1- General

Located in Dong Anh, about 20km away from Hanoi to the north, CoLoa is ahistorical place.

It was the capital ofancient Aulac country under An Duong Vuong dynasty in the third century B.C and Ngo Quyen dynasty in the tenthcentury A.D.

An Duong Vuong Temple in Co Loa

2-Transportation

-Almost all the main roads in the villages are made of concrete. Smaller roads are made of brick. Especially, roads in Co Loa ancient round-way citadel still remain their natural beauty. The red-round-way citadel, which goes around villages, has great value in Vietnamese history.

The road in the village

-The main means of transportation is motorbike and bicycle. Moreover, there are cars and also simple transportation operated by buffalos, bulls, or even human.

Simple means of transportation by human and buffalo

3-Religion

People believe in Buddhism. There is the Co Loa pagoda, the big commune house in Co Loa commune.

Co Loa pagoda

Every village has their own pagoda and commune house. People often go to pagoda on Tet and other holidays. Twice a month, on the first and the 15th day of the lunar calendar, people put fruit, burn incense at their family altar to respect for God and their godfather. If someone in a family passes away, they put the picture of dead person in the altar to respect for them. The day they die is the memorial day of the family.

People pray in front of the pagoda

4- Climate

This region has 4 seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The temperature ranges from 15 degree in winter to 44 degree in summer. In the

summer, the amount of rain is quite high: up to 340mm in July and August.

5- House

50% of houses here is tiled house. A house normally has 2-3 rooms connecting to each other and a small bedroom. The furniture is limited in one or two beds, a table and some chairs. The floor is often made of cement.

A typical house

 

-Kitchen is next to the bathroom. Then, there is a small extra room to keep other things.

-Almost every house here has a ground and a garden. If they have some animals (chickens, cows, pigs) they keep them in separated cages.

A typical kitchen

6-Education

-The kindergarten class in school year 2009-2010 has 1135 children.

-The primary school has 1241 pupils.

-There are more and more students graduate from secondary school.

7-Economy

-The main income of people here is from agriculture. The local committee gives them land for farming.

-The main harvested product is rice, corn, and vegetables. Agriculture produce is often for food for humans and for breeding animals.

-Normally, every household raises chickens and pigs. Some families have cows.

-Now, people have some extra tasks like mason, or buying and selling scrap mental. These tasks are hard but low income works, depends much on climate and seasons. Many families are poor because of some reasons such as no budget, no labor, disease, and disabled members.

8- Projects conducted by Donxa in Co Loa

– In 2002-2003: the Relief House, a school for disabled children, was built. Donxa provides salaries for the teachers, the cook, and half-off cost of lunch for students to help poor students continue going to school.

– In 2004: Janne Kindergarten was built for a family to help them improve their economy.

-To help poor students have ability to go to school, Donxa conducted the Adoption Program for poor children or children in difficulties. The program provides students with scholarship and Tet presents.

-Moreover, all children in the database of adoption program are vaccinated for hepatitis B and encephalitis-two national targets in children vaccination in Vietnam.

-Laisind Cow breeding project: since 2003, Donxa conducts the Laisind Cow breeding project, which helps many families raise income and improve their economy.