Social development of a 3 year old

Pham Xuan Thang, member of the Party Central Committee and Secretary of the Hai Duong provincial Party Committee, speaks at the meeting on March 1 (Photo: VNA)

It will shift to a new status, both drastically fighting the coronavirus and taking action to conduct socio-economic development tasks.

This was decided by the Standing Board of the provincial Party Committee at a meeting on March 1 reviewing anti-COVID-19 efforts.

The coronavirus broke out in Hai Duong province on January 27.

The hotspot in Chi Linh has now been eliminated, while the one in Cam Giang district is under control. Relevant forces are also ramping up efforts to address a cluster in Kim Thanh district, which has been sealed off, as soon as possible.

Applauding the province’s sense of responsibility, Tran Nhu Duong, Deputy Director of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology and head of the Ministry of Health’s working group, pointed out that its greatest success is that there haven’t been any related fatalities, testing capacity has increased dozens of times, and nearly 11,000 groups for COVID-19 monitoring, prevention, and control were set up in the community with the participation of over 25,000 people.

He also warned, however, about a possible resurgence of the virus, and asked the province to view fighting COVID-19 as a regular and ongoing task in the “new normal”.

Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Pham Xuan Thang said that, from March 3, Hai Duong will carry out 10 groups of anti-COVID-19 solutions and five groups of socio-economic development solutions.

As the outbreak may return, the entire local political system will not lower its guard and will remain on alert and be stringent in the fight, he stated.

As of the afternoon of February 28, Hai Duong had recorded 665 cases of COVID-19 in this new outbreak, with 297 recoveries. More than 16,000 people were sent to concentrated quarantine sites.

Authorities have also strictly dealt with violations of rules on disease prevention and control, imposing fines totalling over 3.4 billion VND (147,000 USD).

The separation

Mr. Le Dinh Keo (born in 1924, now deceased) spent time working on cargo ships in Sai Gon before he started his own family, which included daughters Le Thi Bong and Le Thi Nu.

His wife one day incurred a huge debt and took the whole family to a temporary accommodation in the market as putting their house on sale was the only way to get the debt paid off.

Mrs. Le Thi Nu

Not long after marriage, Keo’s wife left. He and his daughters lived a vagabond existence, struggling just to keep their heads above water.

In 1966, days of deliberation went by, Mr. Keo decided to put his daughters Le Thi Bong (13 years old), Le Thi Nu (5 years old) up for adoption to two families in District 4.

Mrs. Phan Thi Ngoc (nearly 90 years old, living in Canada) as a loving old woman, adopted Le Thi Nu. “I wanted to take them both, but I didn’t have the capability.”

It was imprinted on Nu’s mind the first time she got sent home for a visit to her birth father. “I gave him some money from my piggy bank but he refused to take it and instead gifted me a roast duck and some bread before I got back to my foster parents’ home, saying ‘enjoy them my daughter, there will be no next time visit’,” Mrs. Nu recalled with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Mrs . Le Thi Bong

Those lengthy 53 years

Mr. Keo departed in 1968. The sisters got a chance to mourn their father at his funeral after completely losing touch.

In the following years, Mrs. Bong worked different jobs as a banana trader at the pier and a chef at restaurants in District 4, thinking that her younger sister had settled down in America leading a full life with good education. Mrs. Bong married at 20 and still lives in the Xom Chieu market area, district 4.

As for Mrs. Nu, in 1975, she together with her adoptive parents moved from District 4 to Ba Diem commune in Hoc Mon district in Saigon. She led a rather strenuous life providing support to her parents in the fields. They in 1990 moved to Canada without Nu. She soon married a carpenter in Tinh Bien district, Tay Ninh Province and gave birth to seven children. She stayed partnerless and raised them all after her husband’s death, unfortunately.

Mrs. Le Thi Nu holding a photo of her birth father.

Nu lived with a longing to reconnect with her older sister but her search for Mrs. Bong was not feasible due to unstable living location and having no aid.

“I miss her, every night, for decades. I have never forgotten the visit when I was seven and she was 15. I took her to the market and her utterance upon seeing anything there was ‘do you want it? Take it, take it, I’ll pay’ despite me repeatedly shaking my head.”

Mrs. Nu’s son also started his search for his aunt whenever he heard someone with similar name or age, but was always left disappointed.

Affecting reunion

A TV show named ‘As if we were never apart’ (Nhu chua he co cuoc chia ly) after receiving two matching letters about finding relatives contacted two of the senders for a reunification on the program. There was initially some trouble in contacting Mrs. Bong due to the change in her address but it finally went smoothly.

Moment of rejoice

Ms. Bong shared that over the past few decades, she took the onerous journey to look for her lost sister, which was made even harder due to her illiteracy. She had to reach out for help to post a newsletter for the search of Mrs. Nu.

The second they saw each other again, no one could refrain from shedding tears. With hands held, embraces locked, they filled in the other with stories missed, recollecting those days, with that pure joy of being able to stay close to your flesh and blood.

Tu Anh

With an orchestra spread out across the entire parterre, audiences limited to the balconies, and no breaks but plenty of disinfectant, the Sofia Opera is one of the few music venues still hosting live performances in Europe.

Across the continent, a third wave of COVID-19 infections is keeping opera houses and other cultural venues closed — loud singing poses a particular risk as the virus spreads through droplets — but in Bulgaria, classical music plays on, from “Tosca” to “La Traviata”.

“I am hungry for music. And the risk, why think about it? It’s not riskier here than in the supermarket or the subway,” says 81-year-old Petya Petkova, who attended Verdi’s “La Traviata” with her daughter last week.

