Diệu Viên Pagoda, Huế 2026: The Final Stop of the Vietnam Charity Trip

On 21 March 2026 the Compassionate Hands Foundation closed its Vietnam charity trip at Diệu Viên Pagoda in Huế, a stop it makes every year.

On 21 March 2026 the Compassionate Hands Foundation (Hội Từ Thiện Bàn Tay Nhân Ái) ended its 2026 Vietnam charity trip at Diệu Viên Pagoda in Huế. It was the tenth distribution point and the final stop. As the video's narration puts it, it was the most crowded, the most special and the place with the most tears, for givers and receivers alike.

An exception in the foundation's route

From Đà Nẵng to Huế, the team travelled a road of mountains, sea, clouds and sunshine. The narrator says nature seemed to understand that the people on the bus needed a quiet moment to breathe.

Diệu Viên is a familiar name to long-standing members. According to the narration, the foundation visits ten pagodas in rotation each year, but Diệu Viên is an exception that must be visited every year, because the heart will not allow skipping it. Venerable Thích Minh Nhựt also told the villagers that elsewhere the foundation usually returns only every three or four years, sometimes longer, while here it comes every year and gives two or three times as much.

A courtyard more crowded than any other

When the bus arrived, the first thing that silenced the whole team was the crowd. The narration calls it larger than any place they had been, two or three times as many people. Although this was the last stop, villagers had come in full numbers from early morning.

The courtyard held many special cases: people with disabilities in wheelchairs, people limping on sticks, blind people who could only follow the guidance of someone beside them yet still murmured thanks and recited the Buddha's name. Some babies lay in their mothers' arms, tormented by illness. A mother fanned her child constantly in the harsh Huế sun, and one child, hot and itchy, scratched sores on small, reddened skin. The team meets that child receiving gifts every year. The narrator recalls one small moment: a tired child resting a head on his father's shoulder while the father sat still, saying nothing.

The master of ceremonies said that afternoon 52 children in especially sad circumstances were present, children with disabilities caused by Agent Orange or with illnesses, from poor families.

Words from the Venerable

Because the courtyard was crowded and hot, the speeches were kept short so no one had to wait. Venerable Thích Minh Nhựt said that however much the foundation gives, it feels worthwhile, though he knows it only eases hardship for a short while. Looking to his left, where many children with congenital illnesses were seated, not one or two but very many, he said he did not know the cause. He noted that Buddhism speaks of karma, each person with a different affinity, so what the foundation can do is bring compassion to ease the hardship.

Even though our body is lacking, our mind is not lacking, it is whole.

Venerable Thích Minh Nhựt, Chairman

He encouraged the villagers to recite the Buddha's name, practice, eat vegetarian and dedicate the merit to those who give up a little of their own lives to help them.

Handing out gifts in a sea of people

When the distribution began, the crowd was so dense that the members could not guide everyone one by one. Each person used their own hands in a different direction, pushing wheelchairs, leading blind people, carrying babies, lifting gift boxes, giving tịnh tài (cash offerings) and clasping hands in thanks. Some team members turned away because they could not hold back tears, then turned back and carried on. Clothes were soaked with sweat, faces red from the sun, but no one stopped, since there were still people who had not received. The narrator adds that each time the team comes to Diệu Viên, members must prepare more strength than usual to help the villagers.

Closing the trip

The last gift was handed over, the last hand was held, the last person was guided out of the gate. The 2026 Vietnam charity trip ended in Huế, after the Mekong Delta, the southern coast, the Central Highlands and the sunlit, windswept central region. The narration thanks the donors who entrusted their kindness to the foundation, thanks the villagers for giving the team the chance to give, and says goodbye until the Vietnam charity trip of 2027.