By Motorbike, German Journalist Travels to Vietnam to Help Poor Children
Written by Nguyen Kim Ngan, Tran My Hang - Communications
After covering 15,000 kilometers by motorbike, Mr Lothar A. Baltrusch, a German journalist with his two friends safely arrived in Trieu Phong district in the central province of Quang Tri on July 9.
Under the project titled "Way to Huyen", their trip’s objective is to attract people’s awareness for impoverished children who live in World Vision’s working areas in the district as well as to raise funds. Baltrusch rode his motorbike from Schwerte on May 17 and went through Poland, Latvia, Russia, Mongolia, China and Laos before coming to Vietnam.
When his team reached Trieu Phong on July 9, they were warmly welcome by Huyen, her her family, respresentatives of local authority and World Vision's staff. Huyen was a bit shy when she first talked with her sponsor. The girl then showed Mr Baltrusch her family's pictures, invited him and his friends to taste traditional food that she cooked at home. She gave him a small self-made gift as her sincere thanks for his care.
On July 10, the sponsor attended the handover ceremony of a computer lab and construction which he supported for Huyen's junior secondary school. He and his friends spent time playing joyfully with all school students. Mr Baltrusch will meet children with disabilities and some families who join World Vision’s activities in the district on July 11 before his team leaves for Laos.
In Mr Baltrusch’s blog, he states, “All the money that I raise during the trip will be transferred to World Vision, who introduced me to Huyen as a sponsor four years ago, to upgrade a school at Huyen’s community in Trieu Phong. The cost for the trip is covered by myself.”
He also wrote that he already collected 16,000 EUR for his trip in Germany. On May 8, the Vice President of the German Bundestag (Parliament) Wolfgang Thierse presented a cheque worth 4,000 EUR to a Mr Baltrusch in Berlin. On the same day, Vietnam’s Minister Counsellor in Germany Bui Ngoc Toan had a talk with Mr Baltrusch and his two friends.
Lothar A Baltrusch, born in 1962, is a journalist and editor at the local radio station Antenne Unna. He is accompanied by Andreas Huelsmann và Hans Jurgen Weigt, who also have passion to traveling around.
World Vision Vietnam’s sponsorship programme is implemented across all long-term programmes and uses sponsors’ donations to improve the well-being of not only the registered children but also other poor children, their families and communities through several activities related to agriculture, education, health, childcare and protection.
Children who are registered in this programme are representatives to communicate with sponsors on the transformation of their communities. There is no difference between registered children, who correspond with donors, and other non-registered children in terms of participating in and benefiting from our programme.