A decade of student journey to assert sovereignty over seas and islands: Following in parents' footsteps

On June 2, ship KN290 docked at Truong Sa town port, carrying more than 200 delegates of the 2023 "Students with the sea and islands of the Fatherland" journey to visit and encourage the people and soldiers of the island district at the forefront of the country. Among the more than 200 students, perhaps Nguyen Thi Dieu Linh (first-year student of Nam Dinh Nursing University) had the most excitement and anticipation. Linh and the delegates crossed the ocean to meet her beloved father, Captain Nguyen Duc Anh, who is currently working on Truong Sa Lon Island.

As soon as the ship docked, Linh rushed to hug her father who was waiting at the port, crying with joy and sadness. The special reunion of father and daughter on Truong Sa island brought many emotions to everyone. Holding his daughter's hand and walking under the square banyan tree to visit his place of residence and work, Captain Nguyen Duc Anh's face, darkened by the sun and wind of the sea, shone with a happy smile.

He said that he often went on business trips away from home when his daughter was still very young, and only came home once a year on leave. “Every time I called home, I often told my daughter to be good at home, listen to her mother and grandparents, study hard, and if she had the chance, go to Truong Sa to visit her father. I didn’t expect that this time, my daughter would actually come to visit her father,” Duc Anh said happily.

For him, this is a great spiritual food that gives him more motivation to work with peace of mind and strive to complete his tasks well. “Since the day my daughter stepped onto the KN290 ship to join the Journey, I have been sleepless, looking forward to seeing her. I am proud that she has worked hard to study and train well to be selected to join the meaningful Journey so that father and daughter can reunite on the sacred island of the Fatherland,” said Mr. Duc Anh.

The smiles and tears of Dieu Linh and her father on the day of reunion on Truong Sa Lon Island

Giving his daughter a basket of flowers made by him and the soldiers on the island from Truong Sa shells, Captain Nguyen Duc Anh told his daughter: “Tell your mother to rest assured. Your father is fine here. Your mother, please be a strong supporter so that your father can work with peace of mind.” Touched while holding her father’s gift, Dieu Linh said: “I am proud of you, Dad!” Linh also brought gifts from her hometown for her father, including two of his favorite felt hats.

Dieu Linh shared that to be able to participate in this meaningful Journey to visit her father was a process of hard work on her part. Linh excellently achieved the title of "5 Good Students" at the school level, is currently a member of the Executive Committee of the School's Student Union, the President of the Student Union of the regular university class 18B, and the class monitor of class 18.1 of Nam Dinh University of Nursing. Linh has a special talent and passion for painting and often volunteers to paint at kindergartens and hospitals to serve children.

When I received the news, I was so moved and happy that I burst into tears and immediately called my father who was working in Truong Sa to tell him the news," Linh said.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thien Hoa - Deputy Commander of Truong Sa Island, Brigade 146, Naval Region 4 shared that the fact that comrade Nguyen Duc Anh had his daughter join him on the Journey to visit his father on the island was a very meaningful thing. "We created conditions for Duc Anh and his daughter to meet, chat, and exchange thoughts and feelings with each other. If in the following years there are contents like this, I think it will be a great source of encouragement to add strength to the officers and soldiers on the island to firmly hold their guns to protect the sacred sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland", Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thien Hoa said.

Participating in the Student Journey to the Sea and Islands of the Fatherland in 2023, Nguyen Ngoc Quang - a final year PhD student majoring in Environmental Chemistry at Hanyang University (Seoul, Korea) also took on the noble task assigned by his mother at Da Tay A Island (Truong Sa island district, Khanh Hoa province).

Quang shared that 3 years ago, his mother - a scientist at the Vietnam - Russia Tropical Center, and her colleagues had a business trip to Da Tay A Island, implementing a project: Solar toilet system using seawater. This is the first solar toilet project with a wastewater treatment system, with 4 tanks and separate toilets for men and women in Truong Sa. However, since then, she and her colleagues have not had the opportunity to return here to directly accept it. Notably, Quang also contributed his efforts to this toilet system with a project to turn saltwater into fresh water. The project won second prize in the Sea and Island Ideas Contest in 2020.

