The girl who keeps the flame of Vietnamese culture alive in the heart of Australia.

Thanks to her experiences living, studying, and working in Australia, Lan Anh has accumulated many valuable lessons and hopes to provide similar opportunities for other Vietnamese people.

Born and raised in Ho Chi Minh City, in a family that always valued knowledge, Dam Lan Anh (also known as Anna Dam) went to study in Australia in 2005 - when she was just 18 years old. Following in the footsteps of her older sister who was studying in Melbourne, Lan Anh chose to study at Swinburne University of Technology.

The early days in Melbourne were not easy, as language barriers, cultural differences, and feelings of being lost often made Lan Anh doubt her future. But it was through these challenges that she found her strength and purpose. In 2014, she decided to move to Darwin – a peaceful place in Northern Australia, which has since become her second home and a place she has lived in for a long time.

Dam Lan Anh, dressed in traditional ao dai, gives a speech at the Vietnamese Lantern Festival in Darwin.

Building community from the simplest things.

Working at Centrelink (an Australian government agency providing a range of community services, including grants and social welfare services) as a team leader, Lan Anh had the opportunity to interact with many Vietnamese people facing difficulties in Darwin. This motivated her to take action to connect the community, not only by sharing information, but also by providing compassionate assistance. From this, the Vietnamese Australian Family Association in Darwin was born with the goal of spreading Vietnamese values ​​and supporting compatriots living abroad.

Under the leadership of Lan Anh and her team, the association implements many practical programs such as: supporting the elderly, new students, providing integration counseling, and organizing cultural festivals such as Lunar New Year and the Lantern Festival in September… These activities not only help Vietnamese people in Darwin preserve their roots but also promote the image of Vietnamese culture to the international community.

Lan Anh is part of the Vietnamese community in Darwin, where Vietnamese culture and camaraderie are ever-present.

Live to spread kindness.

Lan Anh shared: "I always believe that every good deed I do creates a positive cycle of cause and effect. If I receive a lot, I must share it with those who need help."

Thanks to her experiences living, studying, and working in Australia, Lan Anh has accumulated many valuable lessons and hopes to provide similar opportunities for other Vietnamese people, especially newcomers who are still unfamiliar with life in a foreign land.

What makes her most proud is not the title, but her contribution to preserving Vietnamese culture, especially for the younger generation born in Australia, so that they do not forget their mother tongue, national traditions, and pride in their homeland.

Dam Lan Anh - spreading Vietnamese identity within Darwin's multicultural community.

With a long-term vision, Lan Anh hopes to expand the Vietnamese Australian Family Association in Darwin into a sustainable organization with a profound influence within the Vietnamese community in Northern Australia. She also hopes to continue organizing larger-scale cultural festivals, attracting not only the Vietnamese community but also local residents and international visitors.

"My message to the younger generation of Vietnamese in Australia is simple: Be grateful for what you have and don't be afraid to share. Integration is good, but don't lose your own identity," Lan Anh said.

Department of Phan

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/co-gai-giu-lua-van-hoa-viet-giua-long-australia-ar942888.html