French photographer helps Vietnamese disadvantaged children

After an unexpected meeting with the administrator of the Bretagne-Vietnam Association in Hue city, Emilia Jacotin, a young French photographer committed to help disadvantaged children in Vietnam by offering them half of her photo proceeds and sponsoring a child living in Hue city.

October 07, 2016 | 18:41

(VNF) - After an unexpected meeting with the administrator of the Bretagne-Vietnam Association in Hue city, Emilia Jacotin, a young French photographer committed to help disadvantaged children in Vietnam by offering them half of her photo proceeds and sponsoring a child living in Hue city.

French photographer Emilia Jacotin spent one month travelling throughout Vietnam in March to take photos of local inhabitants and landscapes that deeply amazed her.

French photographer helps Vietnamese disadvantaged children

The young French photographer Emilia Jacotin in Vietnam. (Photo courtesy of Emilia Jacotin)

One day, when she was visiting a clothes shop in Hue city, she had a chance meeting with Joseph Robino, administrator of Bretagne-Vietnam Association, who came to Vietnam from France for a mission trip.

He talked to her about the humanitarian projects of the association in central Thua Thien Hue province to help disadvantaged families in here since 1990. The association offers medical and educational support for disabled children and families in need, and contributes to economic development through the support of family agricultural projects.

Following this unexpected meeting, she began to think of contributing to help Vietnam’s disadvantaged children.

Back home in France, she organized a photo exhibition in August showcasing her 25 most beautiful photo portraits of Vietnamese people from among thousands of photos she took during her trip.

“With this exhibition, I wanted to share my impressions about the trip with the public. The exhibition had a surprising big success. Some of the visitors to the exhibition had already come to Vietnam previously. Many told me they lived a lot of emotions and memories about the country again on seeing the photos. It was very nice to see my photos evoke such strong emotions,” said the young photographer.

Emilia Jacotin (middle) with members of her family and the Bretagne-Vietnam Association at the opening of her photo exhibition "Faces of Vietnam", took place in the Brittany, France in August. (Photo courtesy of Bretagne-Vietnam Association)

Jacotin then sold her photos and donated half of the proceeds to help the Association Bretagne-Vietnam.

“Emilia was touched by our projects, and in particular the projects helping children go to school. We want to thank her deeply for her generosity. It was really kind of her,” said Joseph Robino.

“It is the first time that an artist has offered our Association part of her photo proceeds,” he added.

To continue to help disadvantaged children in Vietnam, Jacotin also decided to sponsor a child from Kim Long Ward in Hue city to ensure that he can go to school until the age of 18.

“This country does not leave me indifferent, because of its beauty but especially because of the beauty of the inhabitants,” she said.

“The daily life of the Vietnamese is really physically challenging. Many jobs require them to carry very heavy things, while the climate does not facilitate the task because it is hot and wet. But Vietnamese smiles abound. I discovered their true generosity. I wish I could have stayed there longer. Let’s say that this trip gave me a taste of the discovery of life,” Jacotin said./.