A flock of red-headed cranes has been sighted at the buffer zone of the Phu My Species and Habitat Conservation Area in Kien Giang Province.
Twenty-three cranes were seen in the area on March 16. This is the largest flock of red-headed cranes that has arrived at this sanctuary to forage since March 11, with some even staying overnight, Lam Hong Tuan, deputy director of the conservation area told the Tuoi Tre news site.
Some cranes in this flock are notably large, each weighing over 10 kilograms and standing more than 1.3 meters tall. Many experts believe this flock of 23 red-headed cranes flew from Cambodia to Phu My both to forage and to find mates, as the migration season nears its end. Once the feeding migration ends, they will move elsewhere to breed.
Pending beef noodle soup for those in need
O Huong beef noodle eatery in Lam Dong Province has adopted a “suspended meal” model, allowing customers to pay in advance for bowls of beef noodle soup that are later offered to those in need.
The initiative, inspired by similar programs abroad, was launched by restaurant owner Tran Tuan and his wife, who have run the eatery since August 2022, following Vietnam’s emergence from the Covid-19 pandemic. Initially, the couple set aside 30 free bowls of noodle soup each day. However, as word spread, customers began contributing the effort, increasing the number of meals available.
Tuan told the Tuoi Tre news site that on the first day, only three people came for the suspended noodle soup. They were lottery ticket sellers and scrap collectors working hard to make a living. Some hesitated to accept free food, but staff reassured them that the program was funded by customer donations, not restaurant charity.
These days, the number of suspended noodle soup bowls at his eatery has continued to grow, providing support to more people in need.
Bat Trang Craft Village Festival: national intangible cultural heritage
On March 12, a ceremony was held in the pottery-making village of Bat Trang (Gia Lam District, Hanoi) to announce the Bat Trang Craft Village Festival has been recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage. On this occasion, the annual traditional festival was also opened in the craft village famous for its diverse ceramic products.
Bat Trang Craft Village Festival is held in the second lunar month every year to honor the traditional pottery-making craft and to pray for a prosperous and happy life. The annual event includes folk games and cultural exchange activities.
Prior to the opening of the festival, local villagers prepare offerings for their ancestors. This is also a meaningful act of the 500-year-plus village. This year’s event started on March 13 with a parade to commemorate the god and the founders of the craft village, as well as the villagers’ gratitude toward their predecessors. The festival is a chance for local artisans to introduce their pottery-making village as a tourist destination to local and foreign visitors.
Tran Duc Thuan, head of the Heritage Management Board of Bat Trang Village, told tuoitre.vn that the local artisans have been improving the quality of their ceramic products and services in a bid to attract more visitors to the village, domestic and international alike.
Donated organs help save several lives
On March 12, Prof. Dr. Pham Nhu Hiep, director of Hue Central Hospital in Hue City, told vnexpress.net that the 36-year-old male patient from Quang Nam Province, who was in the final stage of heart failure, has survived after a heart transplantation conducted by the doctors of the hospital.
The heart transplantation was conducted on March 3 from the heart donated by a 34-year-old male patient with brain death at Nhan Dan Gia Dinh Hospital in HCMC, after three hours and 48 minutes of transportation of the heart from HCMC to Hue Central Hospital. Three days after the surgery, the patient with the grafted heart could eat by himself and make some simple acts on the bed.
This is the 15th heart transplantation undertaken at Hue Central Hospital, marking the hospital’s great progress of 32 years of organ transplantations, and 14 years of such surgeries from organs donated by brain dead people.
Aside from the donor’s heart, the right lobe of the liver was transplanted to a patient at 108 Military Central Hospital in Hanoi; the left lobe of the liver was grafted to a patient at the University Medical Center in HCMC; and two kidneys were transplanted to two patients at Nhan Dan Gia Dinh Hospital in HCMC.
