Accompanying children in difficult areas

These days, everyone in Na Be village (Xa Luong commune, Tuong Duong district) is happy for 12-year-old Lin Van Anh because he no longer has to live as a vagrant. Many years ago, his house was completely burned down in a fire. His father died early, his mother was sick, so the family fell into difficult and miserable circumstances. With no money to build a house, his mother and he had to build a temporary tent to live in. When it rained, they had to sleep at the homes of other villagers.

Knowing her situation, in early 2019, the Youth Union of the Department of Finance mobilized union members and young people to coordinate with neighboring Youth Union organizations to contribute more than 60 million VND to join hands to build a new house for her and her children.

Representatives of the Youth Union of the Department of Finance presented a house to Lin Van Anh (Na Be village, Xa Luong commune, Tuong Duong district). Photo: Provided by the Youth Union of the Department of Finance.

After more than 3 months of urgent implementation, the 50m2 level 4 house was completed, becoming an extremely meaningful gift for Lin Van Anh and her children.

Having a house and being equipped with necessary things, Lin Van Anh can confidently continue on his path of studying. Teachers at Xa Luong Primary School also have less worries when they see him regularly coming to school and getting along with his peers.

Through many years of efforts, the community journey of union members in the Provincial Agencies has spread across difficult lands to "lift up" more than 40 students in both spirit and material.

Not only playing the role of older brothers and sisters, generations of members at the Youth Union bases also play the role of fathers and mothers taking care of children who are unfortunately orphaned. Although the geographical distance can sometimes be up to hundreds of kilometers, contact is always maintained. The fund is depleted and then replenished to ensure that children are guaranteed adequate living, learning and playing conditions.

The Youth Union of Nghe An Statistics Office implements the "Frugal pig farming" model to support the situation of La Van Dao (Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district). Photo: Thanh Quynh

Every year, during Lunar New Year, Mid-Autumn Festival or the start of the new school year, the Youth Union organizations in the Block meet, visit and encourage the children to overcome difficulties. This is also an opportunity for them to share books, clothes, school supplies, means of transportation to school, etc. with an average cost of more than 150 million VND/year.

In particular, there are social security programs of the Youth Unions under the Youth Union of Provincial Agencies that have been maintained effectively for a long time. Typically, the Youth Union of Nghe An Newspaper has had many practical programs to support the poor commune of Xieng My (Tuong Duong district) in the past 10 years. In addition to providing essential facilities for the activities of the Commune People's Committee, giving gifts to poor students, it also accompanies people to build economic models, giving dozens of breeding cows to help poor households develop production.

In particular, last May, the Youth Union of Nghe An Newspaper built a youth project in Phay village, Xieng My commune, including 5 centralized waste treatment projects in 5 residential areas in the village. After 1 month of construction, the project was completed and put into effective use, contributing to environmental protection and raising people's awareness in classifying and processing centralized waste.

At the handover ceremony of the youth project, the Youth Union of Nghe An Newspaper also presented 45 school bags, more than 200 sets of clothes and some other sports equipment to students of Phay village with a total value of the project and gifts of more than 40 million VND. Photo: Phuong Thuy

According to statistics, from 2015 to now, the Provincial Agencies' Youth Union has given more than 30,000 gifts including books, clothes, and school supplies to disadvantaged children in remote and border areas. At the same time, mobilized and donated more than 200 million VND for Mid-Autumn Festival programs for children. At the same time, donated 8 bookcases and 12 playgrounds to students in special areas with an implementation cost of more than 160 million VND.

As an annual activity to encourage and motivate children to strive to study, the Provincial Agencies' Youth Union organized a commendation ceremony with the theme "Good children, good students, good grandchildren of beloved Uncle Ho". Photo: Thanh Quynh

Volunteer for the community

Having been involved in the voluntary blood donation program for many years, comrade Thai Minh Sy - Member of the Provincial Youth Union, Secretary of the Provincial Agencies' Youth Union said that many young people in agencies, departments and branches do not hesitate to donate their blood, donating a total of about 10 times.

Typical individuals such as Nguyen Truong Sung, Le Van Hao (Youth Union of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment), Dao Anh Tan, Chu Manh Duong (Customs Department) regularly and enthusiastically participate every time the movement is launched. They themselves have created a ripple effect and encouraged the youth union members and young people in the Youth Union community to be more open and proactive in the voluntary blood donation movement.

Thanks to that, over the past 5 years, the Youth Union has organized and participated in 12 voluntary blood donation campaigns, collecting 2,276 units of blood to serve medical needs. At the same time, it organized 9 medical examinations and provided free medicine to nearly 6,000 subjects; organized 30 "Bowl of Love" programs, distributing more than 1,100 free meals and porridge at hospitals and centers.

The humanitarian blood donation movement was widely responded to by union members in the Provincial Agencies' Union. Photo: Thanh Quynh

And many volunteer activities for community life have been widely and innovatively implemented such as "Youth Month", "Green Sunday", "Worker Month"... which have contributed to educating young people about community awareness, self-adjustment, demonstrating the responsibility of youth towards their homeland and country, while creating a close relationship between young people of agencies and the masses in the province.

Welfare projects to support people in disadvantaged areas are being implemented synchronously, transparently and effectively. Photo: Thanh Quynh

For example, the Youth Union of Nghe An Statistics Office, since 2015, has been donating a day's salary to support the situation of La Van Dao (Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son district).

In 2016, the Youth Union changed this form of movement into a piggy bank model. Accordingly, every day, especially after each Youth Union meeting or office meeting, each member donates their savings to the piggy bank. By the end of the year, the savings will be allocated to support the children in the most appropriate way.

Some grassroots Youth Unions have effectively implemented the 1,000 VND savings box model, mobilizing resources from philanthropists... to increase the fund to support social security activities.

With that spirit, in the next term, the Provincial Agencies' Youth Union will continue to contribute its strength and resources to closely link professional tasks and community activities. From there, it will build a force of union members and young volunteers in the new era.