Le Trong Kinh, a retiree living in Trung Son Ward, Ninh Binh Province, has spent most of his spare time repairing old bicycles to give them out to students in need over the past 20 years.
Kinh’s small house has long served as a workshop where he gathers used bicycles and parts he buys or receives from those who no longer need them. With his love for vintage bikes and his experience as a skilled repairer and a former teacher at heart, he manages to repair and repaint old bicycles so they look almost brand new.
Initially, Kinh gave these reconditioned bicycles to his children, grandchildren, and relatives. Once he had the opportunity to donate repaired bikes to poor kids in mountainous areas, he saw the joy in their eyes. This motivated him to repair as many old bikes as possible to give to disadvantaged students in rural and remote areas.
Bicycle repair requires a lot of time and effort, especially for old models. However, Kinh always tries his best to repair, repaint and check the quality of every reconditioned bicycle before giving out. He has donated hundreds of bicycles to needy students over the past two decades, according to baotintuc.vn.
A unique market at the foot of Cham Chu mountain
Thut Market in Phu Luu Commune, Tuyen Quang Province is open only once per year at the foot of the Cham Chu Mountain Range. This unique market is not only a venue for exchanging goods but also a special cultural space where marketgoers come over to look for trust, affection and community values.
Early on the second day of the second lunar month this year, quite a few people flocked to Thut Village to attend the special market to buy and sell goods and to meet each other. Thut Village is where streams from the peak of Cham Chu Mountain Range merge and flow into the Lo River. In the old days, the village was a trading place for highlanders. Nowadays, it has become a trading venue and a cultural and religious space.
Farm produce, seedlings, livestock breeds, ethnic clothing, brocade fabrics, hand-embroidered fabrics, jewelry, silver bracelets, colorful thread and so on were displayed for sale at Thut Market stalls. The once-a-year market was a paradise for food lovers, serving dishes prepared from pickled bamboo shoots and various kinds of traditional cakes. There were also folk games, sports competitions, cultural exchanges and ethnic costume shows, vietnamplus.vn reported.
Multiple organ donation saves others’ lives
On March 19, a young man was brought to the Emergency Department of E Hospital in Hanoi City in critical condition following a traffic accident. Despite receiving care and treatment in the hospital’s ICU, he was declared brain dead on March 20. E Hospital’s organ and tissue donation consulting team contacted his family to explain the noble act of organ donation. They ultimately agreed to donate their loved one’s organs to save others’ lives.
E Hospital’s doctors quickly held a meeting with experts from the National Organ Transplant Coordination Center, Central Military Hospital 108, National Lung Hospital, National Children’s Hospital, and Military Hospital 103. All the doctors agreed to perform a surgery to harvest organs and tissues on March 21.
According to baotintuc.vn, the donor’s heart, part of his liver, and a kidney were transplanted to patients in need at Central Military Hospital 108; a kidney was transplanted to a patient at E Hospital; another part of the liver was grafted to a patient at Vinmec Hospital; the lungs were transplanted to a patient at the National Lung Hospital; and the corneas were transferred to the tissue bank at Military Hospital 103.
A loan officer for poor ethnic minorities
Born and raised in an ethnic minority community, H’Loan, a Mong woman, understands the challenges faced by poor people, especially those in rural and remote areas. With this sympathy, she has worked as a loan officer at the Dak Glong branch of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies for nearly 15 years, providing preferential loans to impoverished villages and helping thousands of households escape poverty.
H’Loan oversees Quang Son Commune (formerly Dak Glong District) in Lam Dong Province, where about 4,810 households from 23 ethnic groups primarily rely on small-scale farming for their livelihood. Thanks to policy credit funds, over 2,500 impoverished households have received loans to boost production; 52 households have built new homes; up to 1,200 water and sanitation projects have been implemented; hundreds of local residents have gained employment; and students have been able to continue their education.
H’Loan told dantocphattrien.vietnamnet.vn that fulfilling her job is her duty, responsibility, and love for villages and ethnic people. Given her persistent and effective role as a loan officer at the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, she has contributed her part to socio-economic changes in rural and remote areas, helping ethnic people escape poverty and lead stable lives.
