Volunteers clean up Ba Luu canal in HCM City’s District 8 (Photo: VNA)HCM City (VNS/VNA) -Ba Luu canal, one of the most polluted canals in Ho Chi MinhCity, was cleared of waste and an invasive growthof hyacinth by young volunteers during this year's Mua HeXanh (Green Summer) campaign.
The 26thannual campaign was recently launched by the city’s Ho Chi Minh Communist YouthUnion (HCM HCYU) in July with nearly 60,000 youth volunteers.
Thegroup's activities occurred in HCM City and 15 western, southern,central and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces, as well as inLaos.
Ngo MinhHai, Vice Secretary of the HCM HCYU, said the campaign this year focused onaddressing environmental problems and solving practical problems.
“Thesmall actions of young people create a big wave that canspread throughout the community,” Hai said.
Ofthe goals set for the campaign, seven canals were cleaned up bythe volunteers.
Manycanals in HCM City are full of rubbish and untreated wastewater fromhouseholds and industrial production.
Foryears, local people have suffered from bad smells coming from thesepolluted waterways.
A team ofdozens of volunteers worked to collect rubbish and waterhyacinth from the Ba Luu canal in District 8.
In thescorching heat of July, their clothes were stained with mud, but they stillsmiled, chatted and entertained each other with funny stories.
Nguyen DangKhoa, head of the team, said the young volunteers played, shared andworked with new friends they met during the campaign.
“Theyhelped each other learn skills based on their own life experiences, andthey grew up together,” he said.
Tran UyHiep, 19, a student from HCM City Technical and Economic College,said: “Awareness of environmental protection plays an important rolein achieving sustainable development goals in any country.” The canalwaters were now clean enough for swimming and fishing, he added.
Amongtheir list of goals, Dia canal in Thu Duc district, Dat Set canal in district12 and Tieu Lien Xa canal in Hoc Mon district were also cleaned up byhundreds of volunteers. These canals were full of rubbishand had terrible smells.
Besides canalcleanups, 10 bridges and 40km roads in rural areas were built duringthe campaign this year.
About 40 studentsfrom the HCM City University of Transport and Communications built300 metres of Road No 10 in district 9’s Long Binh ward.
Nguyen Dang Nhan, ViceChairman of the Long Binh Ward People’s Committee, said the new road was safeand convenient, and contributed to building a "new-style ruralarea".
“This offered studentsgood experiences that helped them practise their skillsmore efficiently.”
Volunteers alsospent five days painting 800sq.m of walls in the Linh Dong PrimarySchool in HCM City’s Thu Duc district.
The work,which cost 40 million VND (1,720 USD), was funded fromdonations.
Tran Thi Phuong, astudent at HCM City University of Education, said that most of thepaintings featured trees and environmental protection activities.
“Each paintingis a message to young people to take action to protect the environment,”she said.
During the campaign,volunteers also took part in communication activities on reducing plasticwaste and littering on streets and in canals.
In addition, thevolunteers helped build and repair 50 houses for the poor, repairedhome electrical wiring for 500 families, built new toilets for threeschools, and created 100 playgrounds that help raise children's awarenessabout environmental protection.
They also openedtraining classes on social skills (self-defence for emergencies,sexual abuse prevention, and rescue, fighting andpreventing fire) for 15,000 teenagers and children.
About 5,000people were taught IT and foreign languages, and 10,000 new members wererecruited for the Vietnam Youth Union and the VietnamStudents' Association.-VNS/VNA
The 26thannual campaign was recently launched by the city’s Ho Chi Minh Communist YouthUnion (HCM HCYU) in July with nearly 60,000 youth volunteers.
Thegroup's activities occurred in HCM City and 15 western, southern,central and Tay Nguyen (Central Highlands) provinces, as well as inLaos.
Ngo MinhHai, Vice Secretary of the HCM HCYU, said the campaign this year focused onaddressing environmental problems and solving practical problems.
“Thesmall actions of young people create a big wave that canspread throughout the community,” Hai said.
Ofthe goals set for the campaign, seven canals were cleaned up bythe volunteers.
Manycanals in HCM City are full of rubbish and untreated wastewater fromhouseholds and industrial production.
Foryears, local people have suffered from bad smells coming from thesepolluted waterways.
A team ofdozens of volunteers worked to collect rubbish and waterhyacinth from the Ba Luu canal in District 8.
In thescorching heat of July, their clothes were stained with mud, but they stillsmiled, chatted and entertained each other with funny stories.
Nguyen DangKhoa, head of the team, said the young volunteers played, shared andworked with new friends they met during the campaign.
“Theyhelped each other learn skills based on their own life experiences, andthey grew up together,” he said.
Tran UyHiep, 19, a student from HCM City Technical and Economic College,said: “Awareness of environmental protection plays an important rolein achieving sustainable development goals in any country.” The canalwaters were now clean enough for swimming and fishing, he added.
Amongtheir list of goals, Dia canal in Thu Duc district, Dat Set canal in district12 and Tieu Lien Xa canal in Hoc Mon district were also cleaned up byhundreds of volunteers. These canals were full of rubbishand had terrible smells.
Besides canalcleanups, 10 bridges and 40km roads in rural areas were built duringthe campaign this year.
About 40 studentsfrom the HCM City University of Transport and Communications built300 metres of Road No 10 in district 9’s Long Binh ward.
Nguyen Dang Nhan, ViceChairman of the Long Binh Ward People’s Committee, said the new road was safeand convenient, and contributed to building a "new-style ruralarea".
“This offered studentsgood experiences that helped them practise their skillsmore efficiently.”
Volunteers alsospent five days painting 800sq.m of walls in the Linh Dong PrimarySchool in HCM City’s Thu Duc district.
The work,which cost 40 million VND (1,720 USD), was funded fromdonations.
Tran Thi Phuong, astudent at HCM City University of Education, said that most of thepaintings featured trees and environmental protection activities.
“Each paintingis a message to young people to take action to protect the environment,”she said.
During the campaign,volunteers also took part in communication activities on reducing plasticwaste and littering on streets and in canals.
In addition, thevolunteers helped build and repair 50 houses for the poor, repairedhome electrical wiring for 500 families, built new toilets for threeschools, and created 100 playgrounds that help raise children's awarenessabout environmental protection.
They also openedtraining classes on social skills (self-defence for emergencies,sexual abuse prevention, and rescue, fighting andpreventing fire) for 15,000 teenagers and children.
About 5,000people were taught IT and foreign languages, and 10,000 new members wererecruited for the Vietnam Youth Union and the VietnamStudents' Association.-VNS/VNA
VNA
