“Propaganda of Thang Long culture and history” is one of the new volunteer contents in the 2012 summer volunteer campaign of the capital’s youth and students in 2012. The volunteer team of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities promoting Thang Long culture and history has more than 80 members from the faculties of Linguistics, Tourism, Oriental Studies and International Studies, divided into 6 volunteer teams at tourist destinations in and outside Hanoi including the Temple of Literature, Ngoc Son Temple, Thang Long Imperial Citadel, Co Loa relic site – Dong Anh, Soc Temple relic site – Soc Son and the temple of Princess Y Lan – Gia Lam.After more than a week of volunteering in the summer of 2012, the Thang Long cultural propaganda volunteer teams have stabilized their activities and quickly started working.
Volunteer Team at the Temple of Princess Y Lan, Gia LamWith a team of 10 people, the volunteer team of the Tourism Department had an effective volunteer week at the temple of Queen Mother Y Lan, Duong Xa, Gia Lam, Hanoi. On July 15, after attending the 2012 summer volunteer campaign launch ceremony, the team members set off, together planning to work as tour guides at the destination right on the bus. Being unfamiliar with the new environment, new people, as well as the difficulties in living did not discourage them, the team arranged suitable accommodation, found jobs suitable to the team's abilities and found ways to work as volunteer tour guides for visitors to the temple. Initially, because the temple was under renovation, there was no space for essential activities, the temple caretakers were also not satisfied with the large number of people, the bathing and living areas of the team were not private. But through meeting with the commune officials, talking with the old ladies who look after the temple, and cleaning the temple, the students learned more about the area of operation. On July 20, the team's guidance table went into operation. The team's work of propagating the history and culture of Thang Long at the temple of Nguyen Phi Y Lan has gradually become routine and become a habit of each member.
Volunteer team at Thang Long Imperial CitadelThang Long Imperial Citadel is a complex of relics closely associated with the history of the founding of Thang Long - Hanoi citadel, so the promotion of Thang Long culture at this location is also of great significance. Realizing this, all volunteers have equipped themselves with certain historical knowledge to be able to introduce and promote Thang Long culture to domestic and foreign tourists.
The volunteer activities of young students in the capital at the Imperial Citadel of Thang Long began on the afternoon of July 15, 2012. This was a new volunteer activity, so in the first week there were many difficulties for the volunteers. In the early days, the facilities were limited, there were no tables and chairs, so the volunteers had to sit at the same table as the security guards, the first and final meetings were held on the ground; in the early days, they did not yet understand the area around the relic site, so the whole team had difficulty finding a place to have lunch. It was their first time trying their hand at being a tour guide, so in the early days, the volunteers had a lot of confusion in communicating with tourists to convince them to let them be free guides. Moreover, the ability to communicate with foreign visitors was still limited, and conveying cultural and historical knowledge of the Imperial Citadel in a foreign language encountered many obstacles. In the early days, foreign tourists coming here were mainly Japanese tourists, and the number of volunteers who could communicate in Japanese was quite small, so there were often too many volunteers but foreign tourists were still not guided. However, with the help of the management board as well as the spirit of not being afraid of difficulties of the volunteers, the difficulties of the activity were partly overcome. As a result, in the first week, the whole team guided 100 domestic and foreign tourists.
Volunteer team at Co Loa relic site, Dong AnhStarting with a team of 10 people from the Faculty of Tourism, right from the first days, the volunteer team at the Co Loa relic site quickly settled down and started working. Due to the change in the plan compared to the original plan, the assignment of tasks for the team was a bit difficult, however, all team members were self-aware of the work that needed to be done and adapted to the new work quickly. In addition, the Co Loa commune youth union provided support and created the most favorable conditions for the volunteers.
The team's first job in Co Loa was to take down billboards and advertisements in the wrong places. In the evenings, the team joined the commune's youth union to organize summer activities for children. The activities of the team members quickly became routine, the logistics team operated relatively effectively, promising a volunteer season full of joy and youthful enthusiasm.
