"For our homeland, we set out on our journey"...

(Baonghean) - Visiting Tan Hop (Tan Ky) these days, the atmosphere in the villages is bustling. Besides the familiar scenery of the Western mountains and forests, there's the added color of green shirts and the energetic activities of student volunteers...

Established in 2011, this is the fourth time the Nghe An Student Volunteer Team from the Academy of Journalism and Communication has carried out its mission in its hometown. The previous three times, the team provided support during exam season in Vinh City. This time, the team (consisting of 31 members, including 28 from Nghe An and 3 from Hoa Binh, Phu Tho, and Son La provinces) returned to Tan Hop commune for the 2015 Summer Volunteer Campaign, titled "Spreading Love – Nghe An Homeland".

Giving gifts to families receiving government assistance. Photo: dn

Over the course of a week, the team effectively implemented numerous social activities in the area, leaving a positive impression on local officials and residents. Nguyen Dinh Doan Bong, a third-year student in the Electronic Journalism class, cohort 32, Faculty of Radio and Television, and also the team leader, said: “My friends and I are extremely excited to bring our youthful energy to rural areas, contributing to spreading love in the community, especially in our homeland. For us, the volunteer summer program in Tan Hop was a meaningful trip that left many beautiful memories.”

With the arrival of student volunteers, the villages seemed to gain new life and become more joyful with cultural and sports activities. The student volunteer team coordinated with the commune's Youth Union to organize cultural exchanges, bonfires, and distribute 15 gifts to poor students in the commune. These gifts were donated by the team members and generous benefactors from Nghe An living far from home. The team also organized two nights of film screenings, interspersed with quizzes with prizes, in Trung Do and Yen Hoa hamlets for children and teenagers, attracting over 600 participants. The crowded fields and halls, and the eager eyes of the children, are unforgettable memories for the student volunteers.

Land leveling at Trung Do Kindergarten.

To share the difficulties faced by villagers in agricultural production, the team, together with youth union members in the commune, organized a campaign to carry out irrigation work, dredging canals in the fields of the disadvantaged Nghia Thanh hamlet, contributing to bringing water to the fields; cleaning and collecting waste at the Tan Hop commune health station; transporting soil and stones to level the ground for children to have a playground at Yen Hoa Kindergarten in Trung Do. In their mobilization and propaganda work, the team actively participated in 4 broadcasts on the commune's radio station. From 5:30 PM daily, the loudspeaker systems of 8 hamlets continuously broadcast articles on: raising awareness about the disease of the century and how to prevent and control HIV infection; domestic violence; population and family planning; and malnutrition in children. In particular, the team has shown concern and provided assistance to the families of wounded soldiers and martyrs, helping Mr. Nguyen Van Ngoc's family (Yen Hoa hamlet) plant rice on 3 sao (approximately 0.3 hectares) of land and planting acacia trees on some areas of high hills.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Khuyen, Secretary of the Tan Hop Commune Youth Union, said: “Although the time was short, the team implemented many meaningful and practical activities; closely coordinating with the Commune Youth Union to contribute to the vibrant collective activity movement in the locality. The team truly left a deep impression on the villagers in general and the Youth Union members and young people of the commune in particular.”

Huy Thu