Happy Tet New Year Holiday – Viet Nam

Viet Nam

The Lunar New Year, the Tet New Year is on the 31st January this year. It is the time when people all over Asia celebrate the start of a new year. Tet Nguyen Dan, or Tet for short, is considered the biggest and most popular festival of the year in Vietnam. Celebrated on the first day of the first month in Lunar Calendar, Tet’s celebration is the longest holiday which may last up to seven days  from January 31st.

I was in Vietnam in December and saw how Christmas was part of the fabric, even though it is mostly a Buddhist country the hang over from French colonisation means that Christmas is still celebrated by some however it is the Lunar New Year that is the big party. Food, flowers, and presents are all part of the celebration, if you are interested to learn more about this go here . So happy New Year to all who are celebrating Tet

Năm mới dồi dào sức khỏe

Viet Nam

Viet Nam

Viet Nam

Viet Nam

Viet Nam

Unicef Photo of the Year 2010

The winners of this year’s Unicef Photo of the Year contest have been announced in Berlin. The prize is awarded to outstanding photos that best depict the personality and living conditions of children

First prize: Ed Kashi, Agency VII, US
Title: Vietnam: The legacy of war
The Vietnam war ended in 1975. The US withdrew their troops and north and south Vietnam were reunited. But for the Vietnamese people the legacy of American warfare continues. US forces used the herbicide Agent Orange to destroy foliage that the north Vietnamese were using as cover. Agent Orange contains dioxins that are known to cause cancer and damage genes. The effects of the toxic substance can be seen among Vietnamese people to this day, such as cancer, immune disorders and severe deformities. According to official estimates, 1.2 million children, including nine-year-old Nguyen Thi Ly, are disabled. In rural areas, the percentage of disabled children is significantly higher than in urban areas

Second prize: Majid Saeedi, Getty Images
Title: Afghanistan: The devastating consequences of civil wars
Approximately 4 million refugees have returned to Afghanistan from Pakistan and Iran and are now trying to settle down again in their home country. Among these refugees was the family of eight-year-old Akram. His family had looked for shelter in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and Akram tried to make money by collecting scraps on a rubbish dump in the city. While rummaging through the rubbish, he accidentally touched a non-insulated cable, which caused severe burns. Both his hands and arms had to be amputated. Akram’s family have now returned to Kabul and he received arm prostheses thanks to the help of the International Red Cross Photograph: Majid Saeedi/Getty Images/UNICEF

Photo of the Year 2010

Third prize: GMB Akash, Panos Pictures
Title: The oldest profession in the world destroys the lives of young girls
Bangladesh-based photographer GMB Akash shows the plight of child prostitutes in Bangladesh, some of whom are extremely young. Young girls in the brothels of the Faridpur region have to take a steroid daily to “plump up”, so they appear older and presumably more attractive. It is the same drug that is also used to fatten cattle. It was originally intended for use by people suffering from arthritis, asthma or allergies. Yasmin, 20, has a puffy face because of the steroid. She has lived in this brothel since she was a child – just like her mother, who worked here as a prostitute for 30 years Photograph: GMB Akash/Panos Pictures/UNICEF Photo of the Year 2010