Funds raised by Warrnambool kids will make a near-7000 kilometre journey across the world to help a Vietnam War veteran's promise to a boy he met during his service.
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About 60 year six students from Warrnambool Primary School handed veteran Ken Cummings a $1750 cheque on Thursday, December 14, 2023.
The funds - which translate to about $28 million Vietnamese Dong - will go to 'Rabbit' (Pham Van Hoa) who Mr Cummings befriended as a little boy during the war.
At the school's final assembly for the year, Mr Cummings said the pair - now both adults - reconnected in 2019 and he'd since been fundraising to improve Rabbit and his family's living standards in Nui Dat, Vietnam.
"I really want to congratulate not only the 60 grade six students and their teachers but your entire school for an outstanding effort in fundraising," he said.
"When us Australian soldiers went to Vietnam it was such a culture shock to see their living conditions and what was happening to them.
"I met this little boy who was four years old ... he was an orphan and I helped him with food and some money for his aunt to buy rice. Many years later we found him again, learned that he survived the war - only just - he had married and had raised three very nice young adult children.
"So when I saw his family's living circumstances, myself and other veterans offered to extend his house which was only two rooms, and then we thought about how we could improve his income because he was only a cattle herder on very low wages.
"We talked to the interpreter and the family decided in order to help them, we could help buy cows for them to have a little breeding herd."
The school learned about Mr Cummings' relationship with Rabbit during a series of talks the veteran held for year six students who were studying themes including connection.
Teacher Thomas Fraser said Mr Cummings left an "indelible mark".
"Our year at Warrnambool Primary School was enriched by the presence of Ken, a Vietnam veteran whose powerful lessons on courage, gratitude, resilience and connection left an indelible mark on our grade six cohort," he said.
"Ken's positive education lessons resonated deeply with us, inspiring a collective effort among the grade six students to raise funds for his personal cause as a gesture of appreciation."
