By Laura Michell
Chris Nguyen grew up in St Albans and is now giving back to the community as a leader at the Tran Hung Dao – 1st St Albans Scout Group.
What’s your connection to Brimbank?
I grew up in St Albans and attended the
1st St Albans Scout Group, where I am now a leader. Last year I moved to Maribyrnong but I still enjoy coming back to St Albans.
What do you like about St Albans?
It has a great multicultural community, which is good for keeping up our culture. Being a Vietnamese Scout group, we find that the Brimbank community is very supportive of us.
How long have you been a Scout leader and why did you decide to take on a leadership role.
I was a member of the group growing up and decided it was time to give back and lend a hand to my old leader. I have been a leader for five years now. I got my kids to join up at the same time, I love being able to see all the kids in our group develop and change and become more active in the community.
What do you enjoy about being part of the Scouts community?
We have 57 members at St Albans and I love that we give young people the space to learn and grow. They get to learn scouting skills such as camping, getting outdoors, learning how to cook – stuff they don’t usually get the opportunity to do.
The group celebrates Vietnamese heritage- how important is that to you?
It is extremely important that all our Scouts get the chance to experience Vietnamese culture and keep up the language. Being bilingual is very important.
