Warm clothing urgently sent to hill children in need

Hanoi (VNA) – The community, especially netizens, have joined hands in various charity activities to send help up to mountain ethnic minority groups who are struggling in the country’s record cold spell.

A fund namely “Tro ngheo vung cao” (Poor hill students) sent out an urgent message on January 24 to call for donations of winter clothing, and after 24 hours, it had raised more than 900 million VND and received about 5,000 cold-weather clothes and 4,000 pairs of boots.

The donations were dispatched to Hoang Su Phi district in northern Ha Giang province and Bat Xat district of northern Lao Cai province for children in need.

The fund plans to expand its campaign and send help to even more hill children. On January 26, a volunteer group approached a mountainous area in central Thanh Hoa province, near the border with Laos, to provide aid to children there.

Donations can be sent via Account No.0611001917137, Vietcombank or to Lot 34, Trung Yen 9 Street, Cau Giay District, Hanoi.

Otofun, one of Vietnam’s largest social forums, has worked around the clock to invite donations in a campaign calling for urgent relief for children affected by the cold spell.

As a result, approximately 1,000 winter jackets, 1,000 pairs of boots and 1,000 pairs of socks were handed out to needy children in Bac Me district in Ha Giang province.

Many other groups of students, civil servants, youth unions and artists have also called for donations of winter clothing and books for children and teachers in mountainous areas.

Snow fell in many areas across the northern mountainous region as a severe cold spell has enveloped almost half of the country since January 23.

Snow blanketed Sa Pa resort city in the province of Lao Cai on January 24 where temperatures plunged to minus 5 degrees C on the night of January 23, the lowest for many years. The temperature at Sa Pa was measured at 0 degrees C on the morning of January 24.

Freezing temperatures were also reported in other areas, such as minus 0.4 degrees C in Tam Dao (Phu Tho province), minus 0.2 degrees C in Dong Van (Ha Giang province) and minus 4 degrees C on Mau Son Mountain (Lang Son province).

Tens of kilometres of national road 4D on the section from O Quy Ho Pass (Sa Pa district) to Tam Duong district (Lai Chau province) are covered with snow and 1cm of ice, posing a danger to traffic.-VNA