In recent years, in the media, especially social networking sites, Quang Linh Vlogs has attracted special attention and great admiration as well from millions of people, most of whom are young people.

Quang Linh (first, left) guides African people to grow and harvest crops.

From poor guy to famous Youtuber

Quang Linh Vlogs's full name is Pham Quang Linh who was born in 1997 in Nghi Loc District, Nghe An Province. Growing up in an ordinary farmer's family in the poor countryside, upon completing high school, Linh applied to work in Angola, a remote and strange country in Africa, just for the reason that many young people often think and desire at that time: to explore a new land and the lives of its people.

With the youth’s energy and enthusiasm, Linh started with the job of an ordinary common worker as a construction assistant. During the working process, grasping the needs of reality, Linh began to challenge herself with all kinds of jobs such as making ice, selling shoes and clothes in order to cover his daily life expenses and make savings for helping his family.

Like many other young people when they first arrived in a foreign land, it was still unfamiliar and extremely difficult, so in the beginning, Linh could not avoid moments of sadness, concern and nostalgia for his family and homeland. But fortunately, he had close friends who share his difficulties and obstacles, and enthusiastically helped him a lot in both work and daily life.

Then, one of the highlights to create a turning point in his life was that from a construction worker who made ends meet, Linh quickly became a Youtuber that rose to fame on social networks with many extremely diverse and interesting volunteering activities towards the community in a rural area of Africa that is still facing many hardships and poverty.

Linh's destiny to Youtube stems from his desire to make videos to save everyday moments of hisself and his friends in Angola. In particular, it was the amazing hospitality and friendliness of the local people that kept Linh and her friends staying in this place even though COVID-19 was increasingly complicated and stressful at times. The young man and his group mates spent their own money to support people with necessary necessities, built channels to bring water to dry fields, and taught people there how to do farming and supported many children to pursue their academic dreams.

At the same time, he and his friends also organised many cultural exchange activities such as teaching songs about Viet Nam, giving local girls traditional Vietnamese ‘ao dai’, and cooking pure Vietnamese dishes to promote culture, the image of the people and land of Viet Nam.

It was those noble, friendly and simple gestures that have helped Linh and his friends quickly capture the great attention of the local community as well as many YouTube followers.

Surprisingly, after just a while, the Youtube channel developed by Linh brought extremely admirable results when it reached the golden button and currently has more than 3.7 million registrations. This is a respectable number. Not only that, according to Social Blade statistics, this guy's annual income from Quang Linh Vlogs - Life in Africa channel can range from US$ 65,000 to US$780,000 (VND 1.4 billion to VND 14.7 billion). Viet Nam Agriculture Channel in Africa ranges from US$3,200 to US$50,900 (VND744 million to VND1.1 billion).

Sowing the seeds of love

Even more respectable is that after Linh's YouTube channel received a lot of love, he gradually became famous and his income went up, Linh did not keep it for himself. He has used that money to organise charity activities, from small things like buying food, clothes in donation for indigenous people to bigger things like drilling wells, building charity houses, and repairing schools, helping African people get jobs and develop the community.

With the support of a large number of people, Youtuber Linh confided in a sharing with Vietnamese media when returning to the homeland to visit his family in a humble way: "I feel surprised with a large number of Youtuber followers who watched my videos and accompanied me for a long time. I didn't think my small actions would receive such a positive response from so many netizens."

However, making YouTube is not g Linh's main job. Currently, he has bought up to 14 hectares of wasteland to renovate it as an agricultural farm in Angola. Linh's biggest wish is to build the largest farm in the area, grow many agricultural products and raise sheep and goats there. Linh has exerted great efforts and methodically invested in the farm, bringing lawn mowers from Viet Nam to clean up and cultivate faster and more effectively.

After a period of time, Linh's farm is now green with vegetables and many other agricultural products such as bananas, corn, potatoes and onions. In addition, Linh also raises goats and builds a circular agriculture model in this previously deserted and barren land.

Linh's determination aims to help inhabitants there to have food, knowledge about agriculture so that they can grow crops by themselves to gradually ensure supplies and avoid falling into hunger all year round.

Not only does Linh create jobs for indigenous people, instruct planting techniques and pay salaries, but Linh also has a policy of equally dividing the profits earned. For instance, at the end of the season, in terms of the output of crops, Linh shares these agricultural products with the people. This approach helps people receive practical, direct support and creates sentimental cohesion among them.

Young "people's diplomat"

Linh's activities have been highly agreed, supported and praised by local authorities. At the end of August 2023, Vietnamese Ambassador to Angola Duong Chinh Chuc and a Vietnamese business delegation came to Linh farm. The visitors fully praised the tireless efforts exerted by Linh and his friends.

Ambassador Duong Chinh Chuc said to Linh and his friends: "Coming such remote land to build up such big facility shows that all of you have truly tried and determined a lot, which is very appreciable. This is not something that everyone can do... Everyone has a good heart and volunteering spirit like this, which is very valuable. Here, if you are not determined, it will be difficult to do. Only practical things like this go deeper into people's lives and strengthen the friendship between the two countries. I think every Vietnamese person who comes here feels proud of them."

It is hoped that through this model as well as tens of thousands of others that have been taking place so that young Vietnamese people can think bigger together to make their marks in a decisive, confident and appropriate way if they have enough strength in life. Linh did not take the university entrance exam like many other young people after finishing high school, and he chose the path so many unskilled labourers took to find a suitable job that first aims to support himself and then his family, and beyond that, the community. Even though the work is extremely arduous, it is very close to the countryside where he was born.

From then on, through hard work and creativity, Linh quickly became a "star" in many fields, including being entrepreneur and now also the vice president of a perfume brand; the owner of dozens of hectares of farming land to produce agricultural products and livestock and the owner of a YouTube channel that has attracted millions of subscribers.

But perhaps, of all that Linh has achieved today, it is the wonderful character of a very exemplary Vietnamese man. He has initially succeeded in promoting the image of an impressive Vietnamese citizen, a guy who works hard with creativity and dedication towards the inhabitants in the community where he lives and works for the time being.

In particular, he naturally became a messenger, an excellent young "people's diplomat" when bringing to the remote Angolan community the image of a hard-working, creative, and talented Vietnamese person full of compassion and the image of Viet Nam, a beautiful, peaceful country with an extremely rich culture.

Reporting by TUYET MINH – Translating by A.THU