The 7th edition of the charity concert “Nhung Trai Tim Dong Cam” (Sympathy Hearts) took place at the Hanoi Opera House on May 30, with the aim of raising funds for children with disabilities.

The event highlighted the examples of two children-11-year-old piano talent Quach Hoang Nhi who has a brother suffering from cerebral palsy and eighth grader Tran Viet Hoang who lost vision due to retinopathy.

Nhi started playing piano at the age of four and has grabbed tens of medals at local and international music competitions, including a gold medal at the 2012 Asia International Piano Academy Festival and Competition in the Republic of Korea, the first prize at the 3rd Mozart International Piano Competition in Thailand in 2013, the first prize at the 17th Val Tidone International Music Competitions and the second prize at the Piano Talents International Competition for Young Pianist held in Italy last year.

Tran Viet Hoang from central Ha Tinh province was born in a poor family. He managed to learn Braille writing system himself and earned Academic Excellence titles for eight consecutive years.

This year’s concert raised over 1 billion VND (45,800 USD) to provide free surgeries for eight children with congenital heart diseases, present saving books of 5-20 million VND (230 – 917 USD) to 100 children with serious illness together with scholarships and