A Love for Books

By Tong Van Tra, Nguyen Thi Hoa – Cam Thuy ADP staff

In late May, over 450 students and 200 parents participated in a book festival entitled ‘I Love Reading’ in Thanh Hoa province. The event was organised by World Vision’s Cam Thuy Area Development Programme in collaboration with the local Department of Education and Training (DoET) and Cam Van Primary School.

The festival’s activities aimed to encourage the youngsters present to read as a habit to improve their overall reading skills and expose them to the rich knowledge found in books. Over time, it is hoped that this will build a culture of reading among community members.

To the hum of thousands of cicadas above, the attendees spent that early summer morning taking part in many enjoyable activities, such as drawing, a storytelling competition, and book collections and exchanges for readers young and old.

Joining the school’s students and teachers were representatives from the district’s DoET, the Education Promotion Society, the Youth Union, other local government agencies and World Vision. Through the event, more than 500 books and other forms of literature were collected from students, parents and other guests.

“I love reading comic books, so I’m donating this Doraemon one to our school’s library for others to read too,” said Thuy Tram, a third-grader, with a smile.

The pupils and teachers also prepared leaflets for the parents for them to acquire some skills to encourage their children to read.

“I’m really surprised and happy to be at this festival. Before, I only thought about learning in school and rarely helped my children with reading. But now I know reading will help me and how to help my kids enjoy reading too,” said one of the parents, Mr Le Dinh Son.

Closing the event, Mr Vu Van Tiep, the principal of Cam Van Primary School, said, “We’re grateful to World Vision for supporting us to organise this meaningful day. Hopefully, it’ll inspire more reading in both school and the wider community.”