Kon Tum (VNA) - A roll of banh mi(baguette) and a piece of old clothing means little to most people, but a worldof difference for those in need.
In the Central Highlands city of Kon Tum, manycharity stalls offering these goods to the poor have been set up over theyears.
In the Central Highlands city of Kon Tum, manycharity stalls offering these goods to the poor have been set up over theyears.
Children get free 'banh mi' from a stall set up by the An Lac Thien Tam group in Dak Cam Commune (Photo courtesy of An Lac Thien Tam group) Two years ago, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Tram, an officialat a supermarket in Kon Tum city, set up a stall in Phan Chu Trinh street toprovide free baguettes for the hungry.
Tram did not want to talk about her action, buther mother told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that every day, Tramdonated 100 baguettes to be given away at the stall. As each one costs 1,500VND, each month she spends 4.5 million VND (198 USD) on her goodwill work.
Another stall has been set up near thecrossroads of Phan Dinh Phung and Phan Chu Trinh by Tran Thi Bao Lan, a teacherat Phan Dinh Phung elementary school.
Lan said she chose the place because it was nearboth a boarding school for minority ethnic students and villages of Ba Napeople. “It is just a little deed to help the poor temporarily beat thehunger,” she said.
Also involved in helping poor ethnic people, acharity group called An Lac Thien Tam has established two baguette stalls in theoutlying Dak Cam commune to provide free breakfasts for poor people, especiallypoor students.
The group, consisting of blue-collar workers andretirees, has been doing charity work for three years, but thebaguette-donations began a month ago.
Truong Thi Nhung, head of the group, said shethought of the idea when seeing many teachers struggling to coax children ofpoor families to go to school.
“During our charity trips, I saw teachers havingto buy sweets and snacks, knocking at every family’s door to persuade childrennot to drop out of school," she said.
“All the children there are ethnic minorities.Their families are so poor that it is hard to get enough to eat, let alonestudy.”
“We hope that by giving out free baguettes tothe children, they would have more drive to keep up their studies,” Nhung said.
Recently, when the group opened the second stallin the commune, many children came to get the baguettes.
“It was so touching to see them enjoy our food.Some of them didn’t have proper clothes to wear,” Nhung said.
She said besides setting up stalls, the groupalso took baguettes to some schools four to five kilometres from the communecentre.
In the future, the group plans to set up morestalls to cover all schools in the locality.
“Toi yeu Kon Tum” charity group helps the poorby giving them free clothes.
A stall at 29 Nguyen Trai, also the group’sheadquarters, is a familiar address for many people in the region.
Tran Van Cao Sang, head of the group said thatthe group had been active for the past 10 years. The free-stall idea wasinitiated by its members after studying similar ideas implemented in otherprovinces.
Clothes come from members of the group and manyother people who love to help. Most clothes are used, but still in good conditionsand properly cleaned and ironed before being given away.
“In the past year, there was rarely a day whenwe had any clothing left in the stall,” Sang said.
Sang said he hoped that many more poor peopleand organisations would hear of the stall and help out.
As Tet (Lunar New Year) comes, he and his group tookrice, food, clothes and other necessities to impoverished communities in remoteareas of the province.-VNA
Tram did not want to talk about her action, buther mother told the Tien Phong (Vanguard) newspaper that every day, Tramdonated 100 baguettes to be given away at the stall. As each one costs 1,500VND, each month she spends 4.5 million VND (198 USD) on her goodwill work.
Another stall has been set up near thecrossroads of Phan Dinh Phung and Phan Chu Trinh by Tran Thi Bao Lan, a teacherat Phan Dinh Phung elementary school.
Lan said she chose the place because it was nearboth a boarding school for minority ethnic students and villages of Ba Napeople. “It is just a little deed to help the poor temporarily beat thehunger,” she said.
Also involved in helping poor ethnic people, acharity group called An Lac Thien Tam has established two baguette stalls in theoutlying Dak Cam commune to provide free breakfasts for poor people, especiallypoor students.
The group, consisting of blue-collar workers andretirees, has been doing charity work for three years, but thebaguette-donations began a month ago.
Truong Thi Nhung, head of the group, said shethought of the idea when seeing many teachers struggling to coax children ofpoor families to go to school.
“During our charity trips, I saw teachers havingto buy sweets and snacks, knocking at every family’s door to persuade childrennot to drop out of school," she said.
“All the children there are ethnic minorities.Their families are so poor that it is hard to get enough to eat, let alonestudy.”
“We hope that by giving out free baguettes tothe children, they would have more drive to keep up their studies,” Nhung said.
Recently, when the group opened the second stallin the commune, many children came to get the baguettes.
“It was so touching to see them enjoy our food.Some of them didn’t have proper clothes to wear,” Nhung said.
She said besides setting up stalls, the groupalso took baguettes to some schools four to five kilometres from the communecentre.
In the future, the group plans to set up morestalls to cover all schools in the locality.
“Toi yeu Kon Tum” charity group helps the poorby giving them free clothes.
A stall at 29 Nguyen Trai, also the group’sheadquarters, is a familiar address for many people in the region.
Tran Van Cao Sang, head of the group said thatthe group had been active for the past 10 years. The free-stall idea wasinitiated by its members after studying similar ideas implemented in otherprovinces.
Clothes come from members of the group and manyother people who love to help. Most clothes are used, but still in good conditionsand properly cleaned and ironed before being given away.
“In the past year, there was rarely a day whenwe had any clothing left in the stall,” Sang said.
Sang said he hoped that many more poor peopleand organisations would hear of the stall and help out.
As Tet (Lunar New Year) comes, he and his group tookrice, food, clothes and other necessities to impoverished communities in remoteareas of the province.-VNA
VNA