When arriving at Da Tay A Island, Ngoc Quang brought with him measurement documents and monitoring equipment to check the quality of the project. After measuring and meticulously taking pictures of every corner of his and his mother's dedicated project on the island, Quang was overwhelmed with happiness because the acceptance process gave very positive results: The entire wastewater treatment system, including solar panels, still worked well in the harsh natural conditions. Not only did he complete the task assigned by his mother, he also had the necessary data and statistics to develop the idea of ​​turning salt water into fresh water using materials that absorb and evaporate thanks to sunlight, which he had been pursuing for many years.

Quang took photos, recorded videos, quickly wrote down acceptance reports, sketched maintenance plans... on the phone in his hand to send to his mother to continue to have more solutions to develop this toilet system to serve the military and civilians on the island.

Ngoc Quang shared: “As a Vietnamese student studying in Korea, especially the first time I set foot on Da Tay A Island, I feel proud and honored to see that the work that my mother and I did 3 years ago is being maintained and used effectively on the beloved island of the Fatherland. This is a great motivation that gives me a strong enthusiasm so that I can contribute more in the field of scientific research and have more activities towards the homeland's sea and islands”. Quang said that he will make more efforts in scientific research to work with his mother to implement more practical projects in Truong Sa in the near future.

Ngoc Quang believes that the Student Journey to the Fatherland's Sea and Islands is a very meaningful program that brings many emotions to Quang as well as the students. Therefore, after returning to the mainland and studying in Korea, Ngoc Quang will spread his love for the Fatherland's sea and islands to the international student community and call on students to make more efforts in studying and training to be able to become delegates to participate in meaningful journeys like this.

The 2023 Journey “Students with the Sea and Islands of the Fatherland” was accompanied by Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Le Hai Binh with many emotional and enthusiastic exchanges with students throughout the journey. This was his 4th trip to Truong Sa. Despite being busy with work, when he received the invitation from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Student Association, he immediately agreed, because he wanted to accompany students - young, enthusiastic, full of energy and creativity.

On the second night of the Journey, a special educational activity took place on board the KN290 ship, which was a talk on the topic: "The cause of protecting sea and island sovereignty in the new situation" led by Associate Professor, Dr. Le Hai Binh - Alternate member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department.

Mr. Le Hai Binh, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, talks with students on ship KN290.

On the ship KN290, cutting through the waves and heading straight towards beloved Truong Sa, under the starry sky, strong wind, surrounded by vast waves, narrated by Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Le Hai Binh, the nation's thousands of years of historical tradition appeared like a slow-motion film, both heroic, proud and emotional.

Mr. Le Hai Binh conveyed to the students strong emotions about love for homeland, country, national pride and the motivation to contribute more to the sea and islands of the Fatherland.

At the talk, Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department Le Hai Binh expressed great confidence in students and young people with youthful enthusiasm, enthusiasm and endless creativity. He said that the country needs to develop thanks to knowledge, science and technology. More than 2 million students are the spearhead, shock force, and breakthrough force to develop the country. He hopes that the feelings and emotions of the students at the talk and throughout the Student Journey to the sea and islands of the Fatherland will be widely spread, and that each young person will act with efforts to study, practice, have dreams and ambitions to develop themselves to contribute to the country.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thien Hoa - Deputy Commander of Truong Sa Island, Brigade 146, Naval Region 4 said that in 2023, Truong Sa Island will welcome delegations to work here, of which delegation No. 17 of the Journey "Students with the sea and islands of the Fatherland" in 2023 will be the most outstanding. "With the enthusiasm and youthfulness of the students, the delegation brings a new vitality, new spirit, youthfulness, and enthusiasm to the members and youth of Truong Sa Island in particular and the military and people of the entire Truong Sa archipelago in general. I believe that through the delegation, 100% of the members and youth of the entire island will be able to exchange, interact, and learn many useful things to firmly hold their guns to protect the sacred sea, islands, and continental shelf of the Fatherland," said Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thien Hoa.

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Source: https://tienphong.vn/mot-thap-ky-hanh-trinh-sinh-vien-khang-dinh-chu-quyen-bien-dao-tiep-buoc-cha-me-post1563767.tpo