Vietnam volunteers build free-of-charge playgrounds to limit kids from using Internet
Saturday, May 16, 2015, 18:35 GMT+7
A free-of-charge kid’s playground has been open in the south-central province of Khanh Hoa since May 10 thanks to the efforts of a group of students and an instructor from Nha Trang University.
The small play zone at the Dien Khanh Town Center for Children is one of a series of playgrounds which is part of a project initiated by Ho Chi Han, an instructor at the school, and a group of around 10 volunteer students.
Over the last seven months, the team has sought funding from domestic and foreign sources to run the playgrounds in the hope that “they (children) will not stick their eyes on games and the Internet anymore.”
“I want to create many more appropriate playgrounds for children,” Han wrote on his Facebook page when appealing to sponsors. “I want them not to have to play at dangerous places like deep ponds to avoid regretful accidents like us before,” he added.
Han learned the model of a playground in Hoi An and then worked with his students to build their playgrounds from recycled materials.
“This cost around VND20 million (US$932),” Han said of the playground at the Dien Khanh Town Center for Children.
“It is the result of one month of hard work,” Vo Van No, a member of the volunteer group, proudly shared.
Mai Van Luan, 12, expressed that he now can truly play games which before he could only see on TV while swinging on a rope at the playground.
In talking about another playground built on Diep Son Island in Van Thanh Commune, Van Ninh District, freshman Truong Thi Hong Yen said it was place was built by 80 students and their teacher over 10 days at a cost of less than VND5 million (US$233).
“That was a remarkable memory for us,” Yen expressed. The project has created five playgrounds in Khanh Hoa and one in the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak and aims to build more in remote and mountainous area.
The team has also worked with other provinces and cities in the hope to expand the network.
“We hope to receive more investments so that we can build more meaningful playgrounds for children,” La Cong Lap, secretary of Nha Trang University’s Youth Union, said.
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