Ngo Thi Ha Linh

  Trip to SIMACAI Referring to Lao Cai, people are all very familiar with Sapa - the beautiful misty land. But few people know that, in the eastern mountainous side of Lao Cai province, there is an area named Simacai - Bac Ha, bringing in its pristine beauty with the typical culture of the Northwest. But no one thought that this poetic land would be so rough and so poor! Life here was still destitute either way with up to nearly 80% of the poverty rate ,... Because of living in such circumstances, students in Simacai were not eligible to study, live or enjoy life like their peers. They had to help their parents earn money during the best time of their school years. This winter was colder than ever. Despite the bitter cold weather, many children only had a few thin shirts on. Witnessing the impecuniosity of Simacai children, each of Simalody members could not contain our emotions when the children here had to endure the cold of winter, no warm blankets, no food to eat or the children go

Join the podcast contest The podcast contest held by the US Embassy last August caught my attention as soon as I was recommended by a friend to participate. At first, because of lack of ideas, I refused, yet since I wondered that with such a big contest, would I create any achievements? Fortunately, Hau Dong at that time inspired me to make this finished product with the desire to spread a new and correct view of this subject to Vietnamese people in particular and the whole world in general and also introduce the art and culture of Vietnam to foreign tourists. Although I couldn't enter the final round and won the trophy for myself, being in the top 25 in this competition is probably an award I was proud of, that I contributed to helping the society know better about "Hau Dong", a cultural art of Vietnam. 13 - My story of approaching a spiritual folk dance

The Main Show After many efforts, the concert was finally held. With the participation of Ribbon band, Music Portion with Chuon Chuon Nuoc and Thuc Anh from Foreign Language Specialist, Hanoi, the Simalody fundraising concert took place successfully and smoothly. As SIMALODY came to a close, indescribable emotions were left in the hearts of the audience and organizers. First of all, Simalody would like to thank everyone present at the SIMALODY live show as well as the benefactors and sponsors who contributed significantly to raising funds to help children with difficulties in Lao Cai. We also thank the guests who performed their best for the SIMALODY live show, helping us make it such a success! SIMALODY truly means a lot, not only to us, the people behind Simalody, but also to children with special needs in Si Ma Cai. We may not have raised a ton of money, but Simalody is happy to do what it can to ease a bit of the children's financial burdens and improve their quality of life, a

Practice for the show  With the purpose of volunteering, we organized a mini liveshow to help the children of Simacai commune have a better life and realize their dreams. In order to give the audience a meaningful night, we practiced day after day, and spent many memorable nights together. I didn’t know how many times we argued because of disagreement or how many times we cried behind the scenes because of pressure. The studio became a familiar place during our practice, where many memories were saved. Simalody hoped that this show would leave the audience with an unforgettable impression, an exciting performance and convey to everyone the message and purpose of this event. Here are some of my demos when i was practicing at home. Please listen!

     Simalody Fundraising The deprivations in the physical and spiritual life of Simacai children were shown before us. Images of unfinished houses and roads, 'potholes' or water pots filled with raindrops leaking from the roof became images associated with people in this area and associated with the childhood of children in Simacai. When talking with children in Simacai, Simalody learned that houses with metal roofs or flat roads were always a dream which was seemingly simple, but very far away for the children here. The things they needed were not expensive items or lavish dishes, they just wanted to live in a comfortable house and go to school on a dirt-free concrete road. Even though it was just a lick a difference, this was also a factor that made their lives better and better, giving them more opportunities to approach good things and reach their big dreams.  The house is the cradle to raise those dreams, the road is the place to lead the children to fulfill those amb

A charity trip I believe this is probably the longest time I have ever spent alone away from home. It was a long 3-day and 2-night trip with many fond memories with my friends in the Crochetville Project. D-1 We talked and bonded excitedly in a little car from 7 AM until the rest stopped at the Chiềng On border checkpoint. Here, we learned not only about the daily food of border guards but also about the decorative border between Vietnam and Laos. D-2 A long day in the car has passed. On day 2, we joined forces to donate a portion of the funds raised through the project to Co Tom Primary School, to assist the children in improving their facilities and constructing a library with the purpose of providing the children with an ideal learning environment. We also cooperated with Military Medical to organize health check-ups for people in Chieng On and consultations for households with pregnant or disadvantaged women. We then organized a fair properly to give clothes to people. Prepari

Fundraising  In ethnic minority areas, women and girls suffer from double inequality. Specifically, 74% of ethnic minority households have men in their names independently in terms of land ownership and credit, while this rate among Kinh people is only 41%. The literacy rate for ethnic minority males aged 15 years and over is 86.3%, while that of females is only 73.4%. Under the age of 16, the ratio of married girls to boys is three to four times higher (685 boys and 2,306 girls). In addition, if many male children in ethnic minority areas continue to attend school after marriage, most female children have to stay home to fulfill the "maternity" of women. Ethnic minority women are not aware of their rights and the system to protect them against gender violence. Child marriage or forced marriage is still widely took place in ethnic minority areas, although those actions are banned in the Constitution, Gender Equality Law and Domestic Violence Prevention Law. Many ethnic minori

