A new house of Nguyễn Khắc Lăng and Trịnh Thị Quyên in the commune’s Yên Vĩnh Village, built by the students' donation. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

HƯNG YÊN — Money raised by saving 1,000 đồng each day by Trần Quang Khải High School’s students has helped build houses, roads and power lines in Khoái Châu District, the northern province of Hưng Yên since 2015.

The movement that called upon every student to save VNĐ1,000 (US$4 cents) each day was launched by the school’s youth union to raise students’ awareness of saving money and encourage them to do kind things for others.

Trần Xuân Đông, principal of the school, said: “When the movement was launched, it received applause from both students and their parents.”

The funds are used to build public works and help local disadvantaged people, he said.

“We want to tell the students that although VNĐ1,000 is a very small amount of money, many VNĐ1,000 notes can do big things,” he said.

After a month of the movement, the school’s youth union had collected VNĐ30 million ($1,300), he said.

Then, the youth union contacted Dạ Trạch Commune, Khoái Châu District, to ask for a list of disadvantaged people, Vietnamnet online newspaper reported.

The youth union decided to give the money to Nguyễn Khắc Lăng and his wife Trịnh Thị Quyên in the commune’s Yên Vĩnh Village to help them build a new house.

Lăng served in the war against the US while Quyên was a member of the Việt Nam Young Volunteer Force during that war time. The couple has been married for more than 30 years.

They and their four children lived in an old house that had become seriously downgraded by 2015. During the rainy season, rainwater would pour in due to the cracked roof, Quyên said.

She added that after returning from the war, her husband was often ill so Quyên had to work very hard to provide for them.

After the house was downgraded, the couple had to use their savings and borrow money from relatives to re-build it, she said.

When they prepared to borrow money to re-build the house, the school’s youth union offered them help, she said.

“We felt very happy with the offer,” she said.

Three months later, the couple’s new house was completed.

Đông said the funding was also used to help build a road connecting Ung Đình and Đông Tảo communes, a power line between Yên Vĩnh and Dạ Trạch villages and another power line in Bình Minh Commune.

The students of the school also helped out with the construction.

The move aimed to train the students to love labour and be responsible towards the community, he said.

The movement had also been run this year in the school and the funds would be used to help disadvantage students, he said. — VNS