Bringing Mid-Autumn Festival to Poor Boarding Houses
The 12m2 room located deep in a row of houses near Tam Thang Industrial Park (Ban Thach Ward, Da Nang) was brightly lit by a newly-finished paper lantern on the evening of October 5. Hoa - the child of a worker couple renting a room here - tightly hugged the Mid-Autumn Festival gift he had just received, complaining: "This year, I have the same lights as you".
Hoa's parents work part-time, their income is unstable, and every month they earn money for the house and milk. "Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the children get gifts from the Union, and the children are very happy. My wife and I are very grateful for the timely attention of the Union" - the mother said.
As every year, this Mid-Autumn Festival, the Labor Federation has presented more than 3,200 gifts (each worth 300,000 VND, including cash and in-kind gifts), worth nearly 1 billion VND, to children of union members and workers in difficult circumstances. Not only cake gifts, the festival is also a true playground for children: bustling lion drums, performances of art, medicine, games... so that they can laugh and dance like many of their peers.
In Tam Ky ward, Ms. Dang Thi Thu Loi still remembers the shock when her husband passed away from COVID-19, leaving her alone to raise her two young children. "Workers' income is small, I still don't have enough to calculate every night. After the incident, Tam Ky Trade Union supported my children with 2 savings books, each worth 10 million VND. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, the children also receive gifts from the company's Trade Union, the locality... I am truly grateful that the children have more support to continue going to school" - she said.
The timely support helps her reduce her immediate worries, and is also a promise to long-term accompany working families in difficulty.
From the story of Hoa and Loi's two children, it can be seen that Mid-Autumn Festival gifts are not just lanterns or cake boxes. That is also the concern, sharing, and encouragement of the Trade Union for the difficult lives. When children laugh, adults are motivated to stick to work, pass, and try harder for tomorrow.
Small gifts bring great joy
Not only towards the children of workers staying at the rental housing, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival, the Trade Union also brings loving light to children being treated at Da Nang Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital. The Hoa Cuong Ward Labor Union in coordination with the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and socio-political organizations has just visited and presented gifts to 100 children with serious illnesses, with a total amount of 30 million VND. In an emotional atmosphere, each small gift was placed next to the hospital bed, with wishes for good health so that the children could return home in time to enjoy the feast.
Along with gifts and scholarships, Trade Unions at all levels in Da Nang also cooperated with businesses to organize festival nights right in industrial parks and boarding houses; arranged art troupes, lion dances... so that workers' children could enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival right where their parents worked and lived.
The consistent message is "leaving no one behind": children are orphaned, disabled, have serious illnesses... all have a list of monitoring and connecting timely support resources. "In the joy of the new school year, there are still many children of union members and workers in rural and mountainous areas lacking. The Trade Union focuses on practical support, supporting children to go to school; at the same time, organizing playgrounds during the Action Month for Children, International Children, Mid-Autumn Festival... so that they can enjoy their full childhood" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh, Vice President of the Labor Federation, shared.
