Long An Pagoda, Long Mỹ, Hậu Giang 2024: 200 gift packages in the river country

On March 4, 2024, the Compassionate Hands Foundation travelled 164 km from Bến Tre to Long An Pagoda in Long Mỹ, Hậu Giang, and gave 200 gift packages including monthly rice, wheelchairs and one-time gifts.

On March 4, 2024, after the distribution in Bến Tre, the Compassionate Hands Foundation (Hội Từ Thiện Bàn Tay Nhân Ái) from the United States carried on across Vietnam to Long An Pagoda, Tân Thạnh hamlet, Tân Phú commune, Long Mỹ town, Hậu Giang province. The 164-kilometre route from Bến Tre led to a region of rivers and tightly woven canals.

The way to the pagoda

According to the narration, part of the trip was by small boat along a canal under harsh sun, past drifting water hyacinth, with everyone hoping the boat would hurry so families waiting since early morning would not wait longer. The group included members, lay Buddhists and donors. They say they give not because they have much, but because they know what giving means and feels like. The foundation's motto for this trip is "Lá lành đùm lá rách" (the whole leaf wraps the torn one).

The goods included rice, boxes of instant noodles, soy sauce, salt, sugar, blankets, school bags, conical hats and many small gifts sent by donors.

What the team told the families

A representative of the foundation, with more than 60 followers from California, said the foundation's policy is to go to remote areas where families live in extreme poverty and illness. Long An Pagoda has been among the places receiving 10 kg of rice a month for people in hardship for more than ten years. This time the team also brought wheelchairs for people with disabilities, gifts for other groups, and one-time packages for families it cannot yet support monthly. The followers travelling with the team also added personal cash donations.

Receiving with the heart

A member of the team reminded the families that these gifts come from the hearts of Buddhist followers far away. The speaker said they economize on food and clothing and save what they can to send to poor families. When one eats a bowl of rice, he said, someone far away has held back a bowl of rice to send home:

We should receive from our own hearts and feel the love of these distant Buddhist followers, overseas Vietnamese who bring this to us.

A member of the charity team

The speaker invited the families, when they go to the pagoda, eat vegetarian or recite the Buddha's name, to dedicate that merit to the people who sent the gifts. That alone, he said, would satisfy the donors. The speaker also thanked the families and overseas supporters on behalf of the abbess and the monks and nuns.

The numbers at Long An

During the distribution the team helped elderly guests along, pushed wheelchairs and carried sacks of rice. At Long An Pagoda the foundation gave 57 monthly rice allotments, gifts to 20 students, 13 wheelchairs and 110 one-time gift packages, 200 in total. A representative said the team hopes these gifts ease some of the hardship and loneliness of the people of Hậu Giang.

The journey continues

This stop is part of the foundation's 2024 trip across Vietnam. Hậu Giang followed Bến Tre, and the team says it will keep going to other regions along the route.