Hillarys Rotary Club awarded cafe owner with certificate of appreciation

Hillarys Rotary Club gave Mr Tran a certificate of appreciation for helping with their vital initiative.

Former club president Dick Johnson, his Vietnamese born wife Thom and other members wanted to help after seeing the work of Jo Stewart, who runs a charity in Vietnam.

The charity builds pools, trains swimming teachers and provides free lessons to children.

In 2011 and again in November last year, the club flew four Vietnamese swimming teachers to Perth and with the help of AustSwim and Mullaloo Surf Life Saving Club arranged further training.

Following the course, the teachers returned to Vietnam to pass on their knowledge to fellow instructors.

At a club presentation dinner at Kulcha in Joondalup on Tuesday night, club international director Jacquie Harry said the project had helped to decrease the number of deaths.

She said on average, nine children drowned in Vietnam each day.

‘And there are very few pools in which children can be taught to swim,’ she said.

She said the club also hosted a Vietnamese cultural night to raise funds last December, which was attended by the Vietnamese Consul General, Vietnamese community members and Rotary clubs across Perth.

The charity has now opened five pools and trained more than 50 teachers.

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