In early March this year, Giang Van Phuc, 75, who lives in Vi Tan Ward, Can Tho City, often rode his bicycle with a loaf of bread and a bottle of water in his bike basket, and a small loudspeaker tied onto the rear rack of his bike, around the streets in the neighborhood to promote the election of representatives to the 16th National Assembly and to the People’s Councils of all levels for the 2026-2031 term on March 15.
There are around 600 households with more than 2,000 voters in Area 18 in Vi Tan Ward. Although in his 70s, Phuc still managed to cycle around to promote the election day. He told baotintuc.vn that the election was a major event for the country, so he thought he should do something to contribute his small part in helping people understand the election day and where to cast their vote and exercise their civic rights and duties.
Tourism lifts villagers out of poverty
At the end of 2025, Lo Lo Chai Village (Lung Cu Commune, Tuyen Quang Province) was honored as the “World’s Best Tourist Village” by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism). This is the outcome of a development process grounded in cultural preservation and the unanimity of the local community. Sinh Di Gai, head of the village, is the pioneer in promoting tourism business to help villagers escape poverty.
Lo Lo Chai, on the Dong Van Karst Plateau, was a poverty-stricken village where most villagers made their living by growing corn and rearing livestock. In 2011, an official from the Luxembourg Embassy visited Lo Lo Chai. Impressed by the village’s beauty and the cultural identity of the Lo Lo ethnic group, the visitor believed the village had potential for community-based tourism development.
Later, Luxembourg helped three households in Lo Lo Chai, including Sinh Di Gai’s, carry out a homestay business on a pilot basis. Two households soon gave up the homestay business because they lacked experience and perseverance, but Gai still carried on. At present, the village head has three homestay facilities.
Under Gai’s guidance, many households in Lo Lo Chai have renovated their houses, built standard toilets, protected the environment and planted flowers along the roads to offer homestay services. The village’s community-based tourism has thus been developed sustainably, dantocphattrien.vietnamnet.vn reported.
Bold decision of a young engineer
Born in 1995 into a Tay ethnic minority family in Eak Nuec Commune, Dak Lak Province, Nguyen Cong Lich once studied at Thuy Loi University in HCMC. In 2023, after a few years working in HCMC after graduation, he decided to return to his birthplace to grow durian.
Given his education background and his family’s support, Lich invested in developing a high-tech durian cultivation model with a smart drip irrigation system, using organic fertilizers and applying biological methods to deal with pests. Last year, his two-hectare durian farm yielded over 20 tons of fruit. He looks forward to developing stable material areas, collaborating with local cooperatives, and gaining OCOP certification.
Lich is also a folk artist with a deep passion for his people’s Tinh lute and Then singing. He established Then Singing-Tinh Lute Club in Dak Lak Province for club members and himself to perform at festivals, cultural events and farmers’ competitions. He is not only a good farmer and cultural lover but also a typical figure in many youth, farming, and social welfare activities, according to dantocphattrien.vietnamnet.vn.
A dedicated teacher of a village school
Huynh Thi Phuong Thao, who won the People’s Teacher title, has devoted her life to Viet Lam Elementary School in Thuan My Commune, Tay Ninh Province (formerly Thanh Vinh Dong Commune, Chau Thanh District, Long An Province) since 1992.
Given her love for teaching, Thao always tries to help her students learn their lessons easily and interestingly. She has consistently researched and developed new teaching methods, especially for fourth-grade students. In the context of speeding up digital transformation, she is among the teachers pioneering the application of technology to design lessons, utilize digital learning resources, and provide students with access to an electronic library for modern knowledge.
Nguyen Van Bay, principal of Viet Lam Elementary School, told baotintuc.vn that Thao won the province’s Golden Chalk award in 1998, the Outstanding Teacher title in 2012 and the People’s Teacher title in 2020.
Over the 34 years of teaching, Thao has always been willing to help young colleagues thrive in their careers. She pays close attention to helping poor students: she spends her own money buying health insurance for students who do not yet have such certificates; she also asks benefactors to buy books, notebooks, and school supplies for students every new school year.
