Haiphong authorities also began working with the Catholic Church in areas related to drug addiction treatment and HIV/AIDS during the reporting period. Thanh Hóa Province has engaged its Catholic Diocese on religious infrastructure and general reconstruction programs. The Province of Hanoi allowed a number of VBS-run temples to run orphanages for abandoned and disabled children, as well as treatment programs for those that suffer from HIV/AIDS. The VBS engaged in humanitarian activities, including antidrug and child welfare programs, in many parts of the country. The officially recognized Hòa Hảo organization also reported that it engaged in numerous charitable activities and local development projects during the reporting period. Reports of abuses of religious freedom continued to diminish during the period covered by this report; however, some religious believers continued to experience harassment or repression because they operated without legal sanction. In a number of isolated instances, local officials repressed Protestant believers in some parts of the Central and Northwest Highlands and other areas by forcing church gatherings to cease, closing house churches, and pressuring individuals to renounce their religious beliefs, often unsuccessfully. Some ethnic minority worshipers in the Central Highlands—particularly in areas suspected to be affiliated with the "Dega Church"—continue to be prevented from gathering to worship. However, the number of credible reports of incidents was significantly lower compared with previous years and appeared to reflect individual bias at the local level rather than official central government policy. In a number of instances, the local officials involved were reprimanded or fired. Restrictions on UBCV leaders remained in place, with much of the leadership's freedom of movement, expression, and assembly limited. There were fewer credible reports that officials arbitrarily detained, physically intimidated, and harassed persons based, at least in part, on their religious beliefs and practice, particularly in mountainous ethnic minority areas. In early 2007 local authorities in Bến Tre Province refused to register a Protestant house church; police subsequently sought to prevent the church group from gathering. According to religious leaders, a house church in Trà Vinh Province in the Mekong Delta was prevented from holding Easter services in 2006. Bibles and other religious materials were confiscated. In Kiên Giang in January 2006 police banned the gathering of a house church affiliated with the Methodist community and confiscated identification documents of a visiting pastor. In December 2005 police interrupted Christmas services of some house churches in Cần Thơ, Long An, and Vĩnh Long provinces, also in the Mekong Delta.