Worldwide Scholarship Fund - Marubeni Educational Foundation in Vietnam-
Marubeni Corporation
2010.2.12
Inauguration of new school buildings for Ninh Xuan Elementary School in Hoa Lu District, Ninh Binh province, Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Commemorative plaque embedded in the exterior wall
On April 28th, an inaugural ceremony was held for the new buildings for Ninh Xuan Elementary School in Hoa Lu District, Ninh Binh province. These buildings were constructed with the financial assistance of Marubeni Educational Foundation in Vietnam (MACFUND).
This Ninh Xuan Elementary School construction project was run by MACFUND, which provided $200,000 in financial assistance. This event helped to commemorate Marubeni Corporation’s 150th year of business. In April 2008 MACFUND exchanged memorandums regarding financial assistance with the Hoa Lu District People’s Committee and Ninh Xuan Commune People’s Committee. Incidentally, FY 2008 was also the 15-year anniversary of MACFUND.
Memorial shot of pupils and teachers at the new school building.
It rained in the morning on the day of inauguration. Nevertheless, people performed their parts in the ceremony on the roofless stage as scheduled, despite getting soaked in the rain. This served to reaffirm for us how delighted everyone was with the newly completed school buildings. At the ceremony, we received kind words of appreciation from guests of honor representing the Ministry of Education and Training and the government of Ninh Binh Province. Mr. Ton, President of MACFUND, gave a congratulatory speech to commemorate the completion of the school buildings, and described the history of MACFUND and its activities over the past 15 years. These messages were followed by a commemorative ribbon-cutting and tree-planting ceremony.
Hoa Lu District, in Ninh Binh province, is located approximately 100km south from Hanoi. It is a place characterized by scenic beauty, where ears of rice in tidy rice fields undulate in the breeze, and oddly shaped limestone rocks protrude from the landscape.
The old school buildings were built during the Vietnam War. However, being in an area where school roads are narrow and not well-maintained, frequent landslides from the rugged mountains during the rainy season damaged the buildings. Therefore, there was an urgent need to relocate to new school buildings, which is the reason why we chose to assist this school.
The construction site for the new school buildings is on land adjoining the junior high school, and ground was broken in July 2008. Although the construction schedule was considerably delayed due to extensive flood damage caused by extremely heavy rainfall in North Vietnam in 2008, the classroom building was finally completed in March 2009. This is because we moved ahead with construction during the dry season, without taking a New Year’s break.
Immediately following the completion of the classroom building, the school relocated from the old school building to escape the dangers of falling rock, while the construction of an administrative building and school yard continued.
The finished school has two buildings, a classroom building with eight classrooms, and an administrative building that houses the teachers’ room and library. The school yard, paved in the traditional Vietnamese style, is decorated with trees.
The MACFUND logo was engraved on the administrative building, and a commemorative plaque was embedded in the outer wall near school gates, thus making the school a monument to the 15 years of work conducted by MACFUND.
We hope the pupils that study at this school will play a role in further strengthening the bridge of friendship between Vietnam and Japan.
>>Inauguration of new school buildings of Ninh Xuan Elementary School on April 28, 2009
Pupils wearing decorative costumes perform a dance
From left to right, Mr. Hung of the Ministry of Education and Training, Mr. Togami, Chief Representative in Vietnam, Marubeni Corporation, and Mr. Ton, MACFUND President.
Marubeni Group magazine "M-SPIRIT" VOL.52 (July, 2009)
