Over the past month, happy smiles were seen on the faces of patients at Da Nang General Hospital’s canteen when they received charity meals through the ‘Dia Com Tren Tuong’ (Dishes of Rice on the Wall) programme to help them leverage their strengths to fight against their diseases.

The intention of the charity programme is to provide free meals to disadvantaged patients and their caregivers.

The name of the programme originates from a ‘Coffee on the Wall’ story about a coffee shop in Venice, Italy, in which two people order two cups of coffee. The two customers drink only one coffee, and leave a piece of paper on the wall that says this is a free cup of coffee for anyone who cannot afford it.

In Viet Nam, the meaningful programme has been implementing successfully in Ho Chi Minh City and Dak Lak Province as dozens of thousands of free meals have been given to patients and their caregivers.

The programme has been maintained through the connection of doctors, nurses and others who directly contact with patients both during the day and at night.

Being one of initiators of the programme in Da Nang, Ms Truong Dieu Linh who is currently working in the healthcare sector hoped that ‘Dia Com Tren Tuong’ will be a practical and meaningful programme for patients.

Ms Linh said during her recent business trip in Dak Lak Province, she found her co-workers appealing for donations from philanthropists to fund free meals for patients as part of the ‘Dia Com Tren Tuong Buon Me Thuot’ programme. Immediately, she has applied this model in Da Nang, hoping that charity meals would help ease the pain and distress that the patients face every day.

“As a result, the active support from the hospital’s leaders, doctors and nurses has exceeded our expectations”, Ms Linh noted.

An elderly patient having free lunch at the hospital’s canteen

Under the support of the hospital’s Social Work Department and nurses who directly treat patients, the programme implementers will understand more about the demand from patients, from which they can supply enough meals for those in need. After that, the patients will get their free meals at the hospital’s canteen by themselves.

“This way helps patients feel more comfortable as receiving assistance from other people”, Ms Linh remarked.

After one month of implementation, the charity programme has received more than 70 million VND from generous donors.

Recently, the programme’s organisers have been actively involved in preparing for a charity musical performance entitled ‘White Blouse Music Night’. Being slated to be organised in August, the event aims to raise funds for the ‘Dishes of Rice on Wall’ programme.