Children read books at the library based at the second floor of the community house in Hamlet 1, Xuân Lam Commune, Nghi Xuân District, Hà Tĩnh Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Ngà

HÀ TĨNH — Solid community buildings in the central province of Hà Tĩnh not only provide safe shelters for residents during floods but have also become places for learning and relaxing.

After the serious floods that hit the central province in October last year, a two-storey community house was built in Hamlet 1 in Xuân Lam Commune, the province’s Nghi Xuân District. The house opened in July and is designed to provide shelter during floods.

The second floor of the house has been converted into a library with more than 2,000 books for people of all ages.

Trần Nhật Minh, a fourth-grader in Xuân Lam Primary School said that he was very happy to find interesting books there.

“We usually go to the library after school,” he said, adding that they could read books and play traditional games together.

Chillren play a traditional game at the community house in Hamlet 1, Xuân Lam Commune, Nghi Xuân District, Hà Tĩnh Province. — VNA/VNS Photo Hoàng Ngà

Trần Ngọc Tuân, Secretary of the Party Committee of Hamlet 1 said they have established ten clubs including Ví Giặm folk song club, folk dancing and volleyball.

When villagers joined such cultural and sports activities, they develop better friendships and a strong sense of community spirit, he said.

People in Nam Bắc Thành Hamlet, Cẩm Thành Commune, Cẩm Xuyên District are very excited about attending activities at the local community house. About 30-50 children regularly join an English learning club during weekends.

Hà Thị Hồng Trang, Secretary of the Youth Union of Nam Bắc Thành Hamlet, said the English club offered free classes for children thanks to donations from individuals and organisations.

Besides in-person classes, children of grades three to 12 are also taught English online, she said.

Nam Bắc Thành hamlet is one of few localities of Cẩm Xuyên District that are building a model smart residential area. 

Each household has a QR code with integrated information about their garden area, crops, farming process, fertiliser and environmental sanitation. 

Households share their experience and support each other in farming production and disaster response.

Nguyễn Trọng Phương, Head of Nam Bắc Thành Hamlet said that that building a smart residential area was very convenient for people to develop clean agriculture production and consumption. 

A total of 240 households in the hamlet have tightly connected thanks to community activities and digital applications.

According to Chairman of the Việt Nam Fatherland Front Committee of Hà Tĩnh Province Trần Nhật Tân, up to now, the province has 16 "Houses of Wisdom" based at community cultural houses. 

In 2022 and the following years, the province will conduct an assessment, summarise experiences and raise funds to build 32 more such houses of wisdom at the remaining 32 community cultural houses.

The Provincial Fatherland Front Committee had been actively advising the Party committees and coordinating with authorities, relevant agencies to support Fatherland Front Committee at all levels to build and operate the houses effectively, he said. — VNS