Deeply moved by the heartbreaking stories of patients struggling to afford cancer treatment and check-ups, Cuong Keng from Hanoi established a free kitchen in March this year near K3 Tan Trieu Hospital to assist those in need.
Cuong Keng’s kitchen has been operating for over four months, serving between 150 and 200 meals each day, as reported by the Thanh Nien news site. The kitchen operates steadily from Monday to Friday, with support from Cuong’s mother, family members, and friends. Importantly, it accepts only food and supplies from donors rather than financial contributions.
Each day, many individuals facing serious illnesses and challenging circumstances visit Cuong’s kitchen to receive meals. They express their gratitude, noting that the meals are not only delicious and warm but also help ease their concerns about food, allowing them to focus on their long-term treatment.
Foreign volunteers in Vietnam
Through the app Worldpacker, from Berlin in Germany, Mara takes a gap year after graduating from high school to fly to HCMC, Vietnam, to work as a volunteer. She is now teaching English free of charge at a center in Binh Thanh District five days a week.
In 2019, Sam Mittal, a Briton, traveled from north to south Vietnam by motorbike with his friends. In summer 2022, he and a Vietnamese architect went to Sin Chai Village in Lao Cai Province to teach English to local children aged from 5-15. Their gratis class opened from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., and from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. every day, and lasted for six weeks. He did so in the two following years. Mara and Sam Mittal are members of the voluntourism, a form of tourism in which travelers participate in voluntary work, typically for charity.
Meanwhile, Libby Homfray, director of Laws for Paws Vietnam, a 100% volunteer organization specializing in rescuing and taking care of dogs and cats, told vnexpress.net that up to 80% of the volunteers working for Laws and Paws Vietnam were foreigners. She added that the organization received 80-100 volunteers coming over to work a month, and the number of volunteers, especially foreigners, had increased considerably over the past two years.
Being rescued after eight days stranded by floodwater
On September 16, Phan Minh Thang, 20, who lives in Kdang Commune, Dak Doa District, Gia Lai Province, was swept away by floodwaters. Fortunately, he later got stuck to a tree in the middle of the troubled river far from his home village.
On September 24, some local people informed the police of Dak Djirang Commune, Mang Yang District (also in Gia Lai Province), that a man was stuck to a tree in the river in their locality. The local police then asked for help from the police forces of Mang Yang District and Gia Lai Province to rescue the victim.
Tied to ropes held by their colleagues on the riverbank, the rescuers approached the victim, helped him put on a life jacket, tied him to a rope, and brought him to the riverbank safe and sound. The victim, who was exhausted after being stranded by floodwater for eight days, was transferred to the hospital, and his life was saved, according to tuoitre.vn.
Life jackets for flood victims in central region
Tran Anh Dong, who lives in Dong Tam Ward in Yen Bai City (Yen Bai Province), was moved to see donations from around the country having been sent to the flood victims in the northeastern province. Recently, when some provinces in the central region were affected by severe floods, he began to collect thousands of life jackets from local residents to send them to flood victims in the central region.
Dong could collect nearly 3,000 life jackets from Yen Bai residents after four days. He decided to send the life jackets to flood victims in Thanh Hoa, Ha Tinh and Quang Binh (about 1,000 pieces for every province).
Thanks to Dong’s good deed, two truck owners were willing to transport life jackets to Thanh Hoa and Quang Binh provinces free of charge. Dong was looking for free transport of life jackets for Ha Tinh Province.
According to dantri.com.vn, about half of the life jackets sent to Thanh Hoa had been given to flood victims in the province’s Thach Thanh, Thieu Hoa, Yen Dinh and Muong Lat. Meanwhile, the life jackets donated to Quang Binh would be given to flood victims in the province’s Minh Hoa and Chiem Hoa, and other areas severely affected by the flood.
