150 minutes with 2 volunteer teams

In the 2009 summer volunteer season, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities had 13 teams operating in the areas of Nghe An, Son La, Ha Giang, Phu Tho, Hanoi,... On July 27, 2009, Mr. Trinh Minh Thai (Secretary of the School Youth Union) and Mr. Pham Huy Cuong (Chairman of the School Student Association) represented the Executive Committee of the Youth Union - Student Association of the School to visit 2 volunteer student teams in Ha Giang and Phu Tho.

The first destination will be Vo Diem commune, Bac Quang district, Ha Giang province - the base of the Sociology Department. Despite concerns about flooding in the northern mountainous region, the Sociology Department students still maintain the tradition of visiting remote areas.

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The "base" of the Social Sciences Department team is the communal cultural house. According to Mr. Tuan (Deputy Secretary of the District Youth Union), in Bac Quang district, every commune has a house like this.

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Even though we left at 6:30 am, when we arrived the sun was already high in the sky and the 37 members of the volunteer team were preparing for lunch.

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Two sick local students were acting spoiled by the volunteers. According to the volunteers, the children here really enjoy attending the classes organized by the team. Many of them come to class an hour early.

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Finally, it was time to sit down at the table. The whole team expressed their hospitality by singing the song "Welcome to the new friend". And perhaps the happiest person was Bui Thanh Minh (K52 Social Work), happy from the moment he sat down at the table until he was the last one to stand up among the men there.

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The kitchen cooked very well today. The meal included sweet and sour pork ribs, dried fish, salted peanuts, and boiled spinach. Ly Diep Linh was pouring the last spoonfuls of soup into her bowl.

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Representing the male wing, Nguyen Van Hung (K53 Social Work), is also trying to scrape the last grains of rice from the 15-liter cast iron pot.

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At every meal, women are usually the last to stand up.

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Nong Thi Chien (11 years old) has recovered from her fever. Chien is in 6th grade this year, her house is about a 15-minute walk from school. Her family has no motorbike, no TV, so she has to go to the neighbors to watch TV. Since the volunteer student team came here, Chien comes to play with the students every day.

While the members of the two teams were taking a lunch break, the representative of the School Youth Union had a quick talk with the Secretary of the Commune Youth Union and the team leaders. And after 2 hours in Vo Diem commune, we returned to Phu Tho to visit the volunteer student team of the Faculty of History.

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The History Department team is "stationed" in Minh Phu commune, Doan Hung district, Phu Tho province, 12km from Doan Hung town (from Hanoi). The base of the History Department team is the commune's primary school. Instead of placing tables and chairs, the team spread tarps on the floor. There is a ceiling fan in the room, but today there was a power outage.

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Down in the "stove" the rice was cooked, the sweet potato dish was also boiling. The History Department team's dinner also included braised pork and boiled spinach, which were already prepared in the "dining room".

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After 30 minutes of meeting, we had to say goodbye to the team to continue 150km when the sun had set behind the roof.

According to the plan, the Sociology Faculty team will return to Hanoi on July 29, the teams going to Son La with the VNU delegation will end their volunteer trip on August 5, 2009.