An Ninh Pagoda, Phu Yen 2024: Twelve Years of Rice and an Operation That Needed Help

On March 10, 2024, the Compassionate Hands team gave gifts at An Ninh Pagoda in Phú Yên, where the foundation has helped for over ten years, and raised 23 million dong for a patient who needs surgery.

On March 10, 2024, the Compassionate Hands Foundation (Hội Từ Thiện Bàn Tay Nhân Ái) arrived at An Ninh Pagoda in Phú Yên province. From Cam Ranh the bus drove another 207 km up the coast, more than four hours, past green sea and rolling hills. According to the narration, the foundation has walked alongside this pagoda for more than ten years.

An Ninh Pagoda and twelve years of rice

On arrival, team members set about arranging the gifts. The narrator describes a long row of wheelchairs for people with disabilities and the frail elderly, and says the sight made the heart tighten.

Before the distribution, the nun of the pagoda offered thanks. She said the love of the members had turned into grains of rice given in kindness, and that for more than 12 years the people of Phú Yên had eaten that rice from Compassionate Hands. Wherever the land is rocky and barren, wherever poverty and hunger are found, she said, the foundation has come, and has never refused to help.

A case outside the list

Before the ceremony, a team member noticed one patient among the wheelchairs. The man had just had surgery and could not relieve himself normally; he used a bag fixed at his side. He is gathering money for another operation so that he can live normally again, but his situation is hard. A relative who accompanies him was also there.

The monk asked members to give as they felt moved, and said he would receive the money on the man's behalf. This was not planned and the man was not on the list, but members of the group gave together, 23 million Vietnamese dong in total. The narrator says the sum is small, hopes it covers part of the surgery costs, and prays that the operation goes well.

The order of distribution

One of the team explained the plan. Many people were collecting on behalf of disabled relatives, but bringing disabled people from dozens of kilometers away is not easy, and wheelchair users also suffer on a long trip. So the team gave first to the wheelchair users present. Those who came as proxies would be handled afterwards, case by case, and if needed the team would arrange to visit their homes.

He added:

We are not afraid of hardship, as long as we do our duty properly.

A member of the group

He explained that the gifts come from benefactors who go without in their own lives, so the team must do the work correctly so that poor people receive their gifts in truth.

A message from the day

A monk in the group said that having no wealth does not stop us from helping others:

We only need to smile, to say a kind word. That too is how we help others and help the world.

A monk in the group

He said even a person close to death can still live well and think of others, and then thanked everyone who came, on behalf of the team.

What stays with us

The narrator reminded viewers that life is a constant process of giving and receiving, and that each of us can share what we have. The distribution at An Ninh closed with a song about the faraway countryside, and the team's hope that sharing hands will keep supporting the poor.