Small plans - big dreams

After school, the volunteers in their blue shirts quickly spread across the schoolyard, picking up plastic bottles and gathering broken chairs. Their shirts were soaked with sweat, their hands and feet were dirty, but their smiles never faded. Watching them diligently sort and weigh each kilogram of recyclable waste, carefully saving every penny to put into the common fund, I felt a pang of sympathy! Those kilograms of recyclable waste, which might be considered waste by others, represented hope for my students. Hope that this small amount of money would contribute to a scholarship, preventing their friend from dropping out of school and making the path to education less arduous.

These photos simply capture everyday moments of the students at my school. But they contain invaluable lessons about friendship and sharing, about "helping those in need," lessons that no textbook can fully teach.

The "Small Plan" model – collecting and recycling inorganic waste – was implemented by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union of Long My High School, Hau Giang (formerly) at the beginning of the 2020-2021 school year and has collected 213 kg of plastic (including a large amount from broken chairs used for flag-raising ceremonies by students).

On the morning of December 6, 2020, the school's student union contacted a scrap metal purchasing facility and proceeded to deliver the collected scrap materials to the recycling plant. The amount raised from this project was 1,050,000 VND, all of which was donated to the scholarship fund to support disadvantaged students who excel academically at Long My High School.

At 2 PM on February 22, 2021, at Warehouse No. 18, Long My High School, the school's Youth Union volunteer team conducted a small-scale waste sorting activity. The activity attracted more than 15 members and yielded very encouraging results – over 50 kg of plastic waste was sorted and neatly stacked.

At 1:30 PM on May 7, 2021, at Warehouse No. 18, Long My High School, the school's Youth Union volunteer team sorted and transported the collected materials from the "Small Project" program to a recycling facility. The activity involved 7 Youth Union members and raised over 900,000 VND for the "Small Project" scholarship fund.

On the morning of May 29, 2021, the school's Youth Union awarded scholarships from the "Small Project - Friendship Rice Jar" program to three students from disadvantaged backgrounds to encourage them to overcome difficulties and excel in their studies.