Nearly 1,000 students and Abbott volunteers participate in road safety festival

At the festival, students and volunteers participated in road safety games, paintings, and helmet-wearing demonstrations to reinforce previous road safety education delivered by AIP Foundation at program schools.

“We are very pleased with all of the support from the Abbott volunteers at this event. The children are always excited to attend and learn about safe helmet use from volunteers, and these festivals are a great opportunity for students to learn outside of the classroom, especially to know more about traffic safety and to raise awareness of themselves about road safety to protect their lives and others,” said Mr. Le Thanh Hai, Deputy of Education and Training Department of Nha Be District.

Douglas Kuo, General Manager of Abbott in Vietnam, stated, “as a global healthcare leader with a longstanding presence in Vietnam, we are committed to helping our neighbors live better and healthier lives through our life-changing technologies and our work in local communities. That's why we've worked together with AIP Foundation on the ‘Helmets for Families’ program for 6 consecutive years - providing more than 25,000 quality helmets to students and teachers at 21 schools and nearly 15,000 helmets for parents via subsidies exchanges.”

He explained further, “our employees have volunteered more than 500 hours to support the program. Extracurricular activities like this festival are an integral component that allow students to think critically about the dangers of not wearing a helmet. We want to provide educational opportunities for students and encourage safe behaviors that will contribute to a decrease in road safety incidents.”

At the event, Abbott volunteers led games and demonstrations that tested students’ knowledge of helmet safety. Volunteers also organized an art competition, in which each class was instructed to create a helmet mural, including a safety message, to be judged and scored by the volunteers in a final exhibition.

The festival culminated in the helmet picture exhibition and award announcement outside in the school yard. “I really like the art competition. It was fun to create our own helmet with friends. I hope there will be more festivals like these”, said one student.

Prior to this event, AIP Foundation worked with health professionals from Cho Ray hospital to develop an educational video to raise awareness for teachers and parents. The video has been shown in parents’ meeting in program schools this month.

Additionally, five billboards were posted around focus areas, and more than 13,000 Helmets for Families handheld fans, 6,756 rulers, and 6,756 booklets were distributed to parents and students from ten program primary schools as well as to patients at Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Nha Be District, Nhi Dong and Cho Ray Hospitals.

This school year, the Helmets for Families program aims to engage school staff, parents, and students on a deeper level by collaborating with health professionals to convey key road safety messages based on their experiences working with road crash victims.