Foreigners pitch in for typhoon Yagi relief work

Nathan arrived in the province's Thai Nguyen town by 5:30 a.m., and dozens of volunteers had already gathered. Some were picking vegetables, roasting peanuts and cooking food, while others worked with him to pack supplies for families stranded in the floods.

As the water rose to waist height, Nathan put on a raincoat, borrowed a boat, and, with the assistance of other volunteers, loaded 200 food packages onto it. They walked through the water beside the boat, pushing it to deliver supplies to the residents of Hoa Thuong Commune.

Typhoon Yagi, along with the landslides and flash floods it triggered, struck northern Vietnam last weekend, resulting in 276 deaths as of Saturday.

Nathan Keers (right) pushes a boat loaded with essentials for residents in northern province of Thai Nguyen on the morning of Sept. 11, 2024. Photo courtesy of Nathan Keers

"The rain was relentless, and the alley looked like a sea, swallowing the ground floors of houses," the 33-year-old Englishman says. "It was something I had never experienced before, not even during the worst storms in England."

As they approached an area where the water was chest-deep, they could no longer proceed on foot. Nathan volunteered to swim through.

Reaching a two-story house at the end of the flooded alley, he called out to see if anyone was inside. A man, about 60 years old, came down, surprised to see aid coming from a foreigner.

"His smile kept me motivated for the rest of the day," he says. "I felt empty when I arrived, but somewhat at peace when I left."

He had moved to Hanoi seven years ago and quickly fell in love with its food, sights and lifestyle. "I feel this country has given me so much." He is married to a Vietnamese woman, and they have two sons, Noah, 5, and Jacob, 2.

But what has stood out even more for him has been the solidarity among people, who have been helping each other during storms and floods, even when faced with their own hardships. "That kind of spirit is truly impressive, and I wanted to follow their example."

Before returning to Hanoi, Nathan and his wife also donated money to buy 500 kilograms of rice, noodles, soap, and other essential supplies for flood-affected families.

In other parts of Vietnam too, foreigners were stepping up. In the northern province of Lao Cai, Spanish travelers Violeta and Candela turned their holiday into a voluntary mission.

Stranded in the province's Sa Pa resort town after bus services were suspended on Sept. 9, the two, along with two New Zealanders, found refuge in the home of Tran Thi Huyen, director of a local tourism company, who offered them free accommodation.

On the evening of Sept. 9 Violeta noticed Huyen's staff had stopped their office work to cook meals for 100 people in Lao Chai village in Sapa.

Without hesitation, she and her group joined in, cutting vegetables, slicing meat and portioning out the food. "What happened was devastating, and I wanted to support them," she says. She was moved by the solidarity among the Vietnamese in the face of disaster.

The next day they helped make another 400 meals of sticky rice and sesame salt, which were sent to landslide-hit areas in Bao Yen and Bac Ha Districts. "I was amazed at how eager these foreigners were to help," Huyen says.

They asked detailed questions about how to cook Vietnamese foods and learned quickly, and their assistance enabled her small team to finish the cooking quickly, she adds.

Foreigners assist a volunteer group in portioning out the food in northern Lao Cai province on Sept. 11. Photo courtesy of the foreigners

On the morning of Sept. 11 South African national Tamara Hoffman loaded her motorbike with two bags of clothes, five blankets, mosquito nets, towels, and medical supplies, and headed to Quang An Ward in Hanoi’s Tay Ho District to donate them.

"The images of people clinging to rooftops after losing everything in the floods haunt me," she says. "I consider Vietnam my second home, and so I felt compelled to do something for them."

Tamara first visited Hanoi in 2017 on a two-week holiday, fell in love with the city and decided to stay, making it her home.

Over time she grew increasingly attached to the Vietnamese culture of helping one another. There have been times when she fell off her motorbike or ran out of fuel, and strangers were always quick to offer help.

Having experienced storms in other countries, she says none terrified her as much as Yagi. After the storm she and a few friends helped clear fallen trees in Tay Ho District.

She realized then that many foreigners living in Vietnam wanted to contribute to disaster relief but faced obstacles like the language barrier and lack of transportation.

Tamara has also signed up to volunteer in Yen Bai town this weekend. She is organizing donations of school supplies for students in an area affected by flash floods and helping rebuild classrooms. "I’m simply following the example of the warm and generous kindness the Vietnamese people have shown us foreigners."