Young Vietnamese lieutenant provides meals and education to 3,500 children

One of their projects, “Nuôi em Mộc Châu” (Bringing up children in Mộc Châu), began in January 2021.

More than 3,500 students in 75 kindergartens in Moc Chau, Van Ho, and Bac Yen districts are receiving financial support for lunches through the project.

So far, the financial support is estimated at VNĐ9 billion (US$384,000).

Another project is “Hanh phuc cho em” (Happiness for children), which started in December 2021.

The project built 16 schools and four houses and gave scholarships to poor students in Moc Chau, Van Ho, Yen Chau, Muong La and Quynh Nhai districts, worth more than VNĐ3.4 billion ($145,200).

Anh and his 38 partners run the two projects. Most of them are police in Son La Province and students.

Anh achieved his dream in 2015 when he passed the entrance exam to the People's Police Academy. Since then, he has enthusiastically joined the youth union’s campaigns.

But Anh does not forget his main task of studying. With excellent learning results, Anh has received many certificates of merit from the Ministry of Public Security.

After graduating from school in 2019, Anh was assigned to the traffic and public order police team in Moc Chau District Police, in charge of managing the Long Sap border gate, which is a drug hotspot.

“At that time, my station is right next to a kindergarten. Every day I see children going to school carrying only rice and water bottles to mix with rice. Therefore, every child has a very big belly but a small body, stunted and malnourished. I feel so sorry,” said Anh.

He came up with the idea to support the children with lunch. Initially, only 54 children in Long Sap received support. Then, the word spread and the number of beneficiaries increased.

To help the children, Anh and his comrades called for sponsors in social networks, including the youth union, women’s association, the police and the community.

Nguyen Thi Quyen, deputy principal of the Phong Lan Kindergarten in Moc Chau District, said that when the projects had not been implemented, the students were very miserable.

They had to quit school to help their parents in the fields.

"The projects have helped us a lot, encouraged parents to let their children go to school, reduce the rate of malnourished children and raise children's awareness," she said.

Ngọc Anh, deputy head of the Bringing up children in Moc Chau project, said that Hai Anh’s work was meaningful.

"I'm a lot older than Hai Anh. He’s a young man but has a great heart. He can do things my generation has not thought of and dare not do. Hai Anh is an example which we can learn from. I admire Hai Anh for his activities. He is also the inspirer to all members of the projects," said Ngoc Anh.

Hai Anh said, "Happiness is sharing. For me, the happiness I give to others is forever”.

Besides volunteer work, Anh also does his profession very well.

He is compiling a handbook about fighting online crimes, the first kind of handbook in the country.

“When doing charity work, we insert knowledge about the law to the people, especially at the schools we built. We spread information about Children's Law and drug-related crime prevention. The work is not only highly appreciated in Son La Province but also nationwide,” said Anh.

Being active in volunteering activities but did not forget to complete the police’s duty, particularly in 2021 successfully, Anh was awarded two certificates of merit from the Son La Province Police and one certificate of merit from the Ministry of Public Security.

He also received the National Volunteer Award in 2021.

Viet Nam News

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