From the beginning of this year, Elderly Association at all levels of Thu Dau Mot City have registered to implement 118 zero-waste roads and alleys. Regarding building the city criteria of "3 NOs, 4 GOODs" and "citizen of 5 EXEMPLARYs", the City Elderly Association has made many efforts to propagate and encourage people to implement well the criteria. Thereby, the association's activities have contributed to improving the quality of the campaign to build a cultural and civilized urban lifestyle throughout the city.
Thu Dau Mot City Elderly Association tend flowers and trees on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street.
Streets without trash
Recently, main roads of Thu Dau Mot inner city, such as 30-4, Phu Loi, Thich Quang Duc, Nguyen Chi Thanh streets, are increasingly cleaner, more beautiful and have more green areas; partly clearly shows a cultural and civilized urban lifestyle. This is the great effort of Elderly Association members of local wards.
Tran Tan Phat, Chairman of Thu Dau Mot City Elderly Association, said that since the beginning of this year, the City Elderly Association has developed plans and assigned tasks to each ward. Elderly Associations of wards carried out cleaning days, planted flowers under trees, and removed illegal ads on streets. For instance, on Nguyen Chi Thanh street, which is managed by the City Elderly Association (the section from Suoi Giua intersection to Cay Diep intersection with 1,200m long), every month the association assigns groups of volunteers to undertake tasks from cleaning, tree care, replanting dead trees to removing illegal ads. “In the past nine months, 560 elderly members participated in building this model street. The association also mobilized nearly VND20 million to plant and care for trees and flowers, making the streets more beautiful and colorful," said Phat.
In local wards, the elderly also actively participates in building model roads. Le Thi Thanh Hong, member of Elderly Association of Phu Hoa ward, said: “In addition to building green, clean and beautiful models on main roads through the ward, each neighborhood also registers at least 1 alley/year according to the plan submitted to the Ward Party Committee. As a result, previously unclean and unhygienic alleys due to improper garbage disposal and indiscriminate littering are now cleaner. Every Sunday morning, after cleaning, elderly members in the ward also do propagation to each family and lodging house that have not implemented well the cultural and civilized urban lifestyle.
Quiet funerals
An equally effective model that the elderly of Thu Dau Mot City has been implementing is to actively encourage households to practice cultural and civilized urban lifestyle in weddings and funerals. Many families in the city used to hold a funeral for many days, together with singing and music playing until late at night (past 10 p.m.), some funerals even organized gambling; but now it has been rectified. Phat said: "Currently, many funerals in the city are following regulations, not lasting more than 3 days, and not making noise after 10 p.m. Partly, the elderly enhanced propagation, and elderly members set an example when a family has a funeral. Accompanying the mourning process is encouraging families whose loved ones passed away to perform cremation."
Take care of the elderly
In the first 9 months of 2023, in addition to activities to build a cultural and civilized urban lifestyle, Thu Dau Mot City Elderly Association also regularly mobilized resources to care for dozens of elderly households who unfortunately suffer from illness, difficulties, and gave many gifts to people in the area during big holidays and New Year. During the Lunar New Year 2023, Elderly Associations of 14 wards mobilized resources to give 4,545 Tet gifts to disadvantaged members with a total value of more than VND632 million; gave unscheduled support to 245 cases with a total cost of over VND52 million; celebrated longevity for 2,542 people aged 70 to 100 years old with a total expenditure of more than VND1.4 billion.
Health care for the elderly continued to be performed well by the City Association, such as to cooperate with Saigon Hospital to provide medical examination and eye screening for 454 elderly people, and sponsor eye surgery for 165 cases. Elderly Association of wards also coordinated with local hospitals to organize medical consultations, health examinations, and distribute free medicine to 12,025 patients, and perform daily physical therapy for 1,110 patients, mobilized funds for nearly 600 elderly people to go on vacation.
To take care of mental health of the elderly, over the first 9 months of 2023, wards established 12 new clubs of internal nourishing exercise, healthy living, yoga, Chinese chess, table tennis... On big holidays and New Year, the City Elderly Association organized playgrounds for all members such as organizing contests of internal nourishing exercise, walking, badminton, table tennis, and Chinese chess.
To respond to Vietnam’s action month of for the elderly in 2023, 14 wards mobilized generous individuals to donate 435 gifts to the poor elderly with a total cost of VND156 million; visited and supported 1,864 patients with over VND286 million...
Reported by Quang Tam - Translated by Ngoc Huynh
