietnamese-in-France Association.
The “Little Rose Shelter” (Mai am Hoa Hong nho) in District 7, where homeless or abused little girls are taken care of, also receives strong supports by the Vietnamese-French community. These philanthropists have become the shelter’s main patrons, whose help is greatly appreciated by HCMC Child Welfare Foundation, according to the Chairwoman Mrs. Luong Thi Thuan.
Besides their activities in HCMC, Vietnamese-French people also run charity projects in many remote provinces, most of them lasting 3 to 10 years. Most notably, they have supported treatment for leprosy patients in Binh Dinh; provided medical attention to victims of agent orange in Khanh Hoa; and brought clean water and no-interest loans to families in Tien Giang.
