Let's join hands to help those in need.

Mr. Bui Hon (82 years old) and Mrs. Pham Thi Phai (81 years old), a couple living in Da Nang City, are still dedicated to charitable work despite their advanced age.

Báo Thanh niên•24/07/2025

Mr. Hon is known by many acquaintances in the charity community as "Brother Ba" or "Uncle Ba." Neighbors often call Mrs. Phai "Mrs. Hon." Mr. Hon used to be a worker at the Da Nang Bicycle Factory. Mrs. Hon runs a hair salon in her home, specializing in serving middle-aged and elderly customers. For a long time, Mr. Hon helped his wife raise pigs to sell and earn money for their children's education.

In the late 1980s, the economic situation was still very difficult. At that time, most people in the neighborhood were poor laborers, selling goods on the streets. Many drove rickshaws or carts. I know that some people worked very hard but still couldn't escape poverty.

Faced with this situation, even though they weren't well-off, Mr. and Mrs. Hon, moved by compassion, sometimes bought them a bowl of noodles or vermicelli. "We helped them in their time of need, sometimes with a warm coat, sometimes a loaf of bread, sometimes a packet of sticky rice with corn. When someone passed away, the family didn't have enough money to hire a car to take the neighbors to the funeral. I had my son help with the transportation. Never mind, it was like doing a good deed. Back then, nobody talked about charity or volunteering!" he confided.

- Ảnh 1. — Mr. and Mrs. Hon returned from delivering gifts.

Let's work together to do good deeds.

The couple, along with many fellow devotees from Vinh An Pagoda (formerly Vinh Trung Ward, now Thac Gian Ward), cooked porridge and vegetarian rice to help the poor and needy receiving treatment at the hospital. Ms. Dieu and Ms. Chi from the neighborhood came to their house to help with preparing vegetables and peeling roots. They brought bread, vegetarian rice, and vegetarian porridge to help patients in hospitals throughout the city, as well as to centers for orphaned and disabled children and elderly people living alone in Tam Ky, Hoi An, and Hue .

When the city implemented a policy to restrict the uncontrolled raising of pigs in residential areas due to environmental pollution and its impact on family and community health, the couple gradually sold off their entire herd, dismantled the pigpens to clear the land, and built an additional roof to create a cooking and processing area.

Seeing that the couple often did good deeds, some people in the neighborhood joined hands to help. They contributed rice to cook meals and porridge, assisting the couple in taking them to Da Nang General Hospital and the City Psychiatric Hospital to distribute to poor patients.

By the early 2000s, the number of people joining them gradually decreased. Even so, the couple continued their charitable work quietly. Their children registered to contribute money monthly to support their parents' philanthropic endeavors. Their children's friends and neighbors also contributed their time and money over the years. Each person contributed 50,000 dong, 100,000 dong, and some even 500,000 dong. Every Tet (Lunar New Year), the couple would give gifts to the elderly in their neighborhood who lived alone or were seriously ill and bedridden.

- Ảnh 2. — Mr. Hon (wearing a white hat) and the Vinh An Pagoda charity group.

Passionate about volunteer work.

Later, when they were nearly 80 years old, the couple changed their approach instead of cooking themselves. "As we get older, my wife finds it a bit difficult to cook. So we discussed it with our children and their friends, and decided to hire someone to cook to make things easier. They all agreed. The young people hired someone to make soy milk to bring to the hospital first. Then they hired someone to cook porridge. Early in the morning, they bring out several containers of porridge on motorbikes at the end of the alley. We drive by in our car to pick them up. At 4:30 in the morning, someone brings bread and leaves it ready in front of the house. Before, I was the one who actively carried things. Now, our children, daughters-in-law, sons-in-law, and young people... take over everything. My wife and I have become helpers," Mr. Hon laughed.

The 7-seater car owned by Mr. Nhon and Ms. Hanh, who sell shoes at Thanh Hoa Shop (20 Ly Thai To Street, Da Nang), has been used for transporting porridge, milk, and bread for many years.

On the morning of May 27, 2025, I met Mr. and Mrs. Hon on their way back from a charity event. They were washing containers of porridge and milk after donating gifts to needy people at the Da Nang Obstetrics and Pediatrics Hospital (also known as the 600-bed hospital).

Each time, the gifts included 6 boxes of porridge, 8 boxes of soy milk, and 500 loaves of bread, totaling over 6,000,000 VND. The couple regularly gave gifts once a month on the 1st of the lunar month, or unexpectedly on occasions like the Vu Lan Festival and Buddha's Birthday. Occasionally, they would go to distribute gifts with Mrs. Hon's younger brother and his wife (both teachers).

"Previously, my husband and I used to bring porridge and milk to distribute to patients at the Da Nang Oncology Hospital and the City Mental Hospital in Hoa Khanh. We also went to Dai Loc, Hoi An, and Tam Ky to give gifts to elderly people without family support, orphans, and disabled children. Now, we go with our daughter and her friends to distribute porridge, milk, and bread nearby," Mrs. Hon shared.

- Ảnh 3. — Ms. Hon (in the dark blue shirt) during a gift-giving event at the hospital.

Some hospital leaders, social welfare centers, centers for orphaned and disabled children, hospital social workers, or monks at some temples in Da Nang, Hue, etc., are no strangers to Uncle Ba (Brother Ba).

In 2023, Mr. Bui Hon's family was awarded a certificate of commendation by the Da Nang City Red Cross for their outstanding achievements in implementing the "Each organization, each individual is associated with a humanitarian cause" campaign during the 2019-2023 period.

Mr. Le Tan Hong, Director of the Vocational Training Center for Children with Disabilities (now the Da Nang City Red Cross Center for the Care of the Elderly and People with Disabilities), shared: "Mr. and Mrs. Ba are very enthusiastic and have been involved with the center's activities for a long time. They, along with their children and young people, often come to donate rice, fish sauce, or organize meals for the children."

"I realize life is short, so I do whatever good I can. Giving away a gift that isn't big makes me feel peaceful and happy," Mr. Hon confided.