This year at the age of 69, Ms. Phung Thi Thu, Head of the Elderly Sports Club of Minh Quang Commune, Ba Vi District, Hanoi City, is still full of enthusiasm for the cultural, artistic, physical education and sports movement for the elderly.
Sitting and chatting with me, sipping a cup of tea at the beginning of Spring, memories of the activities of the Sports Club kept flooding back to her. She said: “To be honest with you, working without pay, members living dozens of kilometers apart, and of all ages, if I wasn’t enthusiastic and kept calculating, the Club probably wouldn’t have existed and operated sustainably until today.”
Then the process of building and developing the Elderly Sports Club in the mountainous commune came back to her memory. After a pause, Mrs. Thu continued: “I am a person who loves arts and sports, has a passion for singing Cheo and Quan Ho. When you are old, you have to live happily to have health and increase your life expectancy. To live happily and help many others live happily, I asked for permission from the Elderly Association of the commune to establish a Sports Club. The difficulty for the club when it was first established was the operating costs; another difficulty was that the members were far apart so that they could operate because the mountainous commune had a large terrain, so every time the club held an activity, it required members to be enthusiastic and responsible. To overcome those difficulties, I, along with the Executive Board and members of the club, discussed and democratically contributed funds among members, in addition to mobilizing more socialized resources for activities. As for members who live far away, we always share and encourage everyone to participate according to the established regulations”.
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| Ms. Phung Thi Thu in a performance. |
For cultural and artistic activities to be successful, there must be a place to practice, while the village hall is for village activities. To help the club have a place to practice, stage programs as well as meetings, she discussed with her husband to organize activities and practice at her own house. Twice a month, not counting the times of exchange with other clubs in the commune, the family's place is used as a gathering place. Not only that, her family also supported a set of speakers worth 10 million VND, and the club members contributed more to build a stage of about 15 square meters. From there, the club has a place to practice and perform. Coming to the club, members can practice and demonstrate their individual artistic abilities, with a full range of genres from Cheo singing, Quan Ho singing, modern music, etc.
Since its establishment, the Club has organized cultural exchanges with cultural clubs in and outside the district 10 to 15 times a year, and 5 to 7 times at conferences in the commune. It is worth mentioning that the participation in cultural exchanges with cultural clubs in other communes is carried out in a social manner for mutual development. Club members are happy and responsible for the exchange programs connected by Ms. Thu.
As for physical education and sports, Ms. Thu said: "I only have two grandparents living together, and my children and grandchildren all live far away, so in the afternoon I want everyone to come and practice physical education and sports, especially volleyball, at my house."
Thinking is doing, Mrs. Thu expanded and developed the function of the club, from an art club to a sports club. To have a volleyball court, her family lent the club land. She and the club members, who love volleyball, leveled and set aside about 80 square meters of garden land to make a volleyball court. Then they donated and supported to pour concrete, buy nets, buy balls to serve everyone's volleyball needs. However, to maintain it well, Mrs. Thu's family also supported 100% of the electricity bill, so that everyone could play at night. Thanks to that, everyone can come and play comfortably and continuously for many years.
The Minh Quang Commune Elderly Cultural and Sports Club, led by Ms. Thu, has entered its 7th year this year. It started with 40 members and now has 49 members, operating effectively. Ms. Tran Thi Huu, from Vong Goc Vai village, a member of the club, confided: “I live near Ms. Thu’s house, I also love culture and arts, but I don’t like crowds very much. But when Ms. Thu told me about the club’s activities, I thought I would try to join. Gradually, I found myself liking and loving culture and arts very much. Being able to stand on stage and perform for everyone to see, I feel very happy.”
Mr. Ngo Van Thang, Chairman of the Elderly Association of Minh Quang Commune, shared: “Thanks to the Elderly Cultural Club and Ms. Thu’s enthusiasm for the movement, every year our elderly cultural team competes and wins prizes. Some years it wins high prizes.”
After 7 years as Chairwoman and devoting a lot of her effort and money to the Elderly Sports Club, Ms. Thu has no complaints. On the contrary, she feels happy and healthy. Because she always believes that helping members and the elderly to be happy, healthy and useful is what the Minh Quang Elderly Sports Club must do.
Source: https://ngaymoionline.com.vn/khong-tinh-toan-khi-gay-dung-phong-trao-van-the-cho-nguoi-cao-tuoi-57560.html
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