The slogan ‘Who plants trees has happiness’ shouted out loud by children of a group called the ‘Green Rangers’ started the ‘Green Happiness’ event, which featured lots of activities to raise awareness on the importance of planting \ trees. There was a gallery displaying pictures of nature under the theme ‘Spring colors’ painted by art students, a marathon titled ‘Run for trees’, and a musical named ‘The adventure of a seed’.
 The musical 'The adventure of a seed' (Photo: Green Happiness) |
The musical tells a story of a seed which was blown by the Wind God to an abandoned forest that had nothing but darkness. The lonely little seed was frightened and worried that it wouldn’t be able to grow up healthy to become a tree. Then, a member of the Green Rangers appeared and called the Sun God, the Rain God, and the Music God to help nurture the seed and eventually turn it into a big healthy tree. The abandoned forest was turned into a crowded one with lots of trees and animals.
Innitiated by Nha Chong Lu (NCL) project, ‘Green Happiness’ is a community development program, which encourages people to plant more trees and be more responsible with the environment. Its founder, Pham Thi Huong Giang, said: "First of all, we want to plant more trees in Vietnam. Second, for every child that is born, we want his/her parents to plant one tree as a tribute to Mother Nature. In order for a child to grow up, it doesn’t take only food and clothes from his parents, but benefit of the clean environment that surrounds him. So each and every tree grown by a family will become a green happiness index (G.H.I) to connect family members and everyone in the society.’
 Representatives of NCL project, the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union, and Green Rangers team officially open the Green Happiness Campaign (Photo: Green Happiness) |
The program is co-organized by the Ho Chi Minh Youth Union and has drawn the attention of hundreds of volunteers, parents, and children. There is the Green Rangers team, which includes children of all ages who are eager to learn and protect the environment, and willing to raise their voices to call for a greener country. Tran Hoang Minh, one of the first members of the Green Rangers, said: "My job is to speak out about what I’ve learned and understand about the environment to call on people to raise funds and make Vietnam greener. I think it’ll be great if we have more trees because we’ll get to breathe cleaner air and have a safer environment."
The program’s target is to have at least 10,000 trees grown across Vietnam each year, including shade trees, anti-storm trees, and forest trees. Its first stop was Ung Hoa district on the outskirts of Hanoi, where around 150 parents and children got to plant their own trees along the highway, name them and visit them regularly to see how they grow. “We have worked closely with experts to provide the trees with nursing care until the trees can grow up themselves," Giang said, "We also have support from the locality’s members of the HCM Youth Union, as they consider the trees as a gift from the community to their homeland. Families will get to visit the trees often to see the development of their gifts to society.”
 Members of the Green Rangers team plant a tree along the highway in Ung Hoa district, Hanoi (Photo: Green Happiness) |
After 1 hour, the 5-km road was full of over 1,000 trees planted by students of all ages. Luong Hue Phuong, a 7th grader from Nguyen Sieu Secondary school, said: “This is the first time I’ve planted a tree and I feel very happy. I’ve also learned more about the environment and how determined the community is to protect it. I want to be a part of that community.”
8-year-old Do Khai Minh from Doan Thi Diem primary school is Environment Team leader in his class. He said: “Planting a tree is very easy, we just have to provide them with enough soil and water. I really like it. I plant a lot of trees at my school."
His mother, Pham Thu Ha, is pleased that her son had the opportunity to attend the program. "Planting trees is not a one or two-year process but takes far longer than that," Ha said, "So getting the children involved is wise, considering that they are the future leaders of society. That’s why I think this program is very suitable for my child. It means a lot to us adults as well.”
After the event in Hanoi, Green Happiness also held a similar event in Hoi An town to plant 5,000 willow trees at Cua Dai beach. Organizers are working on a plan to grow forests starting from 2020.