15 years of taking care of funerals for the needy

Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh (Hoang Mai Pagoda, Cam My Commune) and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa (residing in Xuan Que Commune) take care of the funeral for a person in difficult circumstances who unfortunately passed away. Photo: Van Truyen

Immediately after that, the funeral preparations were quickly taken care of by the two people. Both of them divided the responsibility to be present at the deceased's family until the burial was completed.

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Over the past 15 years, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa cannot remember how many calls they have received for help from families in difficult circumstances or from local authorities connecting to help those less fortunate in life. But whenever they receive information, both of them try to help bring the deceased to their final resting place.

Mr. Le Xuan Hoa said that many generations of his family worked as rubber workers, attached to the land of Xuan Que. When it came to his generation, his siblings worked in many different jobs and fortunately, they had favorable conditions, so everyone's life was stable. In 2010, a family from far away in the commune rented a house to work for the plantation owners, but unfortunately passed away. Due to difficult circumstances, when the misfortune suddenly happened, this family did not know how to handle it. When he heard the news, he and Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh came to help with the funeral.

Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh (Hoang Mai Pagoda, Cam My Commune) and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa (residing in Xuan Que Commune) take care of the fetal grave that the two of them have been burying recently.

After that, people told each other that if they needed help with a funeral, they should contact him and Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh. If not directly, they could contact the two people through the locality or hamlet committee for help.

Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh shared that all the work in the past years came from humanity, so when he had information, he and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa tried to help. Therefore, although they are Buddhists, when people of different religions asked for help with burial, they were all wholeheartedly helped. For example, when choosing to buy a coffin, the Venerable and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa ordered many types so that the person who needed burial belonging to any religion could use them according to the wishes of the deceased and their family. In addition, in cases where there was no place to hold the funeral, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa found a place to hold the funeral.

In June 2025, NHN (15 years old, residing in Xuan Que commune) unfortunately passed away. Her family had no home and had to live in a rented room. Upon learning of the incident, in addition to supporting the funeral as in other cases, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa also contacted the local authorities to organize a funeral for her right at the local temple.

Ms. HT (NHN's mother) shared that she was very grateful to Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa as well as the local government and people who took care of her child's funeral, even though they were all strangers and had never met before.

Currently, the funeral assistance provided by Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa is not limited to Xuan Que and Cam My communes, but spreads to many localities in Dong Nai, Lam Dong, and Ho Chi Minh City.

Every year, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa organize the giving of 400-600 gifts to disadvantaged people in the locality. At the same time, on the 15th, 1st and 30th of the lunar month, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh prepares 500 meals/time to serve free of charge to people in need.

Being a relative of a fetus that unfortunately passed away

Another humanitarian act that Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa have carried out over the years is the burial of fetuses that unfortunately passed away.

Mr. Le Xuan Hoa said that there are two common cases in the process of burying fetuses that Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and he take on. The first is the fetus whose parents contact him for help with the burial. The second case is the fetuses who have passed away without relatives. In these situations, when receiving reports from local authorities or people, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and he come to preside over the burial.

Mr. Le Xuan Hoa said: “What we are very sad about is that in recent years, during the burial of the fetuses, there were often no relatives of the children around. Therefore, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and I took turns being the relatives of the children. Although each of us had our own work, we still arranged time to take care of the graves and burn incense for the children according to traditional customs.”

According to Mr. Truong Quang Khanh, an expert of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Xuan Que Commune, in the past time, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa have helped those who have passed away to have proper burials. During this process, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and other organizations always closely follow to guide people to comply with the law, as well as support to remove difficulties and obstacles for humanitarian workers and families receiving assistance.

In addition, in order to facilitate the burial of the fetuses by Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa, the local government arranged an area in the communal cemetery to build a burial site for the children. At the same time, to let people know where to contact when they need help with the burial, right in this area, Venerable Thich Nhuan Hanh and Mr. Le Xuan Hoa placed a signboard with the content of supporting burial for those in difficult circumstances or who cannot find relatives, along with a phone number.

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Source: https://baodongnai.com.vn/xa-hoi/dan-toc-ton-giao/202507/15-nam-lo-an-tang-cho-nguoi-kho-khan-c8917ee/