Quảng Bình, Vietnam – Around 10:30 AM on November 7, 2010, we - the monks at Đông Hưng gave away 300 gifts to residents who suffered in the floods at two different locations. (Please see the pictures) The Tiên Xuân ward in Quảng Tiên city and the Công Hòa ward in Quảng Trung city both in the Quảng Trạch district in Quảng Bình province. These two wards are next to Gianh River valley so they were damaged very badly after the floods. The residents here were already very poor and now they had to face the ruin of the flood, therefore they all suffered so much more!

The group of monks and Buddhist followers at Đông Hưng Temple was lead by Thầy Chúc Độ (Đông Hưng Temple in Virginia Beach), Ven. Thích Hải Tạng (Long An Temple in Quảng Trị), Ven, Thích Như Vân (Viên Giác Temple in Hội An) and Diệu Hoa (Virginia Beach) started from Đà Nẵng City and arrived at the destination on time after many hours of driving. In order to get everything done thoroughly Ven. Thích Hải Tạng spent a lot of time and effort beforehand to make the work much more convenient and easier for everyone else!

When we arrived at Công Hòa ward we met a group of charity workers from Đà Nẵng who gave away their gifts to the residents there. So we decided to go to the second location (Tiên Xuân ward) first and come back to Công Hòa later. With our request approved to give the gifts directly to the residents we were transferred by ferry boat to Tiên Xuân ward. There was a drop off point at the riverbank where we gave the gifts away. After everyone gathered there our special group from Đông Hưng Temple in Virginia Beach had some encouraging words to share with all who have suffered. Even though these residents have lost much and have endured many difficulties we urged them to think of the now, forget the past, move forward and have a fresh new start. Then we gave our gifts and an envelope with 300 VND for each family.

After we completed this work we headed back to Công Hòa ward by ferry boat. We gave 150 gifts away at this place and finished our charity work here.

While giving gifts away we made use of our time by asking about their lives and their living conditions. We learned that 95% of the residents here are Christian and earned their living by working in the rice fields and fishing, (both - low income jobs) so they all were not able to afford much education. All the children have to help their family as soon as they finish elementary school without any time for more education. The recent flood was an especially tough situation. Although there were many groups of charity people who went out to help, it was too difficult for them to give the gifts to the intended group of those in need because of transportation problems. However the Đông Hưng group was able to deliver the gifts directly to the correct residents!

After finishing the charity work at the second location we visited many families whose homes were ruined by the flood and also investigated the living conditions of the people in this area.

When we left we received much love from the residents with lots of smiles and waving hands. Our hearts were filled with joy when lovely work was done with good affinity!

These days in central Vietnam there are many tropical storms so it rains a lot at many places but amazingly where we do our charity work the sky is very clear and beautiful!

Besides giving gifts at these two locations mentioned above, we also gave our gifts to some other special needy people:

200 VND was given to the ferry driver whose family member is in the hospital.

A 2.7 million VND wheelchair was donated to Mr. Pham Xinh, who is disabled and living at Quế Cường, Quảng Nam.

A scholarship of 1 million VND went to Trần Công Vũ in Hà Tĩnh province who is a freshman in Huế who lost his parents and has 2 younger brothers who are seeking help from their neighbors.

On behalf of Đông Hưng Temple we’d like to show our heartfelt gratefulness for your generosity knowing that you have worked very hard for the money that you have given us.  We have more charity work coming up in the near future for other provinces such as Phú Yên, Bình Định etc… which have been damaged by other tropical storms. The first charity work has cost us about $5,500 and the rest will be saved for the next trip. We hope that we’ll receive enough donations which will allow us to bring happiness to others in the future.

We also granted our respect to Ven. Thích Hải Tạng and Ven. Thích Như Vân. They somehow managed to fit us in even though they have a very busy schedule, and are willing to help us accomplish this charity work!

(Please see the pictures)

Thich Chuc Do

Translate to English by Thich Chuc Thanh