“The Lens of Love”: Raising Awareness of the Rights of People with Disabilities

Attending the program were: Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh (Principal of the School), Dr. Tran Bach Hieu (Secretary of the School Youth Union), Ms. Molly Stephenson (Cultural and Information Counselor, US Embassy, ​​representative of the sponsor), Ms. Huy Hanh (Cultural Assistant of the US Embassy), Ms. Do Thanh Huyen (Policy Analyst and United Nations Development Program UNDP), Ms. Phan Thi Bich Diep (Vice President of the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities), Mr. Nguyen Hong Ha (Vice President of the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities, Head of the Youth Committee of the Hanoi Association of People with Disabilities); Ms. Nguyen Minh Chau and Ms. Dinh Thi Lan Huong (Coordinators of the Prism Project on the Rights of People with Disabilities), Mr. Nguyen Thanh Trung (Chairman of the Association of Happiness is Sharing, representative of the sponsor).

Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh - Principal of the School spoke at the program. He especially praised the Hoa Da Club for always having practical and meaningful programs for students in the school.

In addition, the program also had the presence of members of the film crew “Prism on the rights of people with disabilities”; members and volunteers of Hoa Da Club; representatives of volunteer clubs and teams inside and outside the school, and many students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

“The Prism of Love” is a film screening and discussion program on the rights of people with disabilities with the desire to help young people better understand those who are considered special in society, to have a more correct view of them. This is also an opportunity for students to express their views and initiatives in promoting the rights of people with disabilities. The program is organized with the aim of creating a creative playground for students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities to promote their knowledge, capacity and passion in promoting and protecting the rights of people with disabilities and vulnerable people. At the same time, students will have the opportunity to explore the filmmaking ability of people with disabilities and their own perspective on life.

Students of Hoa Da Club give gifts to the Principal

Speaking at the program, Prof. Dr. Pham Quang Minh expressed the University's interest in activities promoting equality in society. People with disabilities deserve to be considered normal people because they are still able to work and contribute to society. Through meaningful activities like this, students in the University will have a more equal view of those who are considered disadvantaged in society. "The volunteer students of Nhan Van have had truly meaningful programs, contributing to society and that makes me really proud" - said the Principal.

Within the framework of the program, “Prism of Love” has outstanding activities such as: a contest to learn about people with disabilities through essays, screening films produced by people with disabilities, a discussion on how to make films by people with disabilities or a presentation contest on the topic “Initiatives of Humanities students to promote the rights of people with disabilities”. Directly participating in sharing at the program are 20 students from the project “Prism on the Rights of People with Disabilities”.

The Principal awarded certificates of merit to the students who overcame difficulties of the Hoa Da Club.

The students screened two films, “The Fool” and “The Farmer”. These were both works that they themselves came up with the ideas for and produced. Of these, the film “The Farmer” moved many viewers to tears when it portrayed the portrait of a farmer in Bac Tu Liem district who was disabled but still strived to rise up and build a happy family life with his wife and three children.

During the process of making this film, the production team encountered many difficulties when the members of the group were all disabled but they still had to hold the camera themselves, following the characters to reflect. There were times when they had to wake up at 3am in 10-12 degree Celsius weather just to have a realistic scene. In addition, the difficulty also came from the fact that the members had only learned how to make films for 5 sessions and all the production stages were done by themselves under the guidance of teachers. However, overcoming all barriers, they still made films with meaningful messages. "The Prism of Love" is an opportunity for them to bring these films to students, with the help of the Stone Flower Club of the Student Association of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities.

The talk show was held within the framework of the program “Prism of Love”. The guests were members of the project “Prism of the Rights of People with Disabilities” to share about the difficulties and motivations in the process of making the films.

It is known that Hoa Da is a club supporting disabled students under the Student Association of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, established in 2008 with the core being disabled students of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities. The main activity of the club is to help disabled students in studying, traveling, personal life issues as well as integrating into the community. The club is an environment for disabled students and volunteers to help each other improve in studying as well as in life.