A dozen of children surround Bruno Cerignat, holding hands, singing and laughing as he teaches them a funny English song. 

Green fingers: Bruno Cerignat (centre) takes part in Mua He Xanh (Green Summer) voluntary programmewith students in Quang Ngai Province (Photo courtesy of Bruno Cerignat)

Cerignat, who left his comfortable life in France 8 years ago to live in Quang Ngai Province's My Lai Village, now helps impoverished local people.

He teaches English to children for free and takes part in various charitable programmes across the province.

On witnessing the peaceful lifestyle of the village today, it’s hard to imagine that this was once the scene of a brutal massacre during the American war.

Located in Tinh Khe Commune, My Lai Village is known for the My Lai massacre of 1968, in which 504 local civilians were killed, and homes were destroyed by American troops.

Many years later, peace has returned to the village and a number of generous individuals have arrived, pledging their time to ease the suffering of the poor villagers.

Cerignat has been teaching English to children for 5 years, and set up his own English club 7 months ago. He holds 5 classes a week, and teaches about 50 children from the local primary schools, who are children of poor farmers in the village. He teaches them language with a range of games, songs and other activities.

“Children learn English grammar in their class with their teacher, and then in my class, they practice speaking and writing skills with me. And then we play and sing a lot. We organise festivals like the Mid-autumn, it’s very joyful… I also teach them how to protect the environment, and care for animals, all in English”, said Cerignat.

“My class is very special. We do activities outside, in the park of the Tinh Khe Primary School No1. We sit on the floor together; therefore we are at the same level, teacher and students… There is not someone who can be superior. We also have a class at this primary school but we prefer going outside, we try to only go inside when it rains”.

Through his class, he wants children to feel at home and engage comfortably. Therefore they can develop confidence and can communicate more easily.

“I want the children of my village to have the opportunity to meet strangers and learn English like in the big cities.”

“I am always available for them. I do my best so that they have more confidence in themselves when they meet a stranger or when they have to practice English at school,” the 52-year-old Frenchman said.

On seeing his students’ passion for music and dance, he asked eight members of the class to form a group named 'Bruno and his ministars'. The volunteer teacher wishes one day to see his students sing English songs in front of an audience.

'Hello Bruno'

The Frenchman has become something of a local celebrity, and children will shout 'Hello Bruno' at him on the street.

“In poor villages like My Lai, most children are not able to attend English courses at foreign languages centres. Therefore, thanks to the help of Bruno, the children are more motivated to learn English, and communicate in English more fluently. We are really touched by his kindness and enthusiasm,” said Nguyen Tam, a local villager.

Nguyen Dac Nhan, a student from the Tinh Khe School, said that his pronunciation improved after lessons with Cerignat.

"Recently, I won an important prize in English language at a provincial-level contest. Bruno’s lessons are always fun and animated. We enjoy them so much,” Nhan said.

Second home

Tinh Khe has now became a second home for Bruno Cerignat, after a 20-year career in the French military. 

Ten years ago, in 2007, he came to Viet Nam to travel. He met his future wife, Nguyen Kieu Chinh, who lived next door to his guest house in HCM City.

They soon became friends as Chinh showed him around the city.

He left HCM City to spend one year travelling around different regions of Viet Nam.

One day he met Chinh by chance on the road in Da Nang. At that time he was a French teacher at the University of Da Nang. Touched by this meeting, Chinh took Cerignat to her home in Quang Ngai Province to meet her family members. He won over her parents and siblings thanks to his sincerity. One year later, in 2009, Cerignat retired from his job in France to return to Viet Nam and marry the girl he had fell in love with. After the wedding, the couple chose to live in the My Lai Village.

Now he has learned every alley of his village like its residents. He devotes his love to his second home with his many contributions to social activities.

He wishes that local authorities would let him adopt the Vietnamese nationality and become a Vietnamese citizen.

Besides English classes, Cerignat volunteers at the Industrial University in Quang Ngai Province and takes part in various charity activities to raise funds for ethnic groups in the mountainous regions of the province.

Truong Thanh Thao, Chairman of the Tinh Khe People’s Committee, said, “The region has suffered a lot. But those sufferings and losses are partly eased thanks to meaningful activities and actions like the free classes provided by Cerignat. We created favorable conditions for him to open the classes to help our children”.

Cerignat hopes to spend many more years in the village.

“I wish to become an official tourist guide for the Vietnamese government… I wish I could show tourists the landscapes of central Viet Nam that I love, like Ly Son, the ethnic groups that are not known in Quang Ngai Province, my students, and the primary schools that I love.”

(Source: VNS)