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The human ‘mobile sign’

The scorching, suffocating and dusty summer road of Hung Nhon (Hamlet 3, Tan Kien Commune, Binh Chanh District, Ho Chi Minh City) at 11pm does not keep Ms. Nguyen Thi Bach Phuong (Ms. Hai Tri, 62) from going out to offer students of Tan Kien Secondary School support as they struggle to cross the crowded roads.

Grabbing her conical leaf hat, she rushes out onto the noisy lanes jam- packed with vehicles holding a sign: “Please stop for a second and let students cross the street”. Whenever a large car approaches with no intention of slowing down, she points the board towards it to ask for giving roads. When she notices that the two lines of cars has slowed down, she graciously leads the students across until they are safe, she then motions for the drivers to move normally.

Year after year, Ms. Hai Tri has become a “mobile traffic sign” to help students cross the street safely.

The small road from Tan Kien Secondary School to Hung Nhon Street. After school, students have to stand here for a long time trying to cross the road.

What she’s doing is of her own accord and comes from her love for the children. Her house is opposite the road from Tan Kien Secondary School leading to Hung Nhon Street.

She said: “One day, I saw the children standing on the other side of the street for a very long time looking at each other and not daring to pass. This road is quite narrow with 2-way traffic. At noon, there are more cars, trucks, and containers, so it is dangerous with no traffic signs.”

Some of them even pleaded for help so she ran out to them. After that day Mrs. Hai Tri wondered how to assist these kids with road crossing. She soon decided to take a pen and scribble on a cardboard, then waited every day for students to finish school, holding a doodle board in the middle of the traffic lane, leading the students through. In fear of what was written on the board as too small to be seen by the drivers, she even tried to bold the text with a felt pen.

Offering help, even without money

To help students cross the street safely, Mrs. Hai Tri hang a cardboard which writes: “Stop for students to cross the road”. Later, the parent of a student presented her a professionally-design signboard.

The students now feel more secure when crossing the street. Parents are no longer worried about their children being in traffic jams after class.

Seeing that the children were more confident and bravely crossed the street, Mrs. Hai Tri didn’t think there was any need to hold a traffic control sign anymore. But one day, the students, after crossing the street, came to her again and asked: “Grandma, why haven’t you been holding the signboard to lead us across the street for several days? I’m afraid of cars.”

Mrs. Hai Tri said: “I was deeply moved by that. For now, I think I will do it all the time as the children are used to having me ask for help. If they do not see me, they will look forward to it and dare not pass.

“I don’t see myself as much help for them. It’s only a little time and effort but the children are safe and happy. People have money, they go to charity. I don’t, so I devote my effort and love and time,” she added.

After school, she holds the board on the street to regulate traffic, helping children cross the street safely.

While some view her as a weirdo doing a “strange thing” or laugh at how she’s not minding her own business, a great many others highly appreciate what she’s doing for the children.

“I got laughed at a lot but also loved and cheered. Many parents see me, nod and say thank you. There was a parent named Tam who often picked up his children, saw me holding a handwritten cardboard board, and gifted me a more professional and beautiful sign. I offered some money back but he refused to take it, saying that he just wanted to pay it forward,” said Mrs. Hai Tri.

However, being kind is not always easy. There have been countless times she was shouted at and scolded for standing in the middle of the road by reckless drivers who refused to slow down.

“It does take my breath away standing between two lanes of vehicles. I have no right to stop anyone’s car. I just want to kindly ask them to speed down a bit so the students can cross the street, and then they can keep moving,” she said.

“The traffic in this section is quite complicated. After school, students and parents at two primary and secondary schools in Tan Kien commune pour in a lot. This road has no signs or traffic lights, so it is very dangerous.

One parent said: “I could not rest my mind if it’s not for the signboard and Ms. Hai Tri helping my child cross the street. We hope that the authorities do some research and arrange the traffic lights here to make the traffic circulation safer and easier.”

Nguyen Son

Currently, about 54 flights carry 20,000 arrivals to Phu Quoc Island every day, according to the Department of Tourism of Kien Giang Province, which administers the island regarded as Vietnam’s beach paradise.

The number is forecast to increase to 80 flights on the back-to-back holidays of Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers’ Day (May 1).

The figures are the result of not only the high demand of summer travel but also the opening of Vietnam’s first-ever ‘sleepless city’ on Phu Quoc — an example of the inevitable trend in the tourism industry, in which independent night-time entertainment complexes are established in big cities.

Turning point of entertainment travel

The nearly-1,000-hectare area of Phu Quoc United Center was bustling on Tuesday morning, welcoming huge throngs on crowded electric buses in preparation for its grand opening on Wednesday.

In the Grand World component, luxury shopping retailers were gearing up to complete the very last decorations and preparation for their mini music and art shows.

As soon as 9:00 am on Tuesday, hundreds of workers gathered to embellish small scenes with pavilions, craft villages, and traditional products to resemble the ancient Vietnamese spaces at the venue for ‘The Quintessence of Vietnam’ show, which employs the largest modern technology in Vietnam.

