Ao dai given to female students in mountainous areas

The first Ao Dai of the project were delivered during the back-to-school season of the 2022-2023 school year. Photo: Provided by the school

More motivation to go to school

Due to their difficult circumstances, female students of the Ca Dong and Xe Dang ethnic groups in the highlands of Nam Tra My often do not have the means to make new uniforms for school. Out of empathy and love for their students, teachers at Nam Tra My High School (Nam Tra My commune) have connected with the Chung Suc Tre Club and the Dien Ban Volunteers Association, launching a program to collect old ao dai from high school graduates for 10th grade female students in the highlands.

More than 4 years have passed, the project is still going on, the white ao dai, although old to this person, have become a joy and motivation to go to class for hundreds of female students in remote villages. The white ao dai in the project "Ao dai for female students in the highlands" is not only a uniform, but also a spiritual gift, a bridge of love and sharing from the lowlands to the highlands.

Receiving a beautiful ao dai, Ho Thi Gioi (in Tra Tap commune), a 10th grade student at Nam Tra My High School, shared: "I am very happy because I do not have to worry about uniforms in the new school year. This gift has given me more motivation to try to study better."

Mr. Mai Anh Tuan, a volunteer of the Chung Suc Tre Club, who is directly responsible for transporting the ao dai to the highlands, shared: "It is wonderful when the old ao dai are collected, washed and ironed with all their heart and then handed to the female students in the highlands before the opening day. It is a joy for both the giver and the receiver."

Giving is happiness

“If you still have old ao dai, don’t rush to put them away. Wash them and send them to the Ao Dai Love project, because somewhere there is a little girl waiting for a white ao dai to confidently walk to class” is a shared line posted on the Facebook page of the Youth Union Club.

Hundreds of comments and shares have gone beyond the boundaries of Dien Ban, creating resonance for the program. From the early days with only a few dozen ao dai collected, the program has now spread widely, receiving the response of young people in Ho Chi Minh City, Quang Ngai...

*The ao dai are meticulously packaged with love. PHOTO: MEN NGUYEN*

Mr. Le Tu Thinh, Vice Chairman of the Youth Union Club, shared that the project has received support from hundreds of 12th grade female students at high schools in Da Nang city. After being donated, the ao dai sets were washed, folded, and placed in clear plastic bags, with clear notes about height and weight according to the list sent down from the school, helping female students easily choose and wear the right fit.

On the first day of school, the image of the highland girls radiantly wearing their flowing white ao dai became an emotional and memorable moment. For many of them, it was the first time they wore ao dai, not just as a uniform, but also as a joy and a feeling of being cared for and shared.

Mr. Le Tu Thinh said: "The project does not stop at the beginning of the school year. We collect ao dai all year round and donate them in charity events to each village. The goal is for each female student in the highlands to have more than one ao dai, which can be changed and worn alternately during the week like other friends in the lowlands."

*Packed with meaningful words of encouragement. PHOTO: MEN NGUYEN*

Ms. Tran Thi Lam, Vice President of the Dien Ban Volunteers Association, confided: "The white ao dai is not only the school uniform of high school girls, but also a traditional cultural beauty of Vietnamese women. We have mobilized female students in the lowlands to wash the ao dai, fold them and give them to girls in the highlands. It is not only a sharing of material things but also a connection of friendship between female students."

Nguyen Thi Dieu Thuong, a former 12th grade Literature student at Le Thanh Tong High School for the Gifted, shared: "During my 3 years of high school, my mother made me 3 sets of Ao Dai to wear to school in turns. Because the Ao Dai were still very new, I initially intended to keep them as a souvenir of my school days. However, when I learned about the program to give Ao Dai to female students in the highlands, I took the Ao Dai to the laundry, cleaned them, and carefully wrapped them to give to my friends."

Not only stopping at donating her own ao dai, Dieu Thuong also actively encouraged her classmates and female students in the school to donate white notebooks awarded at the closing ceremony to give to female students in the highlands.

“Ao Dai for highland girls” is not simply about giving away Ao Dai, but it is a journey to sow the seeds of love, educate the younger generation about empathy as well as the awareness of preserving national cultural identity. Hopefully in the coming school years, there will be more similar projects to inspire and empower highland girls to go to school.

Source: https://baodanang.vn/ao-dai-tang-nu-sinh-vung-cao-3301532.html