VnExpress Hope Foundation distributes over 2,000 aid packages to flood-hit communities

Recipients hailing from Quang Tri, Quang Binh and Ha Tinh provinces of central Vietnam received their gift packages between Monday and Wednesday this week.

Nguyen Thi Lan, 65, said it was a real joy for her to receive a backpack containing essential products and food.

Residing besides the Ke Go Lake, an artificial reservoir serving dam operations and other irrigation projects in central Ha Tinh Province, Lan and her husband, who survive by fishing, are no strangers to floods.

Nguyen Thi Lan studies the canned food she received from Hope Foundation. Photo by VnExpress/Phan Duong.

Despite their experience, however, the couple could not respond in time when floods hit on the evening of October 18. In just half an hour, their home in My Yen Village, Cam My Commune of Ha Tinh’s Cam Xuyen District was submerged by up to two meters of water.

"We had to run for our lives," Lan said.

She fled along with neighbors on a wooden boat to a house of another acquaintance on a hill. The next morning, the group were forced to move again as floodwaters kept rising.

Her husband Minh joined in evacuating people and livestock from their community. After three days, floodwaters started receding, with all of their belongings either swept away or damaged.

"Staying in the cold water for way too long, my husband grew exhausted and had to receive intravenous fluids," Lan recalled.

On Wednesday evening, amid prolonged heavy downpours due to Storm Goni, expected to make landfall over the south central coast on Friday, Lan said she should get prepared, worried Ke Go would keep discharging water.

The backpack, she said, would help her a lot when evacuating essentials.

Tu Thi Thieu lives with her son and daughter-in-law in a single story house in Hoa Binh Village, Tan Ninh Commune, Quang Ninh District of Quang Binh Province. Scattered on the floor are fridges and air conditioners. Most are damaged.

Her son runs an electronics store from home. Before the floods hit, they had propped up furniture by two meters but unluckily, the platform broke, sending four air-conditioners and several other electronic devices crashing into the water, causing a loss of VND100 million ($4,310). Now, he is unable to repay the loan he had borrowed two years ago to open the store.

Thieu herself has lost four sows, more than 100 heads of poultry and 20 bags of rice, which usually sell for VND250,000 ($10.84) a bag.

"I’ve been crying every night since."

Among the gifts distributed to her family by Hope Foundation are clean water and school equipment. Thieu said clean water is vital during this time while her daughter-in-law maintained the schoolbag will serve her kid well.

By the end of November 2, the foundation had received VND4.6 billion from readers and businesses.

Residents in Quang Binh Province ride their gift packages from Hope Foundation home. Photo by VnExpress/Phan Duong.

VnExpress has been active in improving education and infrastructure in disadvantaged areas through its Hope Foundation. The foundation helps disadvantaged groups in various ways to create a driving force for growth, establishing more and more connections to make change happen.

The foundation has initiated a campaign to bring relief aid to communities hit by floods and landslides in central Vietnam. Hope Foundation is inviting all readers and well-wishers to contribute to this effort. For more information regarding donation methods, kindly refer to this link.