Elderly Frenchman, Reny Combemorel

For a decade, an elderly Frenchman has worked whole-heartedly to improve modern medical knowledge and skills in Vietnam.

A tall, thin man with grey hair and bright eyes, Reny Combemorel, has long been familiar to many surgeons at Vietnam’s Saint Paul, Bach Mai and Viet-Duc hospitals.

Since the establishment of the Marseille-Vietnam Friendship Association in 2001, surgeon Combemorel and many of his French colleagues have come to Vietnam to share their experience of highly complicated trauma and orthopedic surgery.

Combemorel’s maternal grandmother was Vietnamese and his mother was born in Hanoi. Therefore, he has always harboured special feelings about the motherland, Vietnam.

The surgeon says the influence of Vietnam’s traditional culture, which emphasizes moral values, has inspired him to trace back to the roots where his grandmother and mother were born.

“So I finally decided to return to Vietnam, with strong determination to do something, no matter how small it is for my motherland,” said Combemorel.

The Marseille-Vietnam Friendship Association has regularly provided medical aid for disabled children being treated by Vietnamese Professor Nguyen Tai Thu. As a member of the association, Combemorel recently had the chance to meet Vietnam Labour Hero Pham Gia Khai, known as a ‘key figure in Vietnam.’

“We have realized that Vietnamese surgeons have a huge demand for advanced surgical techniques,” he says. “Together with Professor Khai and Professor Nguyen Lan Viet, Head of the Vietnam National Heart Institute, we often run training courses in Marseille for talented surgeons coming from Vietnam.”

In addition, the Marseille-Vietnam Friendship Association has also sent working delegations to major hospitals in Vietnam to hold workshops and symposiums.

Among guest lecturers are some well-known experts like Dr Jean-Pierre Franceschi, who has treated footballers playing in France such as Eric Cantona, Zidane, Piress or Dorgba.

Apart from medical science and health care, the Friendship Association has actively engaged in enhancing Vietnam’s image in France.

According to Combemorel, Vietnam’s cultural values are not just appreciated in the taste of nem (spring rolls) or banh chung (square steamed cake) – but also in the arts and crafts - bronze works, wooden furniture and lacquerware.

Combemorel also attaches importance to the need of boosting economic ties between Vietnam and France in general and between Marseille and Hanoi in particular.

He recalls a recent economic conference in Marseille at which none of 60 participants touched on Vietnam. “So within four minutes, I presented Vietnam’s prospects for economic development and proposed that Marseille expand its economic cooperation with Hanoi.”

Combemorel says there remains a large gap between Marseille and Vietnam. This distance should be shortened to meet the expectations of the Vietnamese community in France as well as French people who love Vietnam.

Source: VOV