Vietnam/ When young people help their elders with digital technology
In the digital age, young volunteers are working with the elderly to guide them through the digital world. An ordinary scene in an administrative center reveals a beautiful surge of humanity, solidarity and intergenerational recognition.
One morning, in a local administrative services center, the atmosphere is calm, but charged with meaning. An old man, his hand trembling on an old telephone, hesitates, lost in the meanders of a digital form to redo his health insurance card. Beside him, a young man in a blue volunteer uniform bows gently. No sudden gestures, no trace of superiority: just a reassuring, patient tone. "Yes, press here sir..." Then a clear explanation, a kind smile, sincere support.
A click to reconnect
The old man smiles back. Not just out of gratitude. His eyes moisten, perhaps simply because in this administrative place of papers and stamps, he no longer feels alone. Someone has just helped him to enter the digital age, with respect and humanity.
L'école populaire du numérique: when solidarity becomes pedagogy.
In the past, illiterate adults joined bình dân học vụ (literacy) classes to learn to read and write. Today, new - this time digital - illiterates are appearing. Instead of slates and chalk, there are touch screens, QR codes and online platforms. And instead of schoolteachers, young volunteers, students or administrative center staff, are guiding their elders step by step through this new digital alphabet.
They don't just pass on know-how, but a real sense of inclusion. "Don't worry, we can start again", "Take your time", "Let me show you"... These simple words, which have become rare in a hurried society, warm hearts while dispelling the anxiety of technological backwardness.
No one is born knowing how to use a smartphone or declare their income online. Young people learn this at school. Older people often learn it from their grandchildren. It's hardly surprising, then, that an elderly man, feeling ill at ease, confides as he enters a public center: "I don't know how to do it...".
The problem lies not with the elderly, but with a society that has sometimes failed to explain the demands of progress to them. A truly inclusive digital transition cannot be built without a transfer of knowledge. This transfer requires patience, empathy... and a constant human presence.
However, this exchange is not a one-way street. Each young person who accompanies a senior in turn discovers essential values: patience, listening and gratitude. In this way, every act of help becomes a real life lesson. "I saw my grandfather in this man," confides one volunteer after his shift. "I recognized my mother in the eyes of this waiting lady".
In these suspended moments, it's no longer just a question of administrative procedures, but of the transmission of humanity, of recognition between generations, of intertemporal solidarity.
What if public service centers were to become society's new classrooms? There are electronic kiosks, of course, but there are also gentle voices of reassurance, supportive glances, young people reaching out. It's not just a place to look for a document: it's a place to feel connected, recognized, part of a community that doesn't leave anyone by the wayside.
It's the emergence of "digital literacy" - unofficial, spontaneous, but essential.
A mission from the heart
"Leave no one behind": this is not a slogan, but a promise. An unspoken pact between generations. And every time an old man manages to send a document on his own via an app, or a grandmother manages to check her health insurance entitlements online, it's not just an individual victory. It's an entire society moving forward, united.
In every click that young people make, there is a silent "thank you" for past sacrifices. These elders lived through the ration coupons, the houses without plans or comforts, the years of reconstruction. They didn't have the chance to learn computers, but they laid the foundations on which the modern Vietnamese world rests. So, to help them today is to give them back a little of what they offered yesterday.
Helping people is not just a simple task. Above all, it's a way of expressing gratitude. It's a gesture, however modest, to ensure that no old man feels abandoned. It's also an opportunity to grow personally, by giving meaning to every action.
On the contrary, it lifts the heart. It's by understanding the profound significance of our actions that we reveal their full value. There are no insignificant roles, only hearts that may or may not grasp the importance of their actions.
Yesterday's generation taught us how to walk. Today, it's up to us young people to guide them, step by step, across the digital bridge.
It's not an obligation, but a tribute. And perhaps this is where tomorrow's society begins.
Source: lecourrier.vn/
