Creativeness leads to joy

Wednesday, January 27, 2016

Instead of solely using bamboo in construction or furniture making, and throwing away used household items, local people have turned these materials into creative and beautiful indoor and outdoor toys for kindergarten students in a mountainous district in Thanh Hoa province.

Such hand-made playthings as see-saws, swings and sets of animals are bringing great joy to the children in Lang Chanh district, who live in poverty and always lack entertainment.

“I love to sit on this bamboo swing. It’s really nice and so are other new toys in my kindergarten. They are all created by my teachers and other adults,” says the five-year-old Le Thi Thuy.




Local teachers and their students’ parents have implemented the initiative since World Vision in cooperation with the Department of education and training provided them with training courses on the work in 2015. The activity promises to bring local students abundant toys at low expense.   

“We’re so surprised. Not only are they lovely and creative but they are also cheap to make. People from any poor villages can craft the items,” says Nguyen Thi Lan, a kindergarten principal.

“We now can often improve toy sources for our students. Previously, it took us much time and money to repair such things or keep them in good condition though World Vision provided many of them to us,” she adds.

The joint work between teachers and students’ parents is among World Vision’s objectives to promote both groups’ capacity and participation. The organisation has established eight parent-teacher associations and expects to expand the number in the district. 

Vietnamese text and photos: Nguyen Hong Hoa - Lang Chanh ADP.