Direct Action
Trung Chau Kindergarten, 27 January 2007
On Saturday, January 27, the students of Direct Action visited a kindergarten in the Trung Chau commune. The kindergarten, filled with 75 children from two to five years of age, is impoverished and in need of help. Direct Action came to deliver much needed blankets, along with toys and clothes.
After singing and playing with the children, the members of Direct Action visited two households in extreme poverty. The Head of the Trung Chau Committee and a youth group leader explained to the students the situation: the families of five were living on VND 2,000 a day and could not afford to purchase one kilogram of rice, which is VND 5,000. Direct Action is now committed to providing as much aid as possible to these households, as well as aiding the Trung Chau Kindergarten in repairing their kitchen.
The visit left an astounding impact upon the students, who are now in the midst of planning a charity run to raise proceeds to the kindergarten and the households.
Direct awareness. Direct aid. Direct action.
Established in 2004, Direct Action is a student-run community service organization at the United Nations International School of Hanoi, with a newer counterpart at the Tohoku International School in Sendai, Japan, with the ultimate goal of benefiting the Vietnamese community through the direct actions of students. Though the group’s sphere of influence is limited due to its miniscule scale of existence within the scope of a much larger society, Direct Action strives to make a difference, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, as they live by the principle that any help is better than no help at all. Its primary goals include:
Targeting areas in need, which so far are mainly limited to impoverished schools and disadvantaged youth
Identifying the most pressing projects needed for the people in question
Raising money and awareness for the specified area and cause
Provide direct aid to the areas in need so as to avoid as much corruption as possible
Though the organization is still new, Direct Action aspires to further consolidate their cause in the future by establishing connections in the community with internationals and nationals alike, in hopes of raising awareness and expanding the realm in which their aid reaches.
United Nations International
School of Hanoi
UNIS is a not-for-profit international school offering the
full International Baccalaureate from Discovery (for 3 year
olds) to Grade 12. It is also fully accredited by the European
Council of International Schools and the New England Association
of Schools and Colleges.
