A bowl of warm porridge with the love of soldiers and civilians in the border area

Nearly 4,000 bowls of “Warm Porridge of Love” were handed out by officers and soldiers of Vinh Nguon Border Guard Station and the Border Guard Command of An Giang Province to patients and caregivers at An Giang Provincial General Hospital. The number of bowls of porridge will continue to increase every week, with the hope of reducing the burden and worries of poor patients in the border areas, demonstrating the “warm love” between the army and people in times of hardship and misfortune.

Officers and soldiers of Vinh Nguyen Border Guard Station prepare spices to cook porridge to give to poor patients.

Ms. Mai Thi Hong Nga, professional military major, mass mobilization team, Vinh Nguon Border Guard Station said, to have a pot of hot, delicious, clean, nutritious porridge, the officers and soldiers assigned to be in charge must prepare food such as: Vegetables, spices from the previous afternoon, after preliminary processing, they are stored in the refrigerator for preservation. The next morning, around 2 o'clock, the military feeding team goes to the market to buy food such as: Meat, fish, fresh shrimp to process. Around 6 o'clock in the morning, the hot porridge portions are just in time to be brought to the hospital to distribute to the people.

The program "Warm porridge of love" was deployed by the commander of Vinh Nguon Border Guard Station from the beginning of 2025, with a frequency of 2 weeks/time, each time from 700 to 1,000 bowls of porridge, the funding source is entirely donated by the unit's officers. Since then, the image of soldiers in green uniforms cooking hot, fragrant porridge to give to the poor and disadvantaged patients, is not just a breakfast, but a gift of love and sharing. A bowl of porridge has brought the warmth of compassion and the sacred responsibility of a border soldier.

Relatives and poor patients come to receive porridge given by officers and soldiers of Vinh Nguon Border Guard Station.

“When poor people are sick or ill, their biggest worry is money for treatment and food. We hope that a bowl of porridge will help them have more health and overcome illness. That is the greatest joy of the unit. Understanding this, in the coming time, our unit will encourage our brothers and sisters to try to increase from once every two weeks to once a week, each time more than 1,000 bowls of porridge,” said Major Phan Trung Thuc, Deputy Political Commissar of Vinh Nguon Border Guard Station.

Receiving porridge from the border guards, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Mung, living in Binh My commune, An Giang province, was touched: “I am raising my grandchild at the Pediatrics Department. My family is in difficult circumstances, but when I came here, the border guards gave me porridge and water, I felt warm and saved on breakfast. I hope the guards will have more health to cook porridge to help the poor people here…”.

The "Warm Porridge" group distributes porridge to patients with mobility difficulties.

Since the spread of the program “Warm Porridge of Love” organized by officers and soldiers of Vinh Nguon Border Guard Station, many union members, youths, women’s associations, doctors, nurses, philanthropists… in the area have joined hands to participate. Especially young people are very active in volunteering to help cook porridge, transport and distribute porridge to people…

Nguyen Lam Khanh Phung, a member of the Youth Union of An Giang Provincial General Hospital, shared: “The border guards not only take care of the task of protecting the border, helping people develop the economy , but also take advantage of their days off to cook porridge for the sick, spreading love. We, the youth, also want to contribute a small part of our efforts with the border guards to carry out many action programs for the poor people in the border areas…”.

A bowl of porridge is not worth much, but the spiritual value it brings to the poor is extremely meaningful. It is the connection between the army and the people, a symbol of compassion, a way for soldiers to show their responsibility to the community.

TIEN VINH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/bat-chao-am-tinh-quan-dan-vung-bien-gioi-a466664.html