Numerous international tourists expressed excitement as they joined local farmers in watering and planting rice during the “Cam Chau Rice Field Festival 2024” in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province.
This is the first time that Hoi An City has organized this festival to create opportunities for farmers to exchange and share experiences in cultivating rice. At the festival, visitors could observe buffaloes plowing fields and enjoy a day as a farmer. Some foreign tourists eagerly wore boots and waded into the fields to plant rice.
Melania, a foreign visitor, told the Saigon Tiep Thi, “We feel very happy to participate in this activity and understand the longstanding rice culture in Vietnam. Surely, I will tell my friends about this wonderful trip to Vietnam.”
Along with rice planting experience, the organizers also set up some food stalls to serve visitors with typical dishes in the province, such as Quang noodle soup and Vietnamese pancakes.
A stranded sea turtle rescued
Nguyen Khac Pho, director of the Con Dao National Park off Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, told tienphong.vn that a rare sea turtle stranded on Lo Voi Beach to the east of the main island of Con Dao Archipelago was rescued and returned to the sea by the park’s forest wardens, and tourists.
When being informed by some tourists that a big sea turtle was stranded on Lo Voi Beach, the forest wardens immediately came over to the site. Initial inspection showed that the marine turtle (Chelonia mydas) was healthy, measuring 102 centimeters in length and 87 centimeters in width, and weighing 80 kilograms.
The forest wardens, with the help of the tourists, managed to put the sea turtle onto a cart and pulled the cart to the sea. The big sea creature was then returned to the sea successfully to the great joy of all the participants.
All the species of sea turtles are classified as vulnerable, endangered or critical endangered by the IUCN Red List, and are strictly protected by many countries and territories around the world, including Vietnam. Vietnam has had sea turtle conservation action plans, and Con Dao National Park is the first in the country to succeed in implementing the marine turtle conservation program.
Free air, coach tickets for poor workers, students
The HCMC Youth League Union has coordinated with sponsors to present 4,925 air and coach tickets to poverty-stricken workers and students for the latter to travel home to celebrate the upcoming Tet, Lunar New Year holiday.
According to dantri.com.vn, the program will present 4,365 coach tickets to central and northern localities – Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Quang Nam, Danang, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Tri, Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Nghe An, and Thanh Hoa; and 560 air tickets, including 330 tickets to Hanoi and 230 tickets to Danang.
The departure days of the flights are slated to be on February 4, 5 and 6, 2024 (the 25th, 26th and 27th days of the last month the lunar calendar. The departure days of the coaches will be on February 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, 2024 (the 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th and 27th days of the last lunar month).
After three years, the program had presented 11,271 tickets, including 2,248 roundtrip air tickets, 8,733 roundtrip coach tickets, and 290 roundtrip train tickets. The recipients were poor students and workers living in northern and central regions, and studying and working in HCMC, Dong Nai and Binh Duong.
Child with CP survives thanks to hospital staff
Abandoned in the hospital right after birth, the newborn child with cerebral palsy (CP) has been taken care of by doctors and nurses of the pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit of the Tay Nguyen Regional General Hospital in Buon Ma Thuot City, Dak Lak Province, as though he were their own child.
Nguyen Thi Trang Phuong, chief nurse of the hospital’s pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit, told dantri.com.vn that the child was born on December 22, 2022, and was left at the hospital because of CP and other infections. The 1.6kg boy was transferred to the pediatric and neonatal intensive care unit for treatment to save his life. All the 54 doctors and nurses of the ward did their best to take care of the pitiful newborn with love.
After over one year, the child, who was called “Son” by his “mothers” and “fathers” at the ward, now weighs over 5kg. The medical staff contributed money to buy clothes, diapers and milk for their son. They received only donations in kind from philanthropists for the child.
