Members of Yen Yen district’s youth union clear the canal of Huong Mai commune.

The roads turning to Huong Mai commune (Viet Yen district) have been bustling in recent days with the presence of youth union members in the whole district. After the opening ceremony of the Youth Volunteer Campaign Summer 2018 launched by the Viet Yen district Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, each member has quickly come to a place.

The group of youth union members of the police forces of the district, townships and communes used hoes and shovels to dredge the canal of Dong Hao in Xuan Lan and Tam Hop villages, Huong Mai commune. The 2km canal serves irrigation for tens of hectares of agricultural land in the commune. All the mud and garbage in the canal were cleaned by youth union members. The blue color of the volunteers’ shirts mingled with the blue color of the clothes of the soldiers. The laughter dispelled the tiredness in the hot summer.

At the same time, the young doctors and nurses of the district General Hospital provided free medical check-ups, counseling and medicine for nearly 300 elderly people and disadvantaged children in the locality. The teachers and students of the Huong Mai Secondary School together with civil servants and public employees worked to create a youth flower road. The youth union members of the district police organized the Volunteer Sunday to disseminate laws on traffic safety for more than 200 people in the district.

In Yen The district, the family of Tran Thi Dan in Cau Da village, An Thuong commune is a particularly difficult household. Dan is over 70 years old and has suffered from hemiplegia for many years. Her husband gets sick continuously. She has a child with mental illness and a school-age granddaughter so her family condition is very difficult. 

Knowing the situation of Dan's family, the Yen The Charity Group (most of its members are cadres, civil servants and youth union members of Dong Son commune) mobilized help from enterprises and organizations, with a total amount of over 12 million VND (528 USD). The money was used to repair Dan’s house, pay tuition for her granddaughter and help her grow fruit trees of all kinds.

This year's summer volunteer campaign will take place from now until August 31 under the theme "Bac Giang youth volunteer for the community". Five volunteer groups will engage in the programme to support students during the high school graduation and university entrance exam together with four campaigns namely “Hoa phuong do” (Red flamboyant flowers), “Mua he xanh” (Green summer), “Hanh quan xanh” (Green operation), and “Ky nghi hong” (Pink vacation). 

Members of the youth union of Tan Dinh commune (Lang Giang district) clean up public places.

The youth unions at all levels in the province strive to carry out more than 2,000 voluntary activities while young people aim to propose 8,000 ideas and initiatives. In particular, they will support the construction or repair of at least 10 charity homes, give medical checkups and medicine for about 5,000 people, and organize at least 10 free swimming courses. To date, youth union members across the province have implemented many concrete and practical actions to respond to the movement.

According to Nguy Van Tuyen, Secretary of the provincial chapter of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, to make the volunteer programme effective, grassroots-level youth unions should promote and maintain the effectiveness of on-the-spot voluntary activities, and participate in the settlement of arising tasks in the community. 

The provincial youth union only gives orientation and connects units, enterprises, organizations and individuals to carry out volunteer activities, as well as discover ideas and addresses for voluntary activities to help each young person define responsibilities and improve skills to organize activities in line with conditions and ability. The youth unions of Bac Giang city and districts need to build contents and set targets for each week and each month of the campaign in order to maximize social resources and create trust among benefactors and enterprises.

Tuyet Mai