Hanoi (VNA) – A group of Vietnamese students in China have presented over 4,000 notebooks, financial aid to schools and nearly 400 aid packages to help students in the three flood-hit provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.
On November 10 and 12, the group of the Vietnamese Students Association in Beijing and Wuhan and Vietnamese community in Guangzhou of China, and donors visited and presented aid packages to students and local residents affected by recent floods in the three central provinces of Quang Binh, Quang Tri and Thua Thien-Hue.
It was part of activities initiated by the Vietnamese Students Association in Beijing, with the aim of supporting students and teachers in Vietnam’s central region to overcome hardships and help local residents stabilise their life soon.
More than 4,000 notebooks and financial aid were presented to local schools and nearly 400 aid packages to students at Huong Toan 1 primary school in Huong Tra township, Thua Thien-Hue province, Lien Thuy secondary school in Quang Binh’s Le Thuy district and Trieu Do primary school in Quang Tri’s Trieu Phong’s district.
The group also visited and handed over aid packages to teachers and families which were heavily affected by recent historic floods.
Bui Anh Tuan, President of the association in Beijing and head of the charitable campaign’s organising board, expressed his sympathies to the schools over various difficulties, and said he hoped the aid packages will help ease difficulties of students and teachers in the academic year.
As the Vietnamese Teachers’ Day (November 20) is nearing, he wished the teachers and school leaders a good health and happiness.
Diep Chi, a student at Beijing Jiaotong (Transport) University, said that she cannot hold back her tears when witnessing the ravages of heavy rains and flooding to the locals. She wished the water quickly recedes and local residents can return to their normal lives as soon as possible.
In one of the hardest-hit areas of Quang Tri province, both teachers and students at Trieu Do primary school are exerting efforts to surmount consequences of storms and floods.
Deputy head of Trieu Do primary school Vu Anh Tuan said most of school equipment was damaged as classrooms were inundated under 2m of water by heavy rain. Even at present, many students still have difficulty in going to school as some areas remained inundated.
He thanked the students and donors for their support, especially for schoolchildren, saying that the assistance will be a motivation for them to overcome obstacles and continue their studies.
In addition to presenting support for students, the delegation of Vietnamese students in Beijing and Wuhan and the Vietnamese community in Guangzhou paid homage to and extended their condolences to families of officers and soldiers who sacrificed their lives while on duty in rescue operations.
Natural disasters have claimed 280 lives and caused a total loss of approximately 29.9 trillion VND (close to 1.29 billion USD) to Vietnam since the beginning of this year, according to the National Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention and Control.
The natural disasters also injured 856 people and left 66 others unaccounted for. Torrential rains, floods and landslides collapsed over 3,420 houses, damaged over 327,700 and submerged nearly 509,800 others, affecting livelihoods of millions of people.
The country has so far recorded 13 typhoons entering the East Sea, 114 flash floods and landslides, 86 earthquakes and 264 thunderstorms and whirlwinds while drought, saltwater intrusion and river and coastal erosion have wreaked havoc across the Mekong Delta provinces./.