Origins2024-02-22T15:00:16+00:00

Origins

The emergence of the foundation

“If the highs and lows of life educate our hearts, so is education the cornerstone of sustainable freedom. Whoever sees the divine beauty of our planet with their hearts will never allow it to be destroyed.”

Isabelle Müller

The history of the LOAN Foundation (LOAN Stiftung)

Recounted by the founder, Isabelle Müller

The idea for the LOAN Foundation (LOAN Stiftung) was the child of two very different life experiences: my own, and my mother’s.

In the 1930s, my mother Loan (Lo-Anh) didn’t attend school because of the fact that she was a girl. Inquisitive and determined, in search of freedom and happiness, she risked her life for an education. In 1955, she left her war-torn country. In France, her new home, she was subject to discrimination and hostility because of the color of her skin. Despite living in abject poverty, she raised her five children, always emphasizing that education was a great privilege.

As Loan’s last child, I have strong memories of these times. We had no beds, and I remember how hard and cold the bedroom floor felt. How cold-hearted other people were towards us because we couldn’t keep up materially. And how difficult it was to maintain what little dignity remained for us and battle the loneliness that had settled into our hearts.

Yet in our lives, there were complete strangers who changed us forever with their willingness to help, their selflessness, and their love, restoring our faith in people. Their warmth gave us strength and nourished our hope that one day we’d be in a position to give back what kindness we’d been shown and to help others in need.

It was in this spirit, in keeping with my mother’s life philosophy, that I established the LOAN Foundation (LOAN Stiftung) in May 2016.

Thank you for your support!

Lo-Anh – From the life of a Phoenix

In Lo-Anh – From the Life of a Phoenix, Isabelle Müller tells the true tale of how her mother, Lo-Anh, found freedom for herself. A determined and rebellious girl from Vietnam, at just twelve years of age she escaped an arranged marriage to set out on a long, often dangerous odyssey through Vietnam, France, and Algeria in order to make a life for herself.

Lo-Anh – From the Life of a Phoenix gives the reader a glimpse into Vietnamese culture, which is enchanting but in many ways also archaic and brutal. It is a story of dignity, tolerance, and acceptance from an epoch that is not well-documented, filling an important literary gap in the history of Vietnam.

Contributions to the LOAN Foundation (LOAN Stiftung)

Would you like to help children in the north of Vietnam with us and make the world a little better?
Your contribution goes directly and in full to the LOAN Foundation’s (LOAN Stiftung) projects and to children in need.

Go to Top