Holding the warm coat in her hands, little girl Luong Thi Doanh mumbled her thanks to journalist Nguyen Khac Van, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of SGGP Newspaper. The little girl of the Kho Mu ethnic group said that the coat was a very precious gift for children in the province when winter comes. She is currently studying in grade 4 at Ethnic Minority Boarding School in Muong Loi Commune of Dien Bien Province.
Little girl Luong Thi Doanh is one of the 60 poor and studious students in Muong Loi Commune who received a cash gift of VND500,000 (US$ 20.6 ) along with cakes and a warm coat. The gifts were sponsored by a delegate group from the Propaganda and Education Board of the City Party Committee and reporters during the tour to the Northwestern provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Dien Bien, Lai Chau and Lao Cai.
The little girl revealed her house is more than 8km from school, so she only walks home on weekends and stays at school on weekdays. She spends nearly 3 hours walking from her school to her home. Though she was tired, she was not discouraged because she learned how to read and write at her school.
Sitting next to Doanh is Luong Thi Tam of the Kho Mu ethnic group, whose home is more than 40km from the school. Because her home is far away, Tam has been sent to a boarding school and only returns home once every few months. When she was given the warm coat, she put it on immediately. Overwhelming joy was clearly seen in Tam's eyes with the gift she had just received.
According to teacher Luong Thi Minh Thuy at Muong Loi Commune Primary School for Ethnic Minority Boarding, most of the students at the school have difficult circumstances and live far away so they have to stay at school. Moreover, she disclosed that many of them only come home a few times a year. On weekends, teachers take turns staying at school to help children cook and instruct them on life skills. Ms. Minh Thuy said that these warm coats are very useful when winter is coming.
In addition to the 60 disadvantaged students receiving gifts, the group also donated VND 1 million to each of poor households and beneficiaries of social welfare policies. Touched when she received the gift, Ms. Cut Thi Soi said this was a huge amount of money for her family. She plans to buy a buffalo while the remaining money will be used for doing business. Mr. Luong Van Tam said that he would use part of the donated money to repair the leaking roof, and the rest would be spent on buying some chickens and ducks to raise.
In addition to giving gifts to poor students who are studious and providing support to policy beneficiary families in difficult circumstances, the delegation also gave Huoi Puoc Border Gate Border Guard Station VND20 million and 300 national flags. The total amount of support and gifts is more than VND160 million.
Chairman of Muong Loi Commune People's Committee Luong Van Bien informed that Muong Loi is a border commune in a remote and extremely difficult area of Dien Bien province more than 80km from the center of Dien Bien Phu city. The commune has 8 villages, 484 households with more than 2,500 people and 4 ethnic groups living together including Kho Mu, Lao, Mong and Kinh. Ethnic minorities account for more than 99 percent of the population. The rate of poor and near-poor households in the commune is still high, accounting for more than 62.61 percent.
Currently, only 2/8 villages of the commune have access to national electricity grid and telephone coverage. Worse, 5/8 of highland villages are far from the center and traffic is often separated from other districts during the rainy season. Therefore, according to Mr. Luong Van Bien, the working group's help and support will contribute to sharing difficulties with the poor and creating more conditions for people to improve their lives and have more capital to invest in economic development, gradually escaping poverty.
Particularly, taking care of difficult students will help them have more conditions to pursue their schooling without dropping out of school.
From December 12 to 16, the Propaganda and Education Board of the City Party Committee organized a trip back to the provinces of Hoa Binh, Son La, Dien Bien, Lao Cai, Phu Tho for other journalists, propagandists and staff of publishing houses in Ho Chi Minh City.
