This activity is under the framework of the Project “Improving Resilience of Vulnerable Coastal Community to Climate Related Impacts in Vietnam”. The purpose of the competition is to create a useful playground for schools’ students and to offer them a great opportunity to explore, share their creative ideas with each other and have a better understanding of disaster prevention and control, climate change adaptation and help raise awareness among their families, relatives and friends.
After three months of running the competition, the organizers have received more than 500 entries from students currently studying at secondary schools in the central provinces of Quang Nam, Thua Thien Hue and Ninh Thuan. These entries include many pathbreaking ideas, profound contents, diversified forms and innovative expressions, which evidently reflects the interests, enthusiasm and full engagement of the participants in the Competition.
The special prize has been awarded to seventh graders Truong Nguyen Y Nhu and Tran Thanh Thuy of Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School in Hoi An City of Quang Nam province. They were honored for their film "Waking sleeping land after the disaster". This short five-minute documentary introduced the countryside land by the Thu Bon River, which had been crowded, attracting tourists, but has been abandoned since the flood occurred in 2000. Losing the significance of the large abandoned land, which had a potential for an economic development, disheartened the girls. In despair, they decided to spread the word and make it resourceful with their creativity.
The first prize of the competition was awarded to the work “Action before it is too late” of a group of ninth graders from Nguyen Du secondary school.
Authors of the highest prizes will participate the Traditional Disaster Day Ceremony organized by the Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control in Hanoi to introduce their works. The rest have been awarded with consolation prizes. In addition, more than 40 students with excellent works selected for the Final Round have been also awarded a Certificate of Merit from the Vietnam Disaster Management Authority.
Attending the awarding ceremony were representatives of the Central Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, VNDMA under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, UNDP, representatives of People's Committees of Quang Nam Province, of Hoi An City and relevant agencies.
Speaking at the ceremony, General Director of VNDMA Tran Quang Hoai emphasized: “The entries sent to the Competition have expressed creative and innocent vision through the children’s lens, which are clear evidences showing that the competition has achieved the desired results to help the students learn, create and raise awareness of communication to the people. They have been inspired to suggest new ideas, initiatives and solutions to mitigate natural disasters, adapt to climate change, takemeasures to avoid damages to houses, during disasters and provide solutions to protect daily activities before disasters. ”
