Vietnamese student again wins first prize in letter-writing contest

(VNF) - The letter by Vietnamese student Nguyen Thi Thu Trang won the first prize in the 2016 International Letter Writing Competition for Young People held by the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

From the competition theme “ Write a letter for yourself when you reach the age of 45”, Thu Trang imagined herself as the three-year-old Syrian boy who was drowned off the coast of Turkey to write a letter to himself when he reaches 45.

Nguyen Thi Thu Trang won first prize in the 2016 International Letter Writing Competition for Young People held by UPU. (Photo: kenh14.vn)

In her letter, Trang played the role of the late Aylan Kurdi – the drowned Syrian child washed up on a beach in Bodrum, Turkey while trying to reach the Greek island of Kos earlier this year, as seen in the world-shaking photo on the tragedy of wars, conflicts and illegal immigration into Europe.

Her letter, which “was written from heaven” about a world without violence or discrimination, won the first prize in the contest at the national level in May in Vietnam.

Trang at the ceremony in the northern province of Vinh Phuc on May 20^th. (Photo: baomoi.com)

It was translated into French and English to be sent to the organizing board of the 45^th UPU International Letter Writing Contest based in Switzerland for the international round. Trang is a ninth-grader student in Nam Sach High School in the northern province of Hai Duong.

She is the second Vietnamese to become the contest’s first prize winner. The first was Ho Thi Hieu Hien, a student from the central city of Da Nang, who won the competition in 2010.

Trang is preparing to go to the award ceremony held in Turkey on October 1^st.The annual International Letter Writing Competition for Young People has been run at the national and international levels since 1971.

The annual competition, open to children up to 15 years of age, is designed to raise awareness of young people of a global-scale social issue, while strengthening the solidarity and friendship among nations, promoting the participants’ linguistic capability as well as deepening their understanding of the role that the post and telecommunication sector plays in daily life and the development of society./.

Minh Phuong