Give each other love
The program I participated in for the first time was called "Love a leprosy life". The group of more than ten people on a 54-seat car was loaded with supplies, food, and clothes. After the flat roads, we went deep into the village, where people in the leprosy village live. Understanding the difficulties of patients who are discriminated against, lack love, and have inadequate living conditions because they are isolated from the outside world , Duy Anh and the Doi volunteer group have devoted a lot of effort to the people here. He said the program "Love a leprosy life" takes place every month at leprosy camps and leprosy villages in Gia Lai and Kon Tum. The camps closer to Ho Chi Minh City include: Ben San leprosy camp (Binh Duong), Di Linh, Gia Lanh (Lam Dong), Binh Minh leprosy camp (Dong Nai), and Soc Trang camp (Soc Trang City). With the camps in the Central and Northern regions, he arranges to visit them 2-3 times a year.
Bring love to the leper village people
Photo: Author provided
Upon arrival, we distributed gifts, rice, clothes, food, and visited the people, then quickly turned around to go to another place. We visited the shelters in the pagodas, where the nuns took care of many orphans and destitute children. Recently, Duy Anh also brought the people many chicks and ducklings to help them provide more food for themselves.
Every time he visits the children at the orphanage, he is moved. One time during Vu Lan festival, when visiting the orphanage at Buu Chau pagoda ( Gia Lai ), he confided: "Today, visiting the children on the full moon of the 7th lunar month, Vu Lan festival and the day of forgiveness for the dead, there are many people coming to the pagoda, many white and red roses pinned on the chests of Buddhist brothers. Suddenly I feel a little sad when I see the children. What roses are there for the children when their parents are gone? Behind the house, the "mothers" are changing diapers, feeding milk to the younger children... Suddenly I realize, the children will have many roses on their chests, those are the flowers of love from the nuns, from the "mothers", from many brothers and sisters who often come to give their children love...". Duy Anh always pays special attention to the children, every time he comes, the children cling to him, hug his shoulders, put their arms around his neck...
Cooking for patients at a mental hospital
Photo: Author provided
The second time, I joined the group in a cooking program for patients in a mental hospital in Lam Dong . Honestly, at first I was very scared, even more scared when I just arrived and heard the shouting and uncontrolled knocking on the door of the uncles and aunts. However, when I met Duy Anh, the uncles and aunts were gentle and calm like normal people. He brought them some candy, coaxed them, complimented them a few times, asked about their health and kept holding their hands or rubbing their backs to comfort them... His face always had a gentle, kind smile, showing no fear or discrimination.
He brought a guitar to play for the uncles and aunts. In the camp, there were many uncles and aunts who sang well. He played the guitar and the uncles and aunts sang like friends. The uncles and aunts, brothers and sisters who were more seriously ill were not allowed to participate in activities together for safety reasons. I looked at their faces, sometimes naive, sometimes angry, sometimes scary, and felt so sorry for them. Every month, he visited mental hospitals, from one hospital to another, going back and forth. He once shared: "I realized one thing, although they were full of wounds in their hearts, souls and bodies, they were still full of love, full of kindness, and also the fear of human life in their eyes, if there was a lack of love in their lives. Even if it was just words of comfort, conversation, visiting, or just a cigarette, a song. Everything outside may be inanimate, but given to each other with love, it was like a sedative, a daily pain reliever for the brothers here."
Give without calculation
In addition, over the past 12 years, Duy Anh and Doi have also implemented the program "With you to school" for students in mountainous schools in Ninh Thuan province. Countless bicycles, meals, notebooks, and textbooks have been given to poor, studious students and students of the Raglai, Cham, and K'Ho ethnic minorities. In addition, every 2 months, he will give gifts to people in difficult circumstances in remote areas of Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa. He also organizes trips "Giving love, bright moon and smiles", the program "This Earth is ours" on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival every year for children in many localities, and supports 5 poor patients on dialysis at District 8 Hospital (HCMC) every week.
Program Go to School with Me
Photo: Author provided
The most unforgettable memories of Doi are the activities during the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2020, when the pandemic first started, the group organized a "Zero-dong Supermarket" for people in Ho Chi Minh City. In 2021, when the pandemic broke out violently, the whole city was closed and quarantined, the brothers in Doi group carried out the program "One person, one share" to give gifts everywhere for 153 consecutive days. The group also asked familiar shops to cook, provide food and drinks to support the health of medical staff and doctors at hospitals: District 8, Nguyen Tri Phuong, Binh Chanh field center, Thu Duc, Binh Duong. Duy Anh shared that he and Doi felt lucky because they still had the health to devote themselves to the people, to share love.
He also made trips to help people in the Central region affected by floods, visited and gave gifts to the Blind Association, donated old clothes to the Zero-VND Shop organization, and organized many "Spring of Love" programs everywhere.
When I asked to write about him, he said: "Just write about Doi, don't write anything about me." At first, he did charity work alone, doing as much as he could. Later, his friends and close brothers also wanted to join in and contribute. So the number of members increased every day, and now there are nearly 200 people. The funding for the charity trips all comes from Doi members, he does not ask for donations from strangers.
I admire and am grateful for Doi's 12-year journey and Duy Anh's more than 12 years of volunteering. The persistent efforts and material and financial resources that he and Doi have spent are hard to measure. I also admire the way he instills love in his two sons. He takes his children on volunteer trips everywhere. The two children follow Doi, sing together, and distribute clothes, books, rice, etc. That is a practical act and also a way to teach children through noble deeds.
The joy of people when receiving gifts
Photo: Author provided
Human life has so many burdens and pressures to go through, living for oneself and one's family is difficult, but Duy Anh and Doi can give without calculation, finding joy in reaching out to support and help those less fortunate than themselves. I don't know how many happy days people out there have in their lives, but I believe that he and every member of the Doi charity club have, are and will live meaningful days, as they have always done. Thanks to people like them, life is more beautiful, with more laughter and more love. As he often says: "Life has so many happy days, just love as much as if we were loved."
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/doi-co-bao-nhieu-ngay-vui-185250606183314501.htm
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