A representative of HCM City's Youth Union wears the costume of a traditional character of the Mid-Autumn Festival, as she presents gifts for children of migrant workers in dormitories in HCM City (Photo: VNA) In the pastthree days, the dormitories of migrant workers in Son Ky, Tay Thanh wards in TanPhu district; Tan Nhut, An Phu Tay wards in Binh Chanh district; and Hiep PhuocIndustrial Zone in Nha Be district have been full of the sounds of happinesswith children’s laughter.
Youngsterscelebrated their Mid-Autumn Festival with mooncakes, milk, small boxes ofcandy and biscuits, as well colourful paper lanterns. These are in giftpackages for the full-moon festival local authorities, youth unions and benefactors,in the costumes of Hang Nga and Uncle Cuoi, the two traditional characters ofthe festival, presented to children in the city’s pandemic-hit areas.
Nguyen Thi TuyetThu, a migrant worker in Son Ky ward in Tan Phu district said it had been along time since she last heard the sound of children laughing.
“I thoughteverybody was busy putting the pandemic under control and would ignore thechildren’s festival,” she said.
Tuyet Mai,another migrant worker in An Phu ward in Thu Duc city, said the pro-longedsocial distancing has put her family and neighbours in serious financialdifficulties.
“Having thegifts on this occasion is really meaningful and special for us. It has broughtjoy to the children and made us feel warm in these really hard days,” she said.
The city’sDepartment of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs showed that the department,in cooperation with the city’s Fatherland Front Committee and the Youth Union,has presented gift sets worth 300,000 VND (12 USD) each to disadvantagedchildren in seven social welfare centres and 40 dormitories in the city.
Tran Thi KimThanh, head of the department’s Office for Child Protection, Care and GenderEquality, said this year's Mid-Autumn Festival was very special due to thecomplicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic and social distancing.
She said thedepartment as well as local authorities, mobilised teams to visit and give mooncakes and lanterns to children in special circumstances, children of migrantworkers who were seriously affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and children infield hospitals and quarantine sites.
The departmentalso called upon organisations and individuals to donate online learningequipment and textbooks to children to help them get back to school, she said.
Under theprogramme jointly held by the city’s Youth Union, the city’s Fatherland FrontCommittee, the Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, and theHo Chi Minh City Women's Union, a total of 5,000 gifts, 1,300 sets oftextbooks, learning equipment, and 50 scholarships worth nearly 2.5 billion VND(109,120 USD) have been presented to disadvantaged children and those who arereceiving treatment against COVID-19 in the city.
Van Thi BachTuyet, deputy head of the National Assembly delegation of HCM City said duringher visit to the city’s Children's Hospital 2 and the Field Hospital No11 thatthis Mid-Autumn Festival, children would not celebrate as usual due to thesocial distancing regulations, but joint efforts of social organisations,charity groups and benefactors have contributed to caring for disadvantagedchildren, helping them to overcome this difficult period.
The Khan Quang Do newspaper collaboratedwith the Sharing group, and presented gifts to 1,000 children with cancer, HIV,and children infected with Agent Orange, as well as orphans in the city.
A further5,000 gifts were given to children infected with COVID-19 and children whoseparents are infected with COVID-19. The gifts were donated by the municipalParty Committee's Mass Mobilisation Department, the Vietnam Youth Social WorkCenters, and the Vietnam Young Doctors Association.
Dr Phuong Vu,from the Social Work Department of City Children's Hospital, said many parentswho were taking care of children at the hospital could not hide their tears ofhappiness when seeing the bright smiles after days of fighting with illness.
Y Ngan, amigrant worker at Tan Thuan Processing Zone, said she felt so touched seeingher five-year-old son have a fun time and have parties with moon cakes andfruits with volunteers at the Field Hospital in district 7.
Van Trung, whoworks as a builder, said he and his child just came to the field hospital forten days with so many concerns and worries, but the child had a very happy timethis Mid-Autumn Festival./.
VNA
