In Vietnam, community-based extracurricular activities - including children's clubs - are organized during school holidays by Youth Union, a local youth organization, at village and commune levels, with the support of Aide et Action.
This initiative aims to develop the physical health as well as the life skills of the children during their summer holidays. In 2019, our activities included an art club focusing on the recovery of traditional songs from the Muong and Dao ethnic groups, and a football club. Children who join the clubs have the opportunity to enjoy fun activities, interact with each other and learn about their culture. These extra-curricular activities are strongly supported by parents and local authorities, ensuring maximum impact.
Sport and art for development
To mark the end of the holidays, we worked with the Youth Union to organise an inter-communal performance competition for children from Vay Nua and Tien Phong communes. The competition consisted of two parts: football matches in the morning and artistic performances (singing and dancing) in the afternoon. In total, six teams competed and the event attracted nearly 200 children, 120 parents, 25 local authority officials and teachers from both communes.
From the encouragement to the preparation of the competition, a large part of the community got involved. Most importantly, the children who participated had a ball - even in the hot summer weather. Dinh Yen Chi, from Na Mat village, said: " I really enjoy participating in the summer activities because I can learn our traditional dances. I am very happy that my team got the first prize today . "
Education for children's rights
The competition also included an interesting section for questions to the public, which incorporated communication and education on children's rights and gender equality. Many parents participated in this part. Ban Van Minh, a parent from Vay Nua commune said:
Today I learned that adults are not allowed to impose all their opinions on children as this can unintentionally violate children's rights and prevent children from practising their rights at home or at school.
Xa Van Si, a relative from Vay Nua commune also added: " I knew about the Aide et Action project, but I didn't really know what it was about. Now I can see the activities directly and I am happy to see that they are very practical and useful for our children . "
Community lessons
In addition to the summer activities, the project in cooperation with the youth unions of Doan Ket, Tien Phong and Vay Nua communes organised a Mid-Autumn Festival (15 August - lunar calendar) for children. The festival was attended by 650 children, more than 300 parents and 20 local government officials. Here, children had the opportunity to play games and parents again had the opportunity to participate in communication sessions on child rights, gender equality and child nutrition. Speaking about the festival, student Ly Van Hanh said: " I loved playing Tug of war, Blind Man's buff and answering the Q&A session ."
This year we will continue to work with youth unions to implement these activities and engage more duty bearers to promote child rights, gender equality and quality education while providing fun and educational opportunities for the children we work with.
