Teaching hip hop to homeless children

Source: ThanhNien News

Those who frequent stages in Saigon may be familiar with a hip hop group of 9 homeless kids called Baby Action, who have turned into dancers thanks to their teacher’s kindness. 
 

When Luu Huynh Lam first opened a small hip hop class at his residence in Nha Be district, HCM City in 2004, he saw some young kids come to watch him and his students every day. "Some of them then approached me, begging me to allow them to pay monthly tuition fees by installments – one thousand dong every day,” said the 28-year-old teacher. 

Luu Huynh Lam said these were chiefly homeless kids who supported themselves by selling lottery tickets. After inquiring about these children’s family backgrounds, teacher Lam was very touched and decided to bring them all home to provide them with hip hop lessons – as well as many other things. 

The kids are from 5 to 14 years old of age. Some are orphans. Some were sent to live in pagodas since their parents are too poor. But they all love to learn hip hop. So in the morning, Lam sends them all to Phuoc Kieng Elementary School. From 2 to 4 pm in the afternoon, they practice dancing hip hop. 

As for evenings, these are reserved for performances on numerous stages throughout the city like Trong Dong, 126, Lan Anh or Dam Sen. There are also days when they are invited to perform out of the city. One may wonder how teacher Lam pays for all of this. 

For every performance, Baby Action earns from VND300,000 to 500,000, which isn’t much, and is making their teacher worried. He said that on sunny days, he and his young hip hop dancers did all right. But on rainy ones, people aren’t inclined to go to stages to watch shows, hip-hop or otherwise. 

"So I have been calculating a great deal – about how to have enough money to give them food, pay their school fees and buy them clothes, as well as give each of them around VND700,000 every month to help support their remaining relatives,” said Lam. 

Despite material difficulties, Lam said he told the kids that if they wanted to pursue some particular career, they only needed to tell him, and he would save money to send them off on their chosen road. 

As for the short-term plan, Lam said if possible, he would buy career insurance for Baby Action, since dancing, especially hip-hop dancing, is quite a dangerous profession.

UN, Vietnam youth discuss plan for volunteer resource center

Source: ThanhNien News

The United Nations Volunteers and the Vietnam Youth Union discussed Thursday a plan to set up a volunteer resource center to provide information about local and international voluntary work.

A seminar held to set up the Vietnam Volunteer Information Resource Center (VVIRC): 3-year Strategic Plan and Acting Sectors, was presided by the first secretary of the Vietnam Youth Union, Vo Van Thuong, and director of the UNV in Vietnam, Setsuko Yamazaki.

Delegates drawing up the plan focused on three key areas – Information, Action; Mechanism, Policy, Law Enforcement; and Capacity Building.

VVIRC Established this June is the cooperation between the UNV and the Vietnam Youth Union, aiming at providing the youth with comprehensive information about local and international voluntary positions.

UNV is the UN program that supports global human development by promoting volunteerism and mobilizing volunteers. 

It was created by the UN General Assembly in 1970 and has been administered since by UNDP. It is operating among growing recognition that volunteerism makes important contributions, economically and socially, to more cohesive societies by building trust and reciprocity among citizens.

Germany offers annual scholarships

Source: VNA

Germany plans to offer 85 Vietnamese students scholarships to study at Hessen State-based universities annually.

The good news was announced by Permanent Deputy Minister of Education and Training Banh Tien Long at the end of his four-day visit to Germany on September 27.

The scholarships are part of Ho Chi Minh City ’s Germany-Viet Nam University (GVU) project. During his visit Long met with Hessen State Minister of Sciences and Arts Udo Corts to discuss the establishment of the German-Vietnam university.

They agreed that 80 percent of the faculty would be German and 20 percent Vietnamese.

The Vietnamese delegation also visited three German universities that are included in the GVU project – Justus Liebig Kiien, Kassel and Frankfurt .

A memorandum of understanding on the 3,000-student university project, which is scheduled to start next year, was signed last May.

Japan, ADB fund Vietnam vitamin A, deworming tablet program

Source: ADB

Japan and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide Vietnam US$1 million for distributing vitamin A and deworming tablets to poor children under five years in 18 provinces.

The grant would help improve the health, growth, and cognitive development of poor children in the country, the ADB said in a press release Tuesday.

It would support Vietnam’s “already highly effective” vitamin A distribution program to further develop and reach a greater number of children, it said. A current government program reaches children up to three years of age.

It would also “expand the health benefits” by adding a deworming tablet to the twice-yearly distribution routine, the release said.

The 18 provinces benefiting the project are recognized as having high rates of malnutrition among poor and vulnerable children between the ages of six months and five years.

The project will be carried out by the National Institute of Nutrition in collaboration with the National Institute of Malaria, Parasitology and Entomology (NIMPE), the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and the University of Melbourne, Australia.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $1.2 million with the Vietnamese government providing the remaining amount.

ADB will support the project for three years.

During that time, the government’s share of the cost will gradually increase and reach 100 percent by the time the project ends, ensuring sustainability and extended benefits.