A group of 20 Youth Union members from Tay Ninh Village in Hoa Lien Commune, Hoa Vang District, has been operating a monthly charitable programme entitled ‘Buoi Toi Yeu Thuong’ (Evening of Human Love) for nearly a year now.

A Youth Union member giving food to a local sanitation worker

This programme offers free ‘xoi’ (steamed glutinous rice), ‘banh bao’ (dumplings), ‘sua bap’ (sweetened corn milk) and other types of food and drinks to such blue-collar labourers as porters, sanitation workers, lottery ticket sellers and ‘xe om’ (motorbike taxi) drivers.  The beneficiaries also include disadvantaged children and poor elderly or disabled people.

A group member, Ms Phan Thi Le Huyen, said that this meaningful programme’s operational costs are now raised by the group members who are students and pupils.  She remarked that, apart from the food and drinks, the group’s members also give spiritual encouragement to these labourers, thereby helping to ease their burdens in life, and demonstrating that the community always stands side by side with them to overcome their difficulties.

Another member, Pham Thi Ngoc Ha, who is a student from the city’s University of Foreign Language Studies, said that she always feels very happy to help disadvantaged people.  Ms Ha added that late last year, despite heavy rain and cold weather, she and some other Youth Union members drove over 20km from their village to the inner-city to bring food to the local disadvantaged children and the elderly.

Ms Do Thi Hue, Secretary of the Hoa Lien Commune Youth Union Organisation in the district, highly praised the ‘Evening of Human Love’ programme for its humanitarian values.  It also helps to educate local Youth Union members about showing kind concern for sanitation workers who partly contribute towards making Da Nang more green, clean and beautiful.  

Ms Hue added that such an effective model should be expanded into other villages in the commune in the years ahead.