Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd paid a visit to the HCM City Rehabilitation Center for the Disabled on April 13. He played the game “walking on two fingers” on the arm of a little girl who lost her leg in a traffic accident and carried her in his arms.

At the center, Minister Rudd announced AU$1 million in aid from the special fund of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) would be given to disabled Vietnamese.

During his time in HCM City, Mr. Rudd also visited the RMIT University and attended the opening ceremony of RMIT’s sports and dorm facilities.

He said that he was very impressed by Vietnam’s ambition to enhance its educational system up to world standards by 2020 and to train 20,000 PhD students by 2020.

He applauded the comprehensive plan Vietnam would carry out across a broad spectrum of learning from early childhood to continuing education for adults in order to improve the national educational system.

Vietnam was moving in the right direction as improving its enormous workforce would be the best way for Vietnam to overcome its economic challenges. Australia is also playing a key role in helping Vietnam improve its higher education, he added.

Every year, through the Australia Asia Awards, the Australian government grants 400 scholarships to outstanding Vietnamese students to pursue higher education in Australia.

A total of 26,000 students from Vietnam have also been admitted to Australian schools, technical colleges, and universities. At present, 15,000 Vietnamese students are studying Australian courses in Vietnam.

Minister Rudd visited the rehabilitation room of the disable…

… and observed the steps of a girl who was practicing with prosthetic legs.

The Australian Foreign Minister also talked with another patient and

wished her to quickly return to recover and resume her normal life.

He was very interested in people who were injured in the war.

Vietnam has around 100,000 victims of bombs and mines,

the highest number in Southeast Asia.

Aids from Australia, according to Minister Rudd, will help provide more

artificial limbs and rehabilitation services to disabled Vietnamese people.

He “walked with two fingers” on the arm of a little girl who lost her leg in a traffic accident…

… and held her on his arms.

Leaving the center, Mr. Rudd went to Hanoi to see Vietnamese officials.

Source: VNE