Hanoi's student wins 3rd Prize of International UPU writing contest

The winners of this year’s ILWC were announced on August 27th, the final day of the UPU Congress in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.

Dao Anh Thu, who is a ninth-grader from Nguyen Huy Tuong secondary school in Hanoi received the third prize for a heart-touching letter to a newborn baby.

The theme for this year’s contest was “Write a letter to a family member about your experience of Covid-19.”

Hanoi-based student Dao Anh Thu wins the 3rd Prize in the 50th International Letter-Writing Competition (ILWC). This is a rare award of Vietnamese students in the history of the competition. Photo courtesy by Anh Thu

Thu wrote a letter to a baby girl who was born in a quarantined camp to a mother who was infected with the novel coronavirus. The letter tells about the difficulties and hardships of doctors and nurses as well as praising their contribution to the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. She also encouraged people to never lose hope during tough times.

Earlier in May, Thu’s letter won the 1st Prize of the Vietnamese National Letter-Writing Competition launched by the Department of Information and Communications of Hanoi in coordination with the Department of Education and Training, Hanoi City Youth Union, and Hanoi Post Office.

The letter was then translated into English and France for participating in the 2021 UPU competition.

Thu said that she felt so thrilled when reading an article about a baby girl who was born to a Covid-19 patent.

“The baby’s mother is struggling with the illness and can’t be near her newborn baby,” Thu said, “but fortunately, the baby was well taken care of by caregivers. I feel very touched by the dedication and hard work of these doctors and nurses who are in the front line of the fight against Covid-19.”

Another 14-year-old girl student, Nubaysha Islam from Sylhet in Bangladesh received the top prize in the competition for her letter to her baby sister telling about the struggles her family faced during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bruno Ivanovski, a 14-year-old from North Macedonia was awarded the second prize for his letter to his grandma about how he missed her for a long time that they had not seen each other.

More than 60 countries participate in the competition each year, with judges choosing three letters to award the first, second, and third prizes. All winners receive a medal, a letter from the UPU Director General, a certificate, and some small gifts.

The official award ceremony for this year’s ILWC will be held in Berne, Switzerland on World Post Day (8 October). 

Launched in 1971, the International Letter-Writing Competition is held annually and encourages young people from around the world to write letters based on a specific theme.

The aim of the competition is to both raise awareness of the role postal operators’ play in society and to promote literacy among the world’s children through the art of letter writing.