To help the elderly live happily, healthily and usefully

• September 28, 2007 15:55

The economic and material life of the elderly has now been improved, along with the general development of the whole society, especially in urban areas. However, a large number of the elderly still have very difficult lives. In Truong Thi ward (Vinh city), there are still 12 elderly people who are poor households, most of whom are not entitled to policies.

Health club of the Elderly Association of Dien Cat commune - Dien Chau. Photo: Sy Phuc

For many years, the Nghe An Elderly Association has actively responded to movements based on two main focuses: "Striving to exercise to improve health and actively building exemplary families with filial children and grandchildren". Most ward and commune associations have established Elderly Health Clubs to regularly practice. Many clubs have made uniforms for the elderly to practice and perform, hired experts to guide health exercises, tai chi... with the association's budget and local support. Typically, the Elderly Health Club of Truong Thi ward has 117 elderly people participating in most sports such as health exercises, tai chi, badminton, chess... The whole ward has 6 morning exercise grounds that are maintained regularly, attracting a large number of participants to become a habit. Typically, Mrs. Vo Thi Oanh, 85 years old this year, is the mother of two martyrs and still participates in regular exercise. The ward's Elderly Health Club has contributed tens of millions of dong to hire experts and buy uniforms for members. On the occasion of major holidays and the Spring Festival, the Ward Elderly Association has always won many high awards from the province and city in Arts, Sports and Physical Education. The experience to maintain and develop the activities of the elderly here is to always encourage, arouse the enthusiasm and self-awareness of the members, and on the other hand, to arrange the practice time scientifically between the subjects. In many places, due to the arrangement of the time of the subjects such as Truong Sinh Dao and Tai Chi at the same time, creating "combat" leading to a decrease in the enthusiasm of the elderly to practice.

In order to create conditions to promote the activities of the elderly to be more and more effective, helping them to truly "live happily, live healthily, live usefully", in our opinion, there should be more practical coordination and support solutions. Firstly, when the elderly are sick, on the occasion of their birthday or when they pass away, the Association of the Elderly in conjunction with their families and local organizations should organize a thoughtful and solemn event, demonstrating a deeply humanistic culture that has a positive impact on the spiritual life of the elderly in particular and the whole society. Secondly, the movement to encourage learning from family to society, if there is active participation of the elderly, will bring high efficiency thanks to the family tradition of which the elderly are exemplary. Through the practice of families and clans that encourage learning in Nghe An, this point has been clearly demonstrated. Thirdly, to help the elderly's activities such as arts and sports to maintain order, funding is needed, so it is necessary to call for support from organizations, businesses... to help the Elderly Association on holidays to make prizes for competitions, sports competitions, print books, celebrate longevity... It is advisable that the welfare and charity funds voluntarily contributed by the elderly in the locality be used as funding for the elderly's activities in that locality. In 2006, although according to regulations, the elderly aged 60 and over are exempted from contributing to funds, the Elderly Association of Truong Thi ward still voluntarily contributed 172 million VND to charity funds, while the operating budget of the Elderly Association is still very limited. Fourthly, there are solutions to help the Elderly Associations build a poverty reduction fund from many sources. The poverty reduction fund of the Elderly Association of Truong Thi ward alone has 44 million VND, each year lending to members to help 5-6 elderly people in difficulty escape poverty is an example. Fifth, the Fatherland Front organizations at all levels need to study to have harmonious and flexible coordination of activities between political and social organizations and the Association of the Elderly such as the Association of War Veterans, the Association for Promotion of Education, the Association of Retired Persons... in which the elderly play a core role.

Mai Ho Minh -NA Culture Magazine