In addition to music lessons, many parents in Da Nang are now sending their children to local learn-to-draw courses.  Expressing themselves through painting allows children to take part in an activity that is both fun and fulfilling.  It helps the children develop a stronger brain, gives them critical-thinking skills, and makes them more creative, as well as providing a refuge they can turn to for stress relief.

Members of the ‘Kien Ki’ group creating a vivid mural

Ms Hoang Nguyen Huong holds a drawing class for local children in her house on Le Do Street.  There are only 8 learners in the class, aged between 5 and 10.  Ms Huong said that she always tries to find effective ways to encourage her learners to be interested in her drawing lessons, which are designed to create an exciting learning environment.  For example, Ms Huong asked the children to create their own Tet-themed paintings.  Her little learners liked to draw Tet features such as apricot and peach blossom, ‘banh chung’ (square glutinous rice cakes), and a plate filled with 5 types of fruit placed on the ancestor’s altar.  Meanwhile, with their better observation and imagination skills, the older ones prefered to create paintings which vividly reflected the happy and cozy family reunions during Tet.

Many parents know that children aged under 6 are typically energetic and easily distracted, and they often get fidgety, cranky, and uncomfortable when they are required to sit still at their desks.  Therefore, a fascinating learn-to-draw course encourages them to practise the good habit of sitting quietly to draw with keen attention.

According to the municipal Children’s House, recent years have seen an increasing number of children registering for drawing courses there.  The number of child learners reached over 400 in 2016, double the figure recorded in the previous year.

Like the Children’s House, such government agencies as the municipal departments of Education and Training, and Culture and Sports, and the municipal Youth Union annually run drawing competitions for local children.  Such themes as ‘My Seaside City’, ‘The Marble Mountains’, ‘The Son Tra Mountain’, and ‘Bridges Spanning the Han River’ have been the favourites.  Many paintings convey the meaningful messages that people should strictly obey the traffic regulations, not leave litter in public places, and not conduct actions which damage the environment.  After these competitions concluded, the prize-winning entries were usually displayed at the Museum of Da Nang or along the Bach Dang Flower Street during Tet.

First launched 2 years ago, a meaningful project entitled ‘One Painting - Many Hopes’ has been being deployed effectively at the Da Nang Cancer Hospital.  So far, this project has attracted the participation of a large number of students from local universities and colleges.  The 10-storey hospital has been decorated with over 200 paintings created by local students.

Second-year student Pham Lap from the Architecture Faculty at the city’s University of Science and Technology said that he initially participated in the project in order to make friends with others.  But, seeing the miserable lives of the cancer patients inspired Lap to do practical actions for the benefit of these patients.  So Lap and his coursemates from the university set up a painting group.  Every week, the group’s members go to the hospital to paint portraits of the patients there, and especially vividly capture whenever the patients have happy expressions on their faces.  Their paintings are considered ‘spiritual gifts’ for these disadvantaged people to inspire them to fight against their life-threatening diseases and encourage them to think optimistically about their lives.

In a similar vein, a painting group called ‘Kien Ki’, which consists of third-year students from the university’s Architecture Faculty, specialises in creating vivid murals on the walls of local restaurants, coffee shops and houses, thereby giving these places ‘new coats’.

Quach Minh Tien remarked that his group has so far implemented 5 wall painting projects.  Tien said that, in the future, his group will do its utmost to earn more revenue from its painting projects in a bid to implement a programme for repairing the houses of local poor families free of charge.

Like the students from the University of Science and Technology, others from the faculties of Graphic Design and Architecture at the universities of Duy Tan and Architecture also are implementing such projects for charitable purposes.