Diplomat spouses hold annual charity bazar in Prague

Speaking at the opening, Barbara Blaznik Marc, the Association’s president, said different from ambassadors who conduct diplomacy through official channels, the spouses do it differently at the bazar by reaching out to ordinary people and creating an opportunity to explore national cultures and customs.

Pham Ngoc Tram, spouse of the Vietnam Ambassador and former Association president, in turn said that since 2000, the event has raised an estimated US$3 million for disadvantaged children and people in the Czech Republic.

At this year’s event, the Overseas Vietnamese community was very active at the bazar, she noted, adding they introduced a fascinating selection of aesthetic traditional arts and crafts at exhibition booths along with a wide variety of food and drink such as coffee, sweet soup, and meat rolls.

The Association was founded in 1997 as a non-profit organization to enable its members to strengthen relations with the cultural heritage of the host country, to share the cultural history of their own country along with other information, ideas and interests.

Funds for this year’s event were raised by selling entry tickets, goods at vendor booths, internet auctions and from private sponsors or corporate donations and used to support orphans and people with disabilities.

Diplomatic spouses from the embassies of more than 50 countries attended the bazar.