The students in Can Tho Province welcome the new school year with the Hope Bridge No.25

Starting construction from February 2nd, 2019, the Hope Bridge 25 is built of concrete, reinforced steel, with a length of 40m, a width of 4.5m, a height of 4m. It replaces the temporary wooden bridge existing over 20 years. The project has a total investment of VND 540 million. It includes nearly half of the funding that financed by For Vietnamese Stature Foundation (VSF) and BAC A BANK. The rest of the finance contributed by the Hope Foundation, local authorities, and residents. The bridge was completed after over 2 months of construction.

The representatives of donors, Youth Union, and local authorities cut ribbon to inaugurate the Hope Bridge No.25

Inaugurated the bridge before the new school year, it supports nearly 500 students go to school safely. The bridge also reduces the congestion for more than 250 households. "Hope 25" affirms the sharing of the community to the development of the country and localities in difficult circumstances.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, the representatives of VSF and BAC A BANK - Ms. Tran Thi Nhu Trang said: “With the ready-to-sponsor-and-accompany spirit of voluntary activities for the development of the community, the project has met the expectations to benefit and contribute to the intellectual development and stature of Vietnamese children through civil works. As the name implies, The Hope Bridge No.25 is our wish to support the locality that has more opportunities, connections, and stabilized growth as the 25-year-old-journeys of BAC A Bank”.

From left to right: Mr. Tran Huy Dinh - Deputy Director of BAC A BANK - Can Tho branch, Ms. Tran Thi Nhu Trang - Director of For Vietnamese Stature Foundation, Mr. Huynh Thai Nguyen - Chairman of Youth Federation in Can Tho Province, gave gifts to children on the occasion of the new school year.

Degraded and rickety bridges, such as Muong Go 1, is a common scence in Can Tho Province - the capital of the Mekong Delta, where there are 158 rivers, canals, and ditches covering the province. The depressing stories from the degraded bridge are the daily occurrence for the residents. People told the story about Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hong, a 69 year olds villager who had a stroke one year ago. Mr. Hong's house is only 100m far from the bridge, but an ambulance could not cross the rickety bridge that day. Therefore, his neiboughs  had to carry him across the bridge to get to an ambulance. Fortunately, he overcame the emergency. Mr. Hong did not know the unconscious time that his boundary of life and death was only within 10m of the bridge that he used to go for a walk.

Today, hundreds of households in the hamlet were happy to greet the new bridge. The vice-chairman of Trung Thanh Commune, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Dat acknowledged the contributions of the donors. He said: “The bridge plays an essential role in the development of rural transportation and the local economics”.

On this occasion, VSF presented 480 glasses of fresh milk to the children of Thanh Loc hamlet, adding nutrition to the children in the school year 2019-2020.

Reference: Vietnam Youth Newspaper