The New York-based Institute for Vietnamese Culture and Education (IVCE) has called for donations to support poor students in rural villages of Quang Ngai and Lam Dong provinces for the new school-year.

Copies of the Pattie De La Conchinchine, an 1827 map printed in the six-volume World Atlas (Atlas universel) by Belgium cartographer Phillippe Vandermaelen (1795-1869), set to be auctioned to raise funds for students in Quang Ngai and Lam Dong.

President of the Institute, Tran Thang told Viet Nam News that they aim to raise VNĐ200 million (US$8,800) to support 200 students in the two provinces.

He said the institute will present pens from former US President Barack Obama, his wife Michelle Obama and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The American-Vietnamese man also said the institute will auction copies of the ancient map of Hoang Sa (Paracels), in the 1827-published maps of Phillipe Vandermaelen.

Thang said each copy sized 40cm by 60cm will cost a donation of VNĐ1 million ($44.2), equal to a scholarship.

The map, drawn by Philippe Vandermaelen, founder of the Belgium Royal Geographical Society, indicates that the central coast of Viet Nam stretched from the 12th parallel (in the area of what is now Khanh Hoa Province), to the 16th parallel (Quang Nam Province).

IVCE, a New York non-profit organisation founded in 2000, aims to raise awareness about Vietnamese culture and expand the educational opportunities of Vietnamese students. It also promotes Vietnamese culture and education in the US and abroad.

Donors can support at http://www.ivce.org/support.php. 

VNS