The recent Summer Camp 2024 has brought the 120 young overseas Vietnamese (Ovs) back to their roots so that they can learn about the traditions, culture, and history of their homeland and foster their pride of being Vietnamese people.

A group of young overseas Vietnamese visited and interacted with soldiers of Naval Region 3. Photo: T.P.

Proud and grateful for the root

The 2024 Summer Camp “Young overseas Vietnamese with Da Nang’s young people”, which lasted 6 days and 5 nights in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang, just ended on the night of July 30.

The camp enabled the participants to visit numerous landscapes, historical relics, and cultural destinations. At each location, they had the opportunity to enrich their knowledge and foster a love for the country, thereby spreading the spirit of patriotism and pride of being Vietnamese to their overseas Vietnamese and international friends.

Emily Diem Nguyen from the UK expressed her excitement in joining the Summer Camp 2024 for the first time as it would allow her to learn about the culture, customs, and traditional beauty of Viet Nam.

“Through the journey, I have witnessed the rapid development of my country, and heard great historical stories of the nation. I am extremely proud and honoured to be a Vietnamese”, she added.

Emily Diem Nguyen was born and grew up in the UK, so she did not have many opportunities to communicate in Vietnamese every day. However, she has improved her Vietnamese by herself because of her special love for Vietnamese culture, which is also a way for her to always remind herself that she is a Vietnamese person.

In the framework of the summer camp in Da Nang, Emily Diem Nguyen and other participants visited and interacted with children at the Care Center for Victims of Agent Orange and Unfortunate Children. The moment they put their aims and sang the song "Mother's Dream" left a very emotional impression on the participants that day. The young OVs and local AO children seemed to blend into a family without distance, even though this was the first time the children met strangers from many different countries. That is the reason why the Vietnamese community in five continents is famous for its close bond. That spirit has not been lost even though each young person was born and raised in different cultures. Right from the first meeting, the Vietnamese blood flowing in each person helped them bond.

This year's journey was even more meaningful when the OVs were taken to visit the Hoang Sa Exhibition House, and Naval Region 3. This was an opportunity for them to gain more knowledge about the sea and islands, love their homeland's sea and islands more, as well as contribute to protecting the country’s sovereignty over the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos.

Vo Dang Khoi from France has heard information about Viet Nam's sea and islands, but in reality, the information Khoi knows is too little. During the summer camp, Khoi wanted to know and understood more about the country’s sovereignty over its sea and islands.

The visit to the Hoang Sa Exhibition House helped Khoi understand deeply about his grandparent’s sacrifice in the fights to regain and defend national independence over its sea and islands. “When I return to France, I proudly tell my friends that I am Vietnamese. Hoang Sa and Truong Sa belong to Viet Nam", Khoi said.

Sharing the same pride, Dao Quang Dung from Russia expressed that he was truly grateful to the previous generation who fought bravely to protect Viet Nam's sovereignty over the sea and islands. He wanted to spread this pride to his international friends.

Especially, when he visited soldiers of Naval Region 3, Dung was very impressed with their disciplined lifestyle. They were shining examples for him to follow to become a better version in the future, he noted.

At the exchange with the soldiers of Naval Region 3, Mrs. Vu Thi Quynh Mai, Chairwoman of HCM City's Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, was moved by the thoughts shared by Phan Nguyen Nhu Uyen from Hungary.

"This summer camp has truly aroused the love for the homeland and the Fatherland as well as created pride in the overseas Vietnamese youth generation about their own roots" she remarked.

Young OVs - ambassadors promoting Viet Nam to international friends

This is the second time Chang sreyPech from Cambodia has participated in the summer camp organised by the HCM City's Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs.

Chang sreyPech shared that every time he returned to Cambodia, he recounted the memorable experiences of his trip and shared beautiful images of Viet Nam with his relatives and friends.

Currently, Chang sreyPech is a first-year student at Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine. This is an opportunity for him to experience and spread to his friends and Cambodian people the beauty of culture and traditions in all provinces and cities of Viet Nam.

During the 6-day, 5-night summer camp, Vo Dang Khoi continuously filmed and took photos of famous landscapes of Viet Nam to make vlogs to post on his personal social networking platforms.

"My French friends love the culture and beautiful scenery of Viet Nam, so I will make a great vlog to introduce Viet Nam to them on the occasion of this trip" Khoi said.

Deputy Director of the Da Nang Department of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Thuy Anh shared that this was the first time the Department had coordinated with the HCM City's Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs to organise the summer camp in Da Nang.

In the following years, the two units will continue to organise meaningful programmes like this to enhance patriotism and remind the young overseas Vietnamese generation of their roots. Through that, young overseas Vietnamese will act as ambassadors to promote and spread the image of the country and Vietnamese people closer to international friends.

Mrs. Vu Thi Quynh Mai hoped that when they returned to their home country, the young overseas Vietnamese will be propagandists to promote and advertise Viet Nam's achievements to the world. At the same time, she hoped them to always preserve their roots, remember their homeland and make great contributions to the construction and development of the country in the years ahead.

Reporting by THANH PHUONG - Translating by M.DUNG, T.TUNG