Despite the disinfectant, social-distancing and staff taking people’s temperature, a festive spirit reigns at the historic opera house in the Bulgarian capital, a stark contrast to its silenced counterparts in Paris, Vienna or Milan.

Bulgaria first eased pandemic restrictions in June and allowed operas, concert halls and cinemas to reopen at 30 percent capacity, leading the Sofia Opera to arrange plastic and fabric flower bouquets as placeholders on the majority of the crimson plush seats.

“We perform in front of 250 spectators, but it’s better than not playing or performing,” Sofia Opera director Plamen Kartaloff says.

Even as Europe struggles with a third wave of infections, in part due to a number of mutations that spread more easily, Kartaloff expects the opera to remain open.

Acoustic challenges

Tragedy has touched the operatic community, and not just on stage: In November, Bulgarian tenor Kamen Chanev died of COVID-19, three weeks after he debuted Otello in the central Bulgarian city of Stara Zagora.

Remembering him, soprano Stanislava Momekova, 36, becomes serious.

“That’s the risk of this profession — it holds us like a drug, it’s stronger than fear,” Momekova says.

For American conductor Evan-Alexis Christ, who saw his performances in Germany cancelled, bringing “La Traviata” to the stage feels rewarding, despite a number of “acoustic challenges”.

From the pit, the orchestra had to move to the parterre, where musicians now sit far apart from one another. The singers on stage are even farther away.

“We are acoustically louder for the audience than normal so the orchestra has to play very quietly and listen even more to the singers,” Christ says.

“But overall I think everyone is very happy, also the musicians and the singers who are able to perform,” he adds, praising the discipline of the musicians, who, with the exception of singers and tube instruments, perform with face masks on.

Luring younger audiences

To Christ, the opera in Sofia and in Madrid, which has also kept its doors open, are proof that it’s still possible to play for a live audience.

“My feeling is that people are incredibly hungry, they want to hear music,” Christ says, adding that he hopes “to make a difference” for the 250 people in the audience that night.

Thanks to Kartaloff’s ingenuity, the Sofia Opera has found a number of ways to perform amid the pandemic: “Swan Lake” was staged on the pontoon of a lake near Sofia, while other operas reverberated through an old Roman fortress.

Some musical theatre performances were limited to adults with children, a way to focus on the audience of the future, Kartaloff says.

As clubs and bars have mostly remained closed, Bulgaria’s opera halls have become more alluring to younger audiences, including students who put on their prom suits to see “La Traviata”.

“It’s a huge pleasure to have the chance to attend a nice event such as the opera,” 38-year-old Nikolay Onufriev, who’s only been to the opera once before, says.

“It’s a way to escape from the grey, everyday life that we have amid the coronavirus pandemic, and for me, this is something big.”

Tran Manh Quy, in Xuan Du Commune, Thanh Hoa Province, has been recognised by the Vietnam Youth Federation for his contribution to society. — Photo tuoitrethanhhoa.vn

Tran Manh Quy, 32, lives in Xuan Du Commune, Nhu Thanh, Thanh Hoa Province. His income has hit VND700 million (US$30,300) per year and he has created jobs for 10 local residents with a stable salary of VND5 million each monthly.

Born into a farming family in a poor mountainous region, Quy had a tough childhood.

After graduating from Hanoi University of Physical Education and Sports, he worked all kinds of jobs but still could not afford to care for his family.

In 2012, he realised the land of his hometown was suitable for growing peaches and learned through newspapers and the internet about how to raise chickens under peach trees.

After months of thinking, he decided to leave Hanoi to return to his hometown to chase his chicken and peaches dream.

“To implement this agricultural combined model, I had to borrow VND150 million from relatives and a local bank,” he said.

Initially, he only raised 200 chickens and planted 200 peach trees and some other fruit trees.

Because he did not have experience in farming and breeding, he encountered many difficulties and the baby chickens died frequently.

With perseverance and an inquisitive spirit, he overcame the difficulties, and improve his skills day by day.

In 2015, he sold many batches of chickens and decided to expand production by planting 300 more peach and other fruit trees, breeding another 800 chickens and digging fish ponds.

“To ensure a stable raw source and output, as well as learn experience, I joined a local breeding group with 22 outstanding members,” he said.

With his diligent and learning spirit, his farm has expanded to 1.5ha, including 2,000 peach trees, 200 dragon fruit trees and he sells 3,000 chickens raised according to VietGap standards each year.

His farm’s chickens have been certified as hygienic and safe by the Agriculture Department of Nhu Thanh District.

His farm’s chickens are sold to provincial supermarkets and traders. In the Tet (Lunar New Year) period, he sold 500 peach trees and 1,500 chickens.

As well as running his business, Quy is the Deputy Secretary of the Xuan Du Commune Youth Union and helps clean village roads and build charity houses for local residents.

He led the youth union groups to guide local people on how to protect themselves when from the COVID-19 pandemic.

He also encouraged local villagers and youth union members to donate flood to people in flooded parts of the central provinces.

On his plans for the future, Quy said: “I will expand the farm and guide the youth union members to develop the economic model by sharing techniques and breeds.”

Tran Tien Hung, Deputy Secretary of Nhu Thanh District’s Youth Union, said Quy has always been a leader in the economic development movement of young people.

“He has contributed to building a beautiful image of Thanh Hoa Province’s youth who always devote their work to the community,” Hung said.

Quy was honoured as a ‘Model youth example in 2020’ by the Vietnam Youth Federation.  VNS