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Acting up: Most of the city's cultural houses offer free programmes so local youth can work hard and still have fun. — VNS Photo Van Dat |
HCM CITY — Young people living in HCM City's rural districts have more opportunities to enrich their lives thanks to entertainment programmes and festivals held by local cultural houses.
Nearly 7,000 young people, including rural youth, visit the city's Youth & Cultural House each week to see the displays of culture and art, or participate in short-term courses in dance, music, circus and fashion design, which are organised by the house and its partners.
Many of the house programmes are free while some performances only cost VND10,000 to 20,000 (US$1) for a ticket.
All the training courses in art, computer and foreign languages are reasonably priced between VND300,000 to 600,000 ($30) for one to three months.
The centre's managing board aims to serve poor and rural youngsters, who don't have much cash to spend on entertainment such as cinema, music and fashion shows. The programmes also broaden their knowledge about art and give them access to popular studies like IT.
"I love to visit the Youth&Cultural House on weekends and holidays because it has a variety of programmes to satisfy the different tastes of my friends and I," said Nguyen Thi Mo, 21, a garment factory worker at the Binh Tan Garment Company.
Like many of her peers, all Mo had before was a job and the daily grind of work, eat, and sleep. They were young, but acted like old people because their lives lacked fun and entertainment.
"I earn only VND1.5 million ($75) per month and save half my income to help support my family, consequently I do not have enough cash to indulge in entertainment," said Mo, adding that her life was more enjoyable thanks to the free programmes provided by the Youth House.
The Youth&Cultural House is not alone in its campaigns to keep youths entertained.
Several other entertainment centres in rural districts such as Hoc Mon, Binh Tan and Cu Chi have tried to improve their services.
Binh Tan District's Cultural House has been working closely with other related offices and social organisations to raise money for more quality programmes for local youngsters.
"Our facilities provide music and dance programmes and organise picnics and social exchanges between students and workers," the centre's deputy director Chau Phu Loc said.
Most of our activities are free of charge so local young people can work hard but still afford to have fun, he added.
Two of the centre's new projects funded by the local government include a cultural and sports gymnasium and three cultural houses.
"This is just the beginning. We will find more ways to improve the lives of local youth," Loc said.
In districts 12, Cu Chi and Hoc Mon, an ongoing project to train professional staff for the district's cultural houses began three years ago.
Through the project, more than 100 performers were trained to teach their artistic skills to cultural houses.
The city needs to allocate more money from its budget and seek funds from the public to build more cultural houses in rural areas, Loc said. — VNS