(VOVworld) – Every summer, the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union organizes a “Green Summer” volunteer program. Temporarily postponing their study plans, students volunteer in disadvantaged hamlets in Dak Lak Province in the hope that they can do something to improve living conditions in the poor rural areas. Their trips bring along not only knowledge, but also the youths’ enthusiasm for the community.  

Ms. H’Yim Kđoh beats the drum to launch the 2016 “Green Summer” volunteer program and the 2016 volunteer program to help national exam contestants. (Photo: daklak.edu.vn)

Every summer, the villagers of Blak and Dac Tuor Hamlets in the remote Cu Pui Commune of Krong Bong District happily welcome young volunteers who come to teach and help them.

As soon as they arrived at Dac Tuor’s communal house, volunteers from Dak Lak Pedagogy College grew accustomed to the new place and assigned tasks for each group.

Le Thi Lan Huong, a delegation member, shared her feeling with us: “There are fourteen people in my delegation who are divided into three groups. One is in charge of education, the other is in charge of logistics, and the last group does tasks requiring more labor. The three members of the education team will teach children. The logistics group stays at home to do cooking for the two other teams. Tasks like dredging canals require all of us to work together. We’re united and ready to share the simplest things with each other.”

Volunteers help children in Hòa An commune in Krông Pắc district to review academic knowledge of the previous school year. (Photo: baodaklak.vn)

Over the course of one month, the young volunteers educated local children, organized entertainment activities for them, cleaned up the environment, and helped disadvantaged families repair their houses.

They also visited and presented gifts to families that contributed to the revolution, according to veteran Y Son Hlong of Dac Tuor Hamlet. He said, “The volunteers have taught the villagers to play volleyball and to sing and have also participated in weeding and cleaning up the environment. Poor families receive lots of support from the volunteers. I’m old and weak, so they help me clear the fields grow rice. Their enthusiasm has made the volunteer movement to strong. It’s a beautiful image.”

Although their program didn’t last long, their works have left a beautiful impression on the locals. In one month, 60 volunteer delegations from Dak Lak Province have organized almost 400 summer classes for 8,500 local children and 130 courses to provide 3,500 farmers with education in agricultural techniques for growing coffee, pepper and avocado trees and rice. They also contributed a total of two million of working days, worth about 112,000 USD.

A representative of the “Green Summer” steering committee presents gifts for volunteer youths in Ur Hamlet in Krông Năng town. (Photo: baodaklak.vn)

Vo Van Dung, Deputy Secretary of the provincial branch of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union and chief of the “Green Summer” campaign, said, “The one-month volunteer movement has been appraised highly. First, the courses to review what the children learned during the academic year have attracted the participation of many local children. Second, the development and expansion of youth unions and associations at the commune level have drawn crowds of local youths. In the 2016 “Green Summer” program, in addition to provincial funding, the authorities of communes and districts have more actively mobilized various financial resources for volunteer activities, building roads, irrigation canals, and sports grounds in rural areas, and repairing dilapidated houses for war invalids and martyrs.”

Joining volunteer activities offers youths practical experience, develops their creativity, and reflects their sense of responsibility to their homeland.