The “Vietnamese Youth – Cultivating Virtue, Developing Skills, Leading the Future” Festival and a walkathon to raise funds for disadvantaged students was held in Danang City on March 12 with the participation of 1,500 students and teachers.
Each student who participated in the walk donated VND40,000. With the VND60 million collected from the students, the organizing committee awarded 60 scholarships to disadvantaged children in the city.
Le Anh Quan, vice chairman of the Young Pioneer Organization, told the news site tienphong.vn that the event was part of a series of six-week competitions leading up to the 60th anniversary of the “Thousand Good Deeds” movement, launched by the Central Committee of the Youth Union.
Until now, students in the whole country have done 196,218 good deeds in response to the movement.
Ba Trieu Temple Festival recognized as national intangible cultural heritage
Trieu Thi Trinh, or Ba Trieu (Lady Trieu, 226-248), was a Vietnamese warrior and heroine, who managed to resist the rule of Chinese Eastern Wu Dynasty in the third century. To commemorate her great contribution to national sovereignty, a solemn festival is held from the 19th day to the 22nd day of the second lunar month every year to worship her death anniversary at Ba Trieu Temple in Trieu Loc Commune, Hau Loc District, Thanh Hoa Province.
In 2022, the Ba Trieu Temple Festival was recognized as a national intangible cultural heritage by the Ministry of Culture Sports and Tourism.
On March 11 this year (the 20th day of the second lunar month), the Ba Trieu Temple Festival was held to mark the heroine’s 1,775th death anniversary, and to receive the National Intangible Cultural Heritage certificate handed over by a representative of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The Ba Trieu Temple Festival plays an important role in promoting the patriotism in the general public, especially the youth, and the value of the heritage. This is also a good chance to promote the landscape and the people of Thanh Hoa Province, and its great potential for tourism development, according to tuoitre.vn.
Free store for the poor in “brownstone district”
Situated in Thao Dien Ward, which is dubbed a “brownstone district” (a quarter inhabited by well-to-do people) in HCMC’s Thu Duc City, the free store opened by the Thao Dien Red Cross Chapter has been frequented by many needy people throughout the city.
Pham Quoc Hung, head of the ward’s Red Cross Chapter, told thanhnien.vn that the free store was opened in July last year. Initially, it opened from Tuesday to Saturday a week, but because of a shortage of staff, it now opens on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday weekly. The Red Cross Chapter staff members call for donations for the poor on social media; donors, who are associations, schools and businesses, have donated clothes, rice, cooking oil, fish sauce, etc.
The free store with its slogan “Take it when you need, leave it when you no longer need” has two rooms covering some 100 square meters. Every day, dozens of needy people, most of them are workers and street vendors from other wards and districts around the city, come over to choose what they really need.
Ly Thi Bich Ngoc, 60, one of the free store’s keepers, said even foreigners are visitors of the store. Meanwhile, Huynh Thi Loc, 58, another storekeeper, always takes time to wash old clothes and send them to those in need but unable to visit the store.
Wooden replicas of Danang’s wonders fetch big bucks
With their love for Danang City, Nguyen Van Binh, aged 37, and his friends craft scaled-down and vivid replicas of the city’s iconic landmarks every day, such as the Dragon Bridge, the Danang Cathedral, the Golden Bridge and Ba Na Hills, at a factory on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street.
After learning about wood carving in Hanoi, Binh started a wooden souvenir business in Danang in 2015 with little prior experience. He invested VND300 million in a laser engraving machine and learned graphic design. He started making simple items such as keychains and then tried more complex models.
Each replica goes through multiple complicated stages, from researching, model drawing, and laser engraving to assembling. The model drawing may take up to 3-15 days, while the artists have to spend 10 minutes to 10 hours assembling the components of the replica.
Binh initially struggled to sell his products, but now his products are sold throughout Vietnam and generate billions of Vietnamese dong in annual revenue, providing job opportunities for many workers.
“This job is not just about making a living, but also a way to express my love for Danang,” Binh shared with the new site dantri.com.vn.
