Warm and loving Mid-Autumn Festival

(Baonghean) - A full moon festival is the dream of poor and unlucky children. Therefore, the Mid-Autumn Festival is also the season to start meaningful trips to share and give the most loving feelings so that the children can truly have a full moon night full of love...

Children of Nghia Dan Town carry star lanterns. Photo: Thai Truong

Share the love

This year, Mid-Autumn Festival came earlier to the children at SOS Children's Village Vinh. From the morning of August 13th of the lunar calendar, comrade Ho Duc Phoc, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, visited and presented gifts to the children of the village. The joy was evident on the children's faces, in their expectant eyes and in their excitement for the honor. The Provincial Party Secretary also expressed his emotion because over the years, despite many difficulties, the SOS Children's Village has truly been a common home, sheltering, caring for and nurturing hundreds of unfortunate and unlucky children in the whole province. Also from here, many boys and girls have grown up and become useful citizens. Bringing the joy of Mid-Autumn Festival early to the children of the village, the provincial leaders also hope that the gifts will be a source of encouragement for the children to have more joy and more motivation to continue on the upcoming journey. Ngo Van Cuong (born in 2004) said: “Every year, we receive gifts, performances, and games from provincial and city leaders, youth organizations, and mass organizations. It is very fun. I hope that all other disadvantaged children outside the village will receive gifts and have fun like us.”

Delegates and children of Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong) celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. Photo: Minh Quan

In Vinh City, children being treated at the Maternity and Pediatrics Hospital also receive special attention. On the evening of August 13 (lunar calendar), cute and loving gifts made by students of Le Viet Thuat High School and Phan Boi Chau High School for the Gifted arrived in time for the children being treated at the hospital. Sharing with us the idea for the "Mid-Autumn Festival for Children" night for the pediatric patients, Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh, a student of class 11D2, confided: "As a child, I think everyone wants to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival with their family, friends and neighbors. But the children here are sick and have to be hospitalized, so that small dream cannot be realized. With our songs, our voices, and our hearts... we hope to bring the pediatric patients a meaningful Mid-Autumn Festival night...". The program was newly conceived and launched “spontaneously” for a short time but quickly received the response of many students and teachers’ children of the school. In addition, many teachers at the Department of Education and Training also stood up to mobilize, donate and connect with volunteer organizations, promptly preparing nearly 700 gifts for pediatric patients.

This year's Mid-Autumn Festival, disadvantaged children in the province also received the attention of SLNA players. On September 22 and 23, former national team players Nguyen Huy Hoang, Pham Van Quyen and SLNA players such as Tran Nguyen Manh, Que Ngoc Hai, Ngo Hoang Thinh, Tran Phi Son, Pham Manh Hung, along with grassroots football teams, organized charity matches in Vinh City and Ha Tinh Province to raise funds for the Mid-Autumn Festival for disabled children. The money raised through the matches will be donated to the Center for Orphans and Disabled Children on March 19 in Nghi Dien Commune (Nghi Loc) and on the evening of August 14 of the lunar calendar, all players will attend the Mid-Autumn Festival with the children there.

Mid-Autumn Festival lights up poor villages

This Mid-Autumn Festival, authorities at all levels in mountainous districts have made efforts to bring ethnic minority children a loving Mid-Autumn Festival. The first to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival are the children of two communes in the resettlement area of ​​Ban Ve Hydropower Plant, Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son. As the locality assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to organize the Mid-Autumn Festival with the name "Mid-Autumn Festival in the village" on the evening of September 24 (ie the evening of August 12 of the lunar calendar), for the first time, the children of the Thai, Kho Mu, and O Du ethnic groups in the two communes had a joyful and meaningful Mid-Autumn Festival, with comrade Le Xuan Dai, member of the Provincial Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee and leaders of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs coming to share joy and give gifts. In front of the joy of the children, Mr. Lo Hoai Dung, Chairman of the People's Committee of Ngoc Lam Commune said: "Children in resettlement areas in particular and children in mountainous ethnic minority areas in general suffer more disadvantages than their peers in the lowlands. Having a happy Mid-Autumn Festival like this is truly a great spiritual gift that children and adults here have certainly never known before."

