Saturday, January 26, 2008

Tim Aline Rebeaud


This is the first post to help us inspire each other, and what better way than to write about Tim Aline Rebeaud? Although I have already told you about her on the phone, I want to write about her so that we can archive this collection of amazing people/events.

Tim, which is the Vietnamese word for "heart", was a world traveler. At the age of twenty, she landed in Vietnam. Upon her short stay (or what she thought at the time to be a short stay), she discovered an orphaned child crying in an alley. She took it upon herself to help this child, and since then, she never left foot of Vietnam! She started a shelter in Ho Chi Minh City called The Maison Chance, a place where orphans and the handicapped are welcome. Except, this place is unlike many other shelters of which we know. Tim recruits volunteers to help these orphans and handicaps to get back on their feet, by offering them English/French/skill lessons. They live together under one roof as a family. The amazing thing about Tim? She doesn't have a single drop of Vietnamese blood in her. She is a Swiss, who is now completely fluent in Vietnam! She has spent the last fifteen years of her life dedicating it to helping those others in need.

What an amazing lady, right?!

You can read more about her here or on her shelter webpage.