The show’s director Viet Tu told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that the performers’ goal is to attract visitors to the festive activities in the entertainment city.

Besides, visitors from other resort complexes and couples who were taking their pre-wedding photos at Grand World also added up the hustle and bustle in the city.

Tran Gia Hung, a tourist from District 7, Ho Chi Minh City who had traveled to different Southeast Asian countries such as Singapore and Thailand, said that he was strongly impressed by the scenery and majesty of colorful buildings in Vietnam’s first ‘sleepless city.’

Hung was even prouder that the project is characterized by Vietnamese identity.

According to Nguyen Thi Thu Yen, an assistant at the Tous Les Temps café at Grand World, restaurants, coffee shops, and shopping stores there have generally finished their decorations and been ready for serving customers.

“The number of visitors to Grand World today is beyondall expectations,” Yen said.

“They spend time here from morning till night.

“Their main activities include sightseeing, coffee time, and shopping for souvenirs with families and friends.

“I think this area, once officially put into operation, will be crowded and bustling day and night.

“I can’t wait for it.”

Visitors enjoy a thrill ride at VinWonders on Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang Province, Vietnam, April 20, 2021. Photo: T.T.D. / Tuoi Tre

Phu Quoc waits to shine

According to Vu The Binh, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Tourism Association, MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions) tours play an important part in the domestic tourism sector as customers with the demand of relaxation often prefer this traveling model to exploration trips.

“This is clearly reflected in the ‘sleepless city’ model of Japan,” Binh said.

“Visitors there will be hooked on the variety of services, most of which are culinary and shopping.”

According to experts, during the development of a night-time economy, it is necessary for Vietnam to establish a system of night tourism products before building independent night-time entertainment complexes.

This is also Vietnam’s development orientation for the night-time economic model in the future.

In this fashion, Grand World with a combination of vivid activities at night and a series of exciting daytime festivals is expected to bring new vitality to the tourism economy of both Phu Quoc and Kien Giang.

A representative of the Kien Giang tourism department said that the number of flights from the country’s mainland to Phu Quoc would reach 80 on the holidays of Reunification Day and International Workers’ Day.

Meanwhile, 30 ferry trips can carry more than 4,000 passengers to the island ahead of the opening of the ‘sleepless city,’ according to Ho Thanh Sang, deputy director of the Kien Giang Port Authority.

Along with Da Lat, Vung Tau, Da Nang, and Nha Trang, Phu Quoc has become the most popular destination for Vietnamese tourists during the aforementioned four-day public holiday, according to a survey by the hotel reservation site Booking.com.

To ensure safety for tourists in the current situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ho Chi Minh City-based Cho Ray Hospital has sent 13 experienced doctors to Kien Giang to coordinate with the province in disease prevention and control.

In addition, Phu Quoc City leaders recently directly assigned missions to the navy, coast guards, and border guards who are responsible for preventing illegal entry from neighboring Cambodia, where the virus is taking its toll on local residents.

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DAKAR, April 21 – When Ghana received 50,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses from India last month, it hit a frustrating roadblock: it had not trained enough staff to distribute them.

The country was still rolling out shots received in late February from the global vaccine-sharing scheme COVAX, and didn’t have the capacity to expand that operation, according to the head of Ghana’s immunisation programme.

Rather than going straight into the arms of health workers, the additional doses were put in cold storage in the capital Accra, Kwame Amponsa-Achiano told Reuters, adding that his team had received two days’ notice about the shipment.

“We were in the middle of the first campaign,” Amponsa-Achiano said. “How do you plan for 50,000 when you already are doing another campaign?”

The problems faced by Ghana, one of sub-Saharan Africa’s more economically developed nations, illustrate how a continent with experience in battling deadly infectious diseases has found itself ill-prepared to inoculate people against this pandemic.

Many African countries, already facing a shortage of affordable vaccines, are being stunned by the unprecedented scale of the distribution challenge when doses do arrive.

Authorities do not have enough equipment like masks and cotton wool because of funding shortfalls that could total billions of dollars, according to more than a dozen health experts and some internal government documents seen by Reuters.

They also lack sufficient personnel and training to distribute vaccines at short notice.

While Africa has thus far been relatively unscathed by COVID-19, some experts fear stuttering rollouts could draw out the outbreak in the region, potentially leading to more deaths and economically damaging restrictions in a continent that is already the poorest in the world.

Benjamin Schreiber, COVAX coordinator at the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, said logistical problems could mount in the coming weeks and months as countries tried to get vaccines to their general populations.

“As we start rolling out bigger quantities, we are going to start seeing more issues,” Schreiber said.

“The gaps in the healthcare systems will be the gaps that hinder the rollouts,” he added. “My worry is that we miss complete communities.”