Giving bicycles to children in Ngoc Lam and Thanh Son communes (Thanh Chuong). Photo: MQ

Lu Thanh village is 6.5 km away from the center of Tay Son commune, Ky Son border district, and is home to 52 Mong ethnic households. Here, people only cultivate crops, their lives are mainly self-sufficient, and it is difficult to sell agricultural products because of the difficult traffic. The village does not have a national electricity grid, and the villagers only use the power of streams to run small electric turbines for lighting and daily activities. If the Mid-Autumn Festival in the city has many lanterns, star-shaped lanterns filling the sky and countless colorful games for children, then here in the middle of the wilderness there are only hills, corn fields, cassava fields... the children's games are simply grass, trees, flowers and leaves. They play with dirty clothes, tanned skin, big round eyes and innocent smiles. For the first time in this place, nearly 300 km from Vinh City, children were able to celebrate a real Mid-Autumn Festival, with performances featuring Hang and Cuoi, organized by the volunteers of Ky Son District Volunteer Team.

To have a full moon festival for the children, 13 members of the Volunteer Team called on benefactors in the town and other places in the province via Facebook to donate. With that sharing, for the first time, the Mong children learned about moon cakes and played with colorful lanterns. Mr. Mua Ba Chu, Secretary of the Tay Son Commune Youth Union, said: “For many years, we have wanted to organize a Mid-Autumn Festival for the children, but because the economic conditions of the commune are very difficult, we do not know where to raise funds, so we have to give up. Thanks to the brothers and sisters in the Volunteer Team, the children can have a Mid-Autumn Festival like this. Let me thank the benefactors and the brothers and sisters in the Volunteer Team for bringing the children in the village a truly meaningful Mid-Autumn Festival…”.

In Que Phong district, the district organized "Full Moon Festivals" and Mid-Autumn Festivals for children in Hanh Dich and Nam Giai communes. Ms. Truong Thi Tuyet Mai - Vice Chairwoman of the district People's Committee said: "To bring children a warm and full Mid-Autumn Festival, in each commune, the district gave 15 gifts to poor students who have overcome difficulties, each gift worth 500,000 VND, gave dozens of cartons of milk, and gave bicycles to children in especially difficult circumstances".

The foot of the waves calls the moon to rise

For the people of Son Hai coastal commune, Quynh Luu district, Mid-Autumn Festival is not only a children's festival but also the second day of great solidarity in the year. When the Mid-Autumn Festival comes, the countryside in this coastal area is warmer and more exciting than ever because this is an opportunity for fishermen to make up for their loved ones, especially children, after long trips at sea. All families, alleys, and residential groups participate in contributing money to make a feast for everyone to enjoy. Ms. Hoang Thi Ly, a resident of village 12, said: On the night of Mid-Autumn Festival, each residential area prepares its own trays of food. The altar of Uncle Ho and the trays of food are placed solemnly. After the lantern procession, adults and children all come here to burn incense, celebrate, sing, etc. Contributions to the trays of food depend on the heart and self-awareness of each family. The most important thing is to create a bond of village and neighborhood love. Mr. Hoang Son, Vice Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, said: The socialized Mid-Autumn Festival with the participation of everyone has been launched and maintained for nearly 10 years. Organizing the Mid-Autumn Festival like this has created unforgettable impressions in the children's minds about the land, the strong love for their homeland; further strengthening the village love, solidarity in the community. Taking care of the children, the commune has established groups to give gifts to the children before the Mid-Autumn Festival, paying special attention to the disabled and orphaned children. This year, more than 30 children received gifts from the commune... In the coastal communes of Hoang Mai Town, Dien Chau and Nghi Loc districts, children are also having a warm and loving Mid-Autumn Festival with their relatives and families.

Mr. Nguyen Bang Toan, Director of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs said: "Organizing activities to care for poor children to have the opportunity to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival is increasingly receiving more attention from society with the support and assistance of many social organizations and "philanthropists". However, in reality, there are still many poor children and children in difficult circumstances, especially in mountainous districts such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Que Phong, Quy Chau... Therefore, we call on society to pay more attention to children and also hope for closer and more specific coordination between the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs with departments, branches and organizations to create a healthy environment for children to live and develop well".

PV Group