Back to the roots

Bang Linh and Thuy Linh with simple, honest and loving prose poems about a summer that has just passed, full of meaning: "I love the summer of the Fatherland/ The infinite beauty of my beloved Vietnam/ Each step I take, each immeasurable joy.../ Happiness swings, my heart is sweet...

A short essay: “Last week, my parents and I went to Phan Thiet and Phan Rang, down to Nha Trang, the land of Agarwood. The beloved places are incredibly beautiful. In Phan Thiet, I participated in an event of my father's company by the Mui Ne beach, the golden sand dunes rustling with the sun and wind, the waves murmuring. I have been to many places but no place is as beautiful as my homeland Vietnam. In the middle of August, I returned to Ha Tinh where the Ngan River flows into Tam Soa wharf, down to Hoi estuary. Phuc Trach has delicious grapefruit and agarwood, the gardens of agarwood trees are as beautiful as paintings. I visited the children in the remote areas of the poor homeland of Huong Khe and Ky Anh - the land of the poem: Stepping to Deo Ngang in the late afternoon... (Ba Huyen Thanh Quan); dancing and singing with the children, blending into the beat of their hearts like a flock of sparrows spreading their wings to fly...”.

Bang Linh and Thuy Linh are two close friends - Vietnamese students studying abroad in North America. Bang Linh studied abroad at the age of 16, grade 11 - 12 and university abroad. Thuy Linh, at the age of 14, went abroad with her family in grade 8, from grade 8 until the final year of university, lived and worked in a foreign country. Living in two different cities, due to family ties and similar personalities, they came together, became friends in studying and many social activities.

During the summer of the previous school year and the 2022-2023 school year, encouraged by their families, Bang Linh and Thuy Linh returned home to participate in charity programs. From August 8 to 12, 2023, Bang Linh and Thuy Linh, along with their younger sister Hoai An, a student at a specialized middle school, went together to 4 primary and middle schools in Ha Tinh province: Huong Giang, Phuc Dong (Huong Khe mountainous district); Giang Dong, Ky Phu (Ky Anh poor coastal district).

With the financial support of benefactors, writer Bich Lam selected 1,000 valuable books from home and abroad (translated - bilingual), the authors of which are all famous writers for school-age children. With the encouragement and support of teachers from Huong Khe and Ky Anh districts, program advisor Ms. Tuyet Anh, two friends Bang Linh, Thuy Linh, and younger sister Hoai An planned and organized events to give books and exchange English with students from schools in a systematic, open, bustling, and warm manner. The student exchanges took place lively, attractive, inspiring reading culture; the children accumulated more experience, gentle but practical and effective ways to learn English.

It was truly a summer of volunteering in their own way, Bang Linh, Thuy Linh, Hoai An have closely connected with the children in remote areas. Until noon in the harsh Central region sun, or at 5 pm, the children of Huong Giang, Phuc Dong, Giang Dong, Ky Phu schools still danced and sang together, not wanting to leave each other, lingering to ask for the email addresses, Zalo, Messenger, Telegram phone numbers of Bang Linh, Thuy Linh, Hoai An; asking for autographs in the guestbook. With that warm, friendly atmosphere, a female reporter from a local radio and television station felt: "So it was very successful! Bang Linh, Thuy Linh, Hoai An are wonderful. The primary and secondary school children of Ha Tinh, the land of studiousness, are extremely lovely"...

Ut Mui Ne observed and concluded:

- The families of overseas students are very conscious of nurturing in them a love for Vietnam, a love for their homeland and roots. No matter where they go or what they do, their cultural knowledge is noble, but their roots are the fundamental thing that nurtures the children's souls.

- Bang Linh, Thuy Linh, Hoai An (and many other students) voluntarily and enthusiastically participated in events to return to the roots during the green summer, which is extremely encouraging.

- Ha Tinh is a land of studiousness; teachers and children from schools in Huong Khe and Ky Anh have seized valuable opportunities to organize meetings and exchanges, inspiring reading culture, accessing new knowledge "learning goes hand in hand with practice", fostering confidence towards the open sky of knowledge.

Binh Thuan Youth – favorable time, favorable location, and favorable people – welcome the new school year 2023-2024, in the belief and love of the whole country, for the whole country – raising the level of learning, accessing comprehensive new knowledge, and closely connecting school with social life.

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