Farmers in Thach My Loi Ward, HCM City, fear they are being poisoned by pollution after the skin on their toes turned black while working barefoot in their paddy fields.

Vo Van Thanh, a local farmer in HCM City said he had worked the fields for more than 30 years but early this year he found the skin on his toes had "turned black as ink; they itch and no amount of scrubbing will clean them."

Thanh said it was a problem only in some of the fields, where the water was a dark colour and gave off an unpleasant smell.

Le Van Dung, another farmer, said there was a lot of algae in the water in his paddies. Chemicals had no effect. The farmers suspect the water may have been contaminated by nearby factories and recent road work.

"Before they started the road construction that connects to Phu My Bridge, the water was fine," Thanh said.

Dung said the water came from the Saigon River, which itself may be polluted.

"If there is no way to fix this, we may have to abandon these fields," he said.

Huynh Tan Tien, the head of the HCM City Centre for Labour Health and Environment Protection, said stained toes indicated the water may be contaminated but tests would be necessary to determine what contaminants were present.

Nguyen Tri Dung, the director of the HCM City Preventive Medicine Centre, said an investigation was underway.  

Cancer centre opens in HCM City

A cancer centre was inaugurated on April 30 at the Hospital of Cho Ray in Ho Chi Minh City.

With a capital investment of 428 billion VND (20 million USD), the facility has 14 floors and contains 250 beds for patients.

The centre will examine, diagnose and treat patients suffering from tumours and cancer.

Speaking at the ceremony, Vice Chairwoman of the National Assembly, Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, applauded the efforts of Cho Ray hospital staff to treat patients across the country.

According to Health Minister Nguyen Thi Kim Tien, the centre will contribute to reducing overloading in hospitals in HCM City and will improve the sector’s healthcare mission.

In 2014, Cho Ray hospital treated about 1,000 cancer cases by using radiation therapy and completed over 500 liver cancer surgeries.

Vietnamese students in Russia hold sports competition

The annual sports competition for Vietnamese students in Russia is taking place in Moscow from May 1-4.

This year’s event attracts the participation of more than 600 students competing for eight sets of medals in football, track and field and tug of war.

This is the third year the executive committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in Russia has organized the event.

The annual competition aims at developing the sport movement among the Vietnamese student community as well as enhancing the solidarity between universities in Moscow and surrounding areas.

Interesting lessons connects with reality

Initiated from the creative ideas of teachers, lessons are connected with projects and themes which attach lessons with the reality of living.

Senior high school teachers applied new teaching methodologies to offer interesting studying hours helpings students to learn real experiences and develop their own skills.

To draw attention of students to his lesson of Literature, teacher of class 12A5 of Luong The Vinh Senior High School in district 1 initiated the project Van va Doi ( Literature and Life).

Students will participate in a drama whose content based on author Nguyen Minh Chau’s literary work Chiec Thuyen Ngoai Xa (Offshore Boat).

Teachers who viewed the drama were surprised by students’ professional performance and creativeness.

After one month from preparation to performance, teachers and students both worked hard on the drama but it has seen the effectiveness of  new learning style.

Teacher Le Minh Tan said that his students were very eager to participate in the drama and the dram impressed students in the school. Student Le Thi Hai Dang said that through the drama, students can grasp the literature work thoroughly.

Similarly, student Vu Mai Huong also said that she remembered the work deeply than before. In addition, students feel more confident to deliver their presentation in front of the classmates.

Teach Thuy Hang from Luong The Vinh Senior High School said that after viewing the performance of students, teachers realized that their students capture the knowledge more thoroughly and connect with real living and understand more traditional values which should be maintained and developed.

Other senior high schools such as DInh Thien Ly, Bui Thi Xuan, Tran Dai Nghia, Giong Ong To went suit. Students of Le Quy Don Senior High School  also performed drama from literature, history, English lessons.

Cao Dai Binh Dinh Church holds congress

As many as 140 church dignitaries and followers from 11 provinces and cities nationwide joined together at the 4th Congress of the Cao Dai Cau Kho Tam Quan Church in the central province of Binh Dinh from May 2-3.

Looking forwards at the 2015-2020 period, the congress will focus on strengthening internal solidarity and working more with external social organisations, participating in charitable and social activities and leading followers to comply with State law.

At the event, the participants were briefed that in the past few years the Cao Dai Cau Kho Church has been involved in business development and socio-economic and cultural activities across Binh Dinh localities. It has built 11 places of worship and raised more than 1 billion VND (46,500 USD) for charity.

Speaking at the congress, Duong Ngoc Tan, Deputy Head of the Government’s Committee for Religious Affairs spoke highly of the Cao Dai Cau Kho Tam Quan Church’s proactive participation in national socio-economic development and charitable activities.

He highlighted that in the coming time, the Cao Dai Cau Kho Church needs to instruct its followers to improve livelihoods while furthering the tenets of Caodaism.

On this occasion, the provincial People’s Committee officially recognised Cao Dai Cau Kho Tam Quan Church for its contributions to society in 2010-2015.

Founded in 1926 in southern Tay Ninh province, the Cao Dai religion worships the Divine Eye, known as the eye of heaven and a symbol of the supreme being of the Cao Dai religion. Cao Dai’s doctrine honours the Divine and the miraculous quality of supreme spirits, and considers them as the means for human beings to unify with God.

Ethnic minority-targeted policies prove effective in Central Highlands

Specific programmes and policies issued by the Party and State over recent years have vastly improved the living conditions of ethnic minority people in the Central Highlands.

The Central Highlands encompasses the five provinces of Dak Lak, Gia Lai, Kon Tum, Dak Nong, and Lam Dong, which are home to more than 5.5 million people with 36 percent of them hailing from 46 minority groups.

The Party and State’s solutions to local difficulties include Programme 135 on upgrading infrastructure in disadvantaged communes and villages, the Prime Minister’s Decision 167 on supporting low-income families with house building expenses, a policy aiding stability for famers, and a rapid and sustainable poverty reduction programme targeting the 62 poorest districts.

As a result, over 12,270km of roads have been built across the region, making all communes now accessible by car, said Vice Standing Chairman of the Central Highlands Steering Committee Tran Viet Hung.

More than 2,260 irrigation facilities have been built with nearly 5,000km of canals and ditches serving agricultural activities, he noted, adding that all communes have gained access to the national power grid while 70.75 percent of the households have clean water.

Hung also highlighted the improvement of educational and healthcare services, vocational training, and job provision, as well as spiritual lives of local residents.

He said the regional provinces expect the Government, ministries, and sectors will swiftly eliminate overlapping policies and implementation management.

Relevant agencies should design more practical policies, especially those addressing problems pertaining to farm and residential land, human resource training, employment, agricultural development, and the purchase of farm produce, ultimately raising local livelihoods, the official added.

Ca Mau dredges major estuaries to develop fisheries

The southernmost province of Ca Mau will invest 20 billion VND (around 930,000 USD) to dredge the two big estuaries and build wharves to facilitate fishing activities.

According to Mai Huu Chinh, Director of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment, the work will start at Song Doc and Khanh Hoi estuaries in the second quarters. Dykes will also be built along the two sides of the estuaries to prevent erosion.