Needed: millions of dollars

Ghana, where the novel coronavirus has infected more than 91,000 and killed over 750, is considered one of the better-prepared countries in Africa to carry out a mass vaccination drive because of its political stability and economic development.

The government aims to initially inoculate 17.6 million people – about half of its population – at a cost of $51.7 million, according to a national plan seen by Reuters.

It hopes to cover $7.9 million of that money with a World Bank loan but is short of $43.8 million, described as a “funding gap” in the internal government document.

Immunisation chief Amponsa-Achiano said he was not aware that the situation had changed since the plan was formulated in February.

The Ghanaian finance and health ministries did not respond to requests for comment.

Ghana was the first country in the world to receive a shipment from COVAX, taking delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca/Oxford University vaccine, manufactured in India, on Feb. 24.

It started its vaccine drive on March 1, and had vaccinated 599,000 people by April 7.

While that vaccination rate is better than many of its African peers – Ivory Coast vaccinated just over 53,000 people between March 1 and April 6 – it is far behind the fastest countries globally. Britain, for example, administered doses to about 2 million people in roughly the first month of its drive.

Needed: fridges, cotton wool

The Ghanaian national plan shows how even relatively prosperous African nations lack vital equipment.

Money is needed across the board, including $1.5 million for 11 walk-in cold rooms and over 650 fridges to keep vaccines at between 2 and 8 degrees Celsius.

About $25 million is needed for supplies and waste management, including 33,600 boxes of face masks, 240,000 bottles of hand sanitizer, and nearly 55,000 rolls of cotton wool, the plan says. About $21 million is needed to train over 171,000 health workers and volunteers.

To add to Ghana’s challenge, its next COVAX shipments, expected in April and May, have been delayed until June, because India suspended major exports of vaccines manufactured there.

In its 2021 budget, outlined in mid-March, the Ghanaian government allotted 929,296,610 cedis ($160 million) for vaccine acquisition and deployment.

Amponsa-Achiano said, though, it was not clear how much would go towards distribution, or when the funds would materialise.

It is a common problem in Africa, UNICEF’s Schreiber said.

“The question is at what point will this funding hit the ground? Will it be in time?”

Congo Ebola outbreaks

Some African authorities are familiar with deadly contagions. Since 2018, Congo has contained four Ebola outbreaks with a vaccine which must be stored at between -60 and -80 degrees Celsius.

But the scale of the COVID-19 vaccination drive is new.

COVAX – the donor scheme co-led by the World Health Organisation (WHO) – has delivered over 18 million doses to 41 African countries, according to Reuters data.

That’s the first wave in a drive expected to deliver 600 million doses to Africa this year, enough to vaccinate 20% of their populations. Russia, China and India have also donated some of their vaccines.

Funding is only one issue delaying vaccine rollouts.

Another is patchy record-keeping in many public health systems, which experts say make it difficult to identify people who should be prioritised because of age or co-morbidities.

Demand for shots is also weak in some countries due to mistrust of health authorities, lack of education about the vaccines and worries about potential side effects.

Spotty electricity and poor transport links in some places add to the challenge, while medical teams will have to negotiate safe passage across parts of Democratic Republic of Congo, Mali, Somalia and other places where insurgencies rage.

Vaccinating until end-2022?

John Nkengasong, who heads the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, says it could take until the end of 2022 to vaccinate 60% of the continent’s 1.3 billion people.

Take the task facing Mali, an impoverished country fighting an Islamist insurgency. It needs $14.7 million to deploy vaccines, including for gasoline, vaccine storage and training, according to an internal government vaccination plan seen by Reuters.

The government will need funding support from the WHO, UNICEF, the GAVI vaccine alliance and the World Bank, the plan says. Those organisations are all looking to provide funding to African nations facing shortfalls.

South Sudan, still racked by violence after a civil war ended in 2018, has seen COVID-19 infect at least 10,300 people and kill more than 100.

It began distributing 132,000 vaccine doses from COVAX on April 7. However, authorities won’t start administering shots outside the capital Juba and its surrounding county until May at the earliest, said Kawa Tong, a member of a COVID-19 steering committee that advises the government.

“The key reason is the lack of funds for a rollout outside Juba. The transport of vaccines, training of health workers, community outreach – all these are tied to funding,” Tong told Reuters.

Adding to the difficulties, by May the rainy season will be well underway, cutting off transport links to large parts of the country, she said. The vast majority of the 11 million-strong population live outside Juba county.

Atem Riek Anyom, director general for primary healthcare at South Sudan’s health ministry, said the government had requested World Bank funding, adding that vaccines would soon be deployed across the country.

“There’s no challenge in regards to the vaccine rollout,” he added.

The World Bank, which has a $12 billion fund to help developing countries around the world buy and distribute vaccines, said it was reviewing requests from Mali and South Sudan.

The bank said it has approved $2 billion to 17 countries, including seven in Africa: Ethiopia, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast, Eswatini, Tunisia, Rwanda and Gambia.