A Special Children’s Day

Written by Ngo Van Hung and Tong Van Tra – Project Assistants, Cam Thuy ADP
 
“Today’s Children’s Day festival is great! We’ve had loads of sweets and biscuits and I got to sing in front of everyone from my village,” said fifth grader Nguyen Ha Trang from Cam Lien in Thanh Hoa province.

Trang was participating alongside other local youngsters, parents and community members in activities organised by World Vision to celebrate this year’s Children’s Day in Cam Thuy district, Thanh Hoa province.

“I felt a bit shy about singing at first, but I was really happy afterwards when everyone in the audience clapped,” Trang continued. “We also learned about how to prevent injuries today.”

Mr Le Van Nghi also praised the event. Father of a four-year-old daughter and from Cam Lien community, Mr Le said, “Our village hasn’t held a Children’s Day event for a long time because people here are very poor. So my daughter and the other kids here have had a great time.”

Local Youth Union Secretary Mr Le Van Tuan commented that the festival had given the children opportunities to learn while playing during their summer break from school. One of the children, Ha Trang, was also enthusiastic about the day. “We all hope there’ll be more events like this one during the summer holiday.”

The Cam Lien festival was just one of 39 similar events held in remote villages throughout Cam Thuy. The festivals were organised by World Vision’s Cam Thuy Area Development Programme in cooperation with local Village Development Boards.

The Children’s Day festivals attracted nearly 5,000 youngsters, who sang, danced and acted in short plays. The activities were designed to improve relationships between villagers and educate in ways to help prevent children from suffering injuries and accidents. The festivals were also a rare opportunity for children to play together and to recognise their peers who have performed well at school despite facing personal difficulties.

A group of children from Cam Son community performed a short play entitled ‘Green Summer’, which focused on safety. “We don’t go to school in the summer, but we must play in safe places,” one of the young actors proclaimed. “Don’t swim in the river without adult supervision. Don’t climb trees. Don’t eat unripe fruit. These things are dangerous for all of us!”