What should you do with all your old but still usable items? Even if you have no need for an item anymore, almost always somebody in your community can be using it. The ‘Give and Take’ app may be useful for your concerns.

Soft engineers Vo Tat Thanh (right) and Tran Ngoc Quoc

Developed by the city-based Sioux Embedded Systems Co. Ltd., and the municipal Department of Information and Communications, this app helps connect people who have unwanted items with someone who need them. With the app, you can turn things you don't need into things that are useful for someone.

Mr Vo Tat Thanh, a software engineer of the Sioux Embedded Systems company cum leader of the ‘Give and Take’ project, said he came up with the idea to develop the ‘Give and Take’ app on days close to the Tet festival 2018.

He added, according to Vietnamese traditional customs, before Lunar New Year’s Eve, Vietnamese people often clean and decorate their homes because they believe that cleaning the house would remove any bad fortune from the previous year. However, after cleaning, they found many unwanted but still usable things but they don't know how to do with them.

The ‘Give and Take’ app helps connect people who have unwanted items with someone who need them

In July 2018, Thanh and his colleague Tran Ngoc Quoc together created this app.

In mid-April 2019, the app officially made its debut in the city. To date, the application has had more than 2,000 users and has connected hundreds of transactions between givers and receivers. Most of such transactions have taken place citywide.

Their app is built for both iOS and Android, and it can be downloaded for free from app stores.

This application itself is fairly straightforward. Users take photos of the items they want to give, write product descriptions and upload them. Meanwhile, other people use a search tool or select a category to seek items they want to get, and make suggestions to givers. They will exchange information right on the app to exchange items.

Ms Nguyen Hong Ngan residing in Ngu Hanh Son District highlighted the significance of the app in reducing waste and fits in with the eco-friendly idea of reusing as much as possible. She added if you’re interested in giving things away to people who need them more than you do, you can donate just about anything.

Ms Dau Thi Nhat Thuy, a resident in Hai Chau District, praised the ‘Giving and Receiving’ app for its potential for setting up a close connection with donators to give charity items to those in need.

By PHONG LAN - Translated by MAI DUNG