The Vinh University in central Nghe An province has made volunteer activities a fine tradition for its students.

First established in 2007, the university’s international volunteerstudent group currently has 67 members, who are good at both theirmajors and foreign languages particularly English and Lao. They alsoreceive training in necessary voluntary knowledge and skills.

Besides local students, Vinh University registers more than 350foreign students in many faculties, many of them from the neighbouringcountry of Laos.

Therefore, a priority of the volunteerstudent group is to give assistance to their Lao peers at the universityso that they can make the best of their study. At the same time, thegroup organizes various activities in Lao localities bordering Nghe An.

During their summer holiday, the student volunteers holdcultural and art performances to promote the traditional friendshipbetween the two countries. They visit bordering areas in Laos to teachlocal people how to speak Vietnamese, use computers and cultivate cropsin the best way.

Nguyen Anh Chuong, head of the volunteergroup said last year, his team partnered with the Lao People’sRevolutionary Youth Union chapter in Xieng Khouang province to organise20 Vietnamese language classes for nearly 500 local officials, studentsand people.

The group also advised more than 200 Laostudents and officials on procedures to apply for enrolment at VinhUniversity.

In addition, the students tutored their Laoclassmates in Vietnamese so that they can catch up with others in theirstudy.-VNA