Ha Noi (VNA) –Tran Van Ca, an overseas Vietnamese in the US, who is President of the Viet Nam Assistance for the Handicapped (VNAH), does not want to talk much about his charity work in Viet Nam over the past 17 years.
”What I do is only a grain of sand in the desert,” he said.
In actual fact, VNAH has reached out to thousands of disadvantaged people in Viet Nam, providing them with much-needed wheelchairs and medical care.
The association has donated 100,000 orthopaedic devices and wheelchairs to the physically challenged throughout the country. Thousands of poor disabled people have received free corrective surgery thanks to VNAH support.
A substantial part of VNAH’s efforts is on helping the physically challenged people live independently. The association has funded the upgrade of 12 vocational training centers and over 20 schools so that they can serve the disabled.
The organisation has also cooperated with several ministries and agencies to accelerate the implementation of the Ordinance on the Disabled, including the compilation of the Code and Standards of Accessible Construction to facilitate disabled people’s access to buildings.
The VNAH was on the frontlines with the Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs in setting up a coordination office for the disabled.
Tran Van Ca and his VNAH are not alone in the overseas Vietnamese community in working for the poor, Prof. Tran Gien Lan from Canada’s Memorial University has persuaded the Canadian government to pour 8.5 million Canadian dollars (CAD) in health care and poverty reduction projects in Viet Nam since 2000.
A Vietnamese businessperson in the US has devoted over 50 billion VND (over 3 million USD) to charitable activities in Viet Nam over the past two years.
Hoang Kieu, General Director of the Rare Antibody Antigen Supply Inc., has built over 2,000 houses for poor people and presented medical equipment to hospitals and scholarships to poor students.
Overseas Vietnamese with a heart of gold like Ca, Lan and Kieu are too numerous to name. Whenever there is a natural disaster in Viet Nam, the Vietnamese community abroad never fails to raise money to help the victims overcome difficulties.
Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Phu Binh, who also doubles as chairman of the ministry’s Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, said overseas Vietnamese’s charitable activities in their homeland have been increasing, reflecting their sympathy and providing great encouragement to local people in need.-Enditem
|