SEATTLE (NVTB)- Thao Tran has been spending a significant amount of his personal time this summer in Louisiana. This is no vacation for him as he is working closely with the Vietnamese fishermen in the region who have seen their livelihoods devastated by the BP oil spill.
While a $20 billion fund has been setup by BP to help businesses affected by this massive oil spill, there is a very low chance that the Vietnamese fishermen will get to receive their fair share of the fund. BP requires evidence, in the form of financial statements, to support any amount that victims are claiming. Unfortunately, for the Vietnamese fishermen, many of them do not have the ability to create such documents.
To assist the Vietnamese fishermen, Tran is planning to setup seminars to teach them about the concept of and how to create financial statements. Tran does not have the professional experience needed to educate the Vietnamese fishermen about financial statements and is putting out a request to professionals in our region who are:
• Certified public accountants (CPAs) with a specialization in taxes, and
• Fluent in Vietnamese
• Willing to provide pro bono services but all expenses will be covered
“20,000 to 30,000 livelihoods have been wiped out in the Vietnamese fisher community in the Gulf states,” said Tran. “We are in a state of emergency to help get people out of despair and ruined lives from the lack of Vietnamese translation. They will not recover until our compassion is moved to action. If you don’t help who will?”
He is asking for a commitment of 3 days from CPAs to fly to Louisiana to teach the Vietnamese fishermen and offer up professional advice. If you are meet these requirements, please contact Tran at opulentfish@gmail.com. Time is of the essence as your services are required within the next two weeks.
Li Tan
