Alongside designing movements for the majority, they have not forgotten people living hard lives and always find ways to stand by them as best they can.
A free information technology vocational training class for young people with disabilities. A communication skills course for motorbike taxi drivers. “Bees Clearing the Way” to befriend and win over pupils regarded as problem students, not yet well behaved. These are just a few of the many approaches the Binh Thanh District Youth Union (Ho Chi Minh City) has taken recently.
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A special class. Pupils communicate with their teacher through a computer screen. All information and instructions are typed by the teacher and sent to the pupils. Any pupil who has not managed something types back on the keyboard to discuss it with her. That is the setting of the free information technology vocational training class for the first 29 students with disabilities, recently opened by the Binh Thanh District Youth Union in coordination with Van Lang University.
Students with disabilities in the first free information technology vocational training class organised by the Binh Thanh District Youth Union in coordination with Van Lang University – Photo: Q.LINH
Most of the students were born deaf and non-speaking. Some have hands without enough fingers. Some have bent arms. Despite these impairments, the students still diligently work at their keyboards, getting to know the first lessons of the one-year information technology course. “Most of us people with disabilities still face many difficulties integrating into society. I came to this class hoping to find a job and secure my life, because we can still work like everyone else” – said Pham Thi Phuong Thao, a student from Ward 6.
Mr. Tran Phan Viet Dung – head of the project management board for the “Information Technology Training for People with Disabilities” project at Van Lang University – said the project is part of the university's partnership programme with the United States and is completely free for students with disabilities. “Each additional student means considerable extra cost for us, but we are very happy that the Binh Thanh District Youth Union has partnered with the project. We hope to welcome many more students” – Mr. Dung said.
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For the first time, more than a hundred motorbike taxi drivers in Binh Thanh District took a morning off work to attend a communication skills class. It was quite a strange sight, and even the older students wondered about it. Driver Nguyen The Vy said he had been driving for years but this was the first time he had sat and listened to someone explain how to speak to customers politely and properly. Meanwhile Tuyet Nhung, the only female driver in the training class, confided: “With no schooling, I drive a motorbike taxi to make a living. After this class I will know how to speak so that customers are pleased”. The class also had a technical specialist showing the drivers a few handy tips for maintaining their bikes, dealing with breakdowns on the road, and riding lawfully, which delighted many students.
In early June, the “Bees Clearing the Way” rapid-response teams from 20 wards were launched. The task of the 155 young people in the teams is to mentor and befriend 115 children regarded as problem pupils at school, with unusual personalities, who often break school rules, study poorly, skip school to play… Over the summer, they will do everything they can to reach these children and bring them to summer activities, moving them away from pointless games and the risk of being lured into social evils. After three months of summer, the children's training results will be handed over to their school teachers for continued monitoring and care…
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The unusual class for motorbike taxi drivers, the vocational training class for young people with disabilities and “Bees Clearing the Way” are all models thought up and implemented for the first time by the Binh Thanh District Youth Union. District Youth Union Secretary Tran Anh Khoa said the district has the Eastern Bus Station, many large hospitals and many schools, so there are many motorbike taxi drivers, and they are part of the face of the district. If drivers make a good impression on visitors to Binh Thanh, the image of the district will be different. Deputy Secretary Nguyen Phat Loi told the students with disabilities at the opening ceremony: “Just keep striving and integrate normally with the community. On that journey, we will always be beside you”.
What few people know is that, to find the 29 students with disabilities, Youth Union officials went looking for each person, provided information and persuaded them to come to class, including some from other provinces. As with the motorbike taxi drivers, invitations were prepared with care and delivered by hand to each person a week before the training class took place. And to draw up the list of pupils who were not yet well behaved, Youth Union officials had to be very tactful in finding out about, approaching and talking with them. District Youth Union Secretary Tran Anh Khoa believes that the image of the Youth Union is not enough if it stops at lively, large-scale activities alone, although these are very necessary. And befriending young people alone is not enough, so they have decided to stand alongside many other groups as best they can. “When we genuinely befriend them and understand what they need so we can share and support them in time, their view of the Youth Union will certainly change” – Mr. Khoa said.
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