HO CHI MINH City, Vietnam - October 29, 2014

Today, 4,307 students and teachers from eight schools within Ho Chi Minh City received quality helmets at a Helmets for Kids kick-off ceremony at Nguyen Trong Tuyen Primary School in Binh Thanh District. The Asia Injury Prevention (AIP) Foundation, in partnership with the National Traffic Safety Committee, Ministry of Education and Training, and provincial counterparts, with support from The UPS Foundation, is responding to the need for road safety education and helmet use in areas where students are exposed to serious traffic risks on their way to school.

In September, a student from An Phu Dong Ward, District 12 in Ho Chi Minh City was killed on her bicycle while traveling along Highway 1A near Pham Van Chieu Primary School,a Helmets for Kids project school. Regrettably, such traffic crashes occur often in high density cities, where the most common mode of transportation is the two-wheeled vehicle. Combined with the fact that many child passengers do not wear helmets—especially when traveling on short distances and are not aware of their importance, road safety education is a pressing need.

To help raise the importance of helmet use, eight project schools located on dangerous roads such as National Highway 1A and Truong Chinh or crowded residential areas are receiving helmets and comprehensive road safety education through the Helmets for Kids program. Selected schools include six previously-supported schools in Districts 12 and Binh Chanh and two new project schools in Binh Thanh District.

Since 2011, UPS employees volunteer at project schools to assist with head measurements before donations. This involves trying different helmet sizes on each student in order to ensure that each helmet will fit properly. Later, UPS volunteers are involved in extracurricular activities at the schools and visit classrooms before donations to train students on how to correctly wear their helmets. Today, The UPS Foundation and UPS Vietnam representatives were present to assist in handing out the helmets to students. UPS staff impersonated “Helmet superheroes” to educate the students about helmet safety knowledge. The “UPS Helmet Superheroes” team act as role models that the students look up to, inspiring them to wear their new helmets every day.