Fundraiser a reminder to be grateful at Tet

Tiếng Việt

Fundraiser a reminder to be grateful at Tet

According to Bachelor of Communication (Professional Communication) student Nguyen Nhat Anh, we take many things for granted over Tet, the Vietnamese celebration of the Lunar New Year.

“We do tonnes of things at Tet: visiting grandparents and cousins, spending special moments with family on the Eve of the New Year, and giving each other lucky money. And yet we take all these things for granted and think that ‘I do nothing,’” he said, adding that some people are not so lucky during this holiday season.

“For example, the kids at the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics and their families just want good health for Tet.”

Nhat Anh is a member of RMIT Vietnam’s Current Media student club which organised Tết Không Làm Gì? (‘I do nothing at Tet?’), a fundraising event to support underprivileged children at the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics located in Hanoi.

“Through this event, we want to remind young people about the traditional values of Tet, and that those ‘ordinary’ things we do with our families during Tet are actually precious,” he explained.

The music concert raised 25 million VND for ten young patients who suffer from diabetes, chronic hepatitis, malnutrition and other conditions.

Current Media members presented a total of 25 million VND to ten families with children in the Vietnam National Hospital of Pediatrics.

Giang Nguyen, also a Professional Communication student and member of Current Media, added: “Above all, we aspire to bring warmth and love to the children and their parents, wishing them more strength to fight their conditions. The journey ahead is indeed very long.”

In addition to the main music concert, Current Media held a series of pre-event fundraising activities such as selling che (sweet soup) at Hanoi campus, hosting a mini-concert in the city’s Old Quarter, and designing and selling li xi (lucky money) envelopes.

Current Media raised money by cooking and selling sweet soup at Hanoi City campus.

“While preparing for the event we struggled to raise enough money and at some points I even thought about cancelling it,” Giang said.

“Fortunately, we received great support from RMIT staff and other sponsors, and in the end we made it a success.”

The fundraiser was organised by forty-eight members of Current Media and supported by many sponsors: NShape Fitness, Channel 14, Ybox.vn, RMIT Vietnam staff, RMIT Vietnam Student Council, and Hanoi City campus Head Mr Phillip Dowler.

“It always impresses me how the students at RMIT give back to those in our community who are less fortunate,” Mr Dowler said.

“The efforts of the Current Media team and the students at RMIT Vietnam have helped to add a little happiness to the lives of people who would have had a more difficult Tet.”

The music concert featured a variety of performances – pop and rock songs, hip hop dances, contemporary dances, and drama – from students of RMIT Vietnam, Olympia High School, Viet Duc High School, National Economics University, and other schools.

This is the third consecutive year that Current Media has organised a charity music concert to raise funds for underprivileged children.

Members of Current Media presented the 25 million VND to the children’s families in January 2018.

Story: Doan Thanh Van