A project that helps two students travel across Vietnam

The project named Cu Doi Xanh – Change Life was initiated by Dang Quoc Huy, a student of Nursing – Medical Technology at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City and Nguyen Thanh Hai, a student of Chemistry at Ho Chi Minh City University of Natural Sciences, making everyone “feverish” because of the huge numbers.

Dang Quoc Huy (left) and Nguyen Thanh Hai are the initiators of the Change Life – Change Life activity.

In just 8 months of operation, the project has organized 22 events in Ho Chi Minh City and neighboring provinces, raising more than 100 million VND. With the participation of more than 6,000 young people from nearly 20 universities nationwide, the project aims to raise awareness of environmental issues among young people. Not only that, the project also collected and sorted more than 200 kg of plastic waste, 100 kg of used cooking oil and 30 kg of excess fabric.

Green ideas from friendship

Talking to the writer, 4th year student Dang Quoc Huy said that he is a student majoring in health. Huy realizes the impacts of pollution on human health. Therefore, Huy hopes that young people will also be aware of the current state of environmental pollution, thereby changing their behavior and contributing to making the earth greener.

Students enthusiastically participate in the activity of exchanging harmful waste items to receive meaningful gifts.

“During a competition, I happened to meet Nguyen Thanh Hai, a second-year student at the University of Natural Sciences in Ho Chi Minh City. Seeing that Hai also shared the same passion, I invited him to organize seminars and extracurricular activities related to environmental protection. We hope that through these exchanges, we will better understand the role of each individual in protecting the environment and spreading positive changes,” Huy said.

One of the project’s highlights is the “Collect old – Exchange green” campaign, where young people are encouraged to bring their leftover cooking oil to exchange for scented soap. After each collection, the cooking oil will be filtered and processed according to the process. The finished soap will be given back to the young people participating in the exchange. Not only that, they also enthusiastically share the soap making recipe so that everyone can make it at home.

“We were really surprised when we collected 100 kg of used cooking oil. If this amount is not treated properly and discharged directly into the environment, it will cause many negative impacts such as water and soil pollution, and clogged sewer systems,” Huy explained.

Scented soap recycled from old cooking oil

For Huy, every moment in the project is memorable. However, the greatest joy is meeting many young people from different professions, with diverse perspectives, helping Huy to mature a lot. Thanks to that, Huy also has the opportunity to participate in important events such as the Youth Energy Conference in Da Nang. In the near future, Huy plans to participate in a volunteer trip with a major brand in Dien Bien province.

Not only Huy, his teammate Thanh Hai also took advantage of the experience from this project to successfully conquer the Youth Leadership for Climate program of Plan International (an international organization operating in more than 75 countries around the world in the field of children's rights, especially girls, with the aim of eliminating poverty and for their comprehensive development).

Grow from student projects

Thanh Hai shared that participating in the project not only helps you raise environmental awareness but also trains teamwork skills and develops creative ideas. Not only that, project members are also given the opportunity to express their ideas in the field of "Reducing plastic pollution", and are trained in many useful skills...

“In my opinion, the biggest challenge of the project is probably attracting participants to care about the environment and maintaining those results after the project. We solved these problems by building the project through design thinking and theory of change,” Hai said.

The project's propaganda activities attracted a lot of attention from young people.

Huy usually has a very tight schedule. In the morning, he goes to clinical practice, and in the afternoon, he studies theory at school. To balance between studying and participating in projects, Huy pays a lot of attention to time arrangement. Huy often takes advantage of free time or weekends to plan activities. In addition, he always tries to concentrate highly in class to best grasp the knowledge that the lecturer imparts.

Thanks to his reasonable work arrangement, Huy is also an excellent member of the Youth Union, achieving the title of 5 Good Students at the school level, ranking 1st in the class and owning a scholarship to encourage excellent study.

“I hope you will start changing your lifestyle from the smallest actions, such as reducing the use of plastic bags, limiting plastic bottles, bringing your own water bottle, or prioritizing the use of environmentally friendly products. These small changes will contribute to building a green future for all of us,” Huy said.

Currently, the project of the two students has about 50 core members and more than 1,000 members in the community group, continuing to spread the message of environmental protection to all parts of the country.

Master Duong Cong Thinh - Lecturer of the Department of Health - Environment and Labor, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh City, said: "As a lecturer working at the school, I have had the opportunity to accompany you in many communication activities to raise public awareness. Through the events, I am truly impressed with your management and organizational abilities, especially student Quoc Huy, which is clearly demonstrated through the achievements you have achieved".

According to Master Duong Cong Thinh, the students demonstrated a professional and enthusiastic working attitude. “With their knowledge, experience and dedication, I believe that in the future, they will continue to make positive contributions to community support activities. Huy has great potential to become an excellent medical staff,” Master Thinh shared.

Thanhnien.vn

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/mot-du-an-giup-hai-chang-sinh-vien-di-khap-viet-nam-18524111714590694.htm