A journey to Hà Nam Like many other journeys, we planned to leave at 7 a.m. in a tiny van for Ha Nam, a region in Vietnam's Red River Delta. On the way, we visited the writer Nam Cao's temple and heard about his genealogy as well as his life as a warrior, martyr, and journalist who devoted themselves to the August Revolution in Vietnam. Incensed at Nam Cao temple Learnt about genealogy and writer's life Nam Cao Temple One of Nam Cao's signature works is Chi Pheo, a renowned short tale about the tragedy of a poor farmer, partly re-enacting the period's unjust society. Nam Cao has affirmed his position via his work through his gifted writing and sophistication through a talented pen. I was especially impressed by the dialogue between the characters Chi Pheo and Ba Kien. Hence, after visiting Nam Cao temple, we were able to follow (the man in the image, whose name I don't know) to Ba Kien's house, where the famous short story by the writer took place. After a

Studying I dont even know since when, hau dong came to me like a fate. At first, i did watched and knew this subject through some friends and relatives, but then, for some reasons, i started to feel interested with it.  So, first of all, for those who dont know yet, hau dong is a ritual in folk belief activities to worship the goddess Dao Mau in Shamanism of many ethnic groups. It may sound a bit confusing, but ‘Hau dong’ is basically a ritual of communicating with the gods through male or female companions. I started studying this subject just recently, probably around the end of last year if i am not mistaken. I was be introduced by a friend of mine, who also interested with this kind of activity. At the first session, I learned from the basic steps. However, it was really tough! Maybe because unlike modern dance, 'Hau dong' requires more complex and varied techniques than I thought. My first encounter with 'Hau dong' was really tiring, and my legs were extremely pain

Simalody With a passion for music, together we formed a club called “Simalody”, with the word “Simacai” is a commune that the organization is aiming for the project, combined with the word  Melody (rhythm) which means to spread positive messages for residents of the Simacai commune and the community in general. We want to join hands to help highland children living in extremely tough conditions have a new home so that they can grow and strive for a brighter future. By music, we hope to spread humanity towards people in difficult circumstances to the society

Ladyly - Overview "What can a girl possibly learn?" "Women should only stay at home to take care of the home, raise the children, and do housework." "Women should be submissive and resigned," Everyone in this room has undoubtedly heard rumours or perhaps sarcastic allegations about contemporary women. So how do you respond in such circumstances? Whether you concur or disagree Will you reject misconceptions about feminism and gender equality, or will you simply choose to not care? What are you waiting for? Follow Ladyly so that we can discover the answers together if you have any unanswered queries!

Fundraising In ethnic minority areas, women and girls suffer from double inequality. Specifically, 74% of ethnic minority households have all the land ownership and credit in the husband's name, while this rate among Kinh people is only 41%. The literacy rate for ethnic minority males aged 15 and over is 86.3%, while that of females is only 73.4%. Under the age of 16, the ratio of married girls to boys is three to four times higher (685 boys and 2,306 girls). In addition, while many boys in ethnic minority areas continue to attend school after marriage, most girls have to stay home from school to perform the "divine duties" of women. Ethnic minority women are not aware of their rights and the system that protects them against gender-based violence. Child marriage or forced marriage is still widely carried out in ethnic minority areas, although prohibited by the Constitution, the Law on Gender Equality, and the Law on Domestic Violence Prevention and Control. Many ethnic m

Crochetville project In French, “Crochet” means hook, and “ville” means city. Along with the students in Hanoi, with passion and enthusiasm, I founded our brainchild “Crochetville”. Knitting is a recognizable image in the daily life of my grandmother and mother. Because of that, grandma is the one who inspired me with this small start-up as a unique perspective on this topic using natural resources to make new products which are suitable for the market. The profits raised by our organization are used to support underprivileged women and children. We want to bring brightness and hope to the less fortunate, and at the same time, spread a new perspective on this art form to the younger generation and those who still consider knitting solely for the old generation. Through this modest project, Crochetville aspires to help society and hope that the disadvantaged people out there will have a better life.

    Sac Viet Club Because of my tiny passion with Hau Dong, "Sac Viet" was established as a club about Vietnamese culture and art, where young people from Hanoi in particular and other provinces and cities in the country in general can share, maintain and protect the culture of the country. We hope to bring the image of Vietnam that is small but united, always has its own color, the gentle color of the Hue zither, or the vibrant but gloomy color of the Hau Dong to neighboring countries. All make a Vietnam full of colors, named "Sac Viet". Our club hopes that, as a Vietnamese, maybe the young generation still don't care too much about national identity. However, to some extent, we always have Vietnamese blood in our veins. We are proud that our country always has a color of its own, even though living in an integrated generation, it still has a beauty which is "Sac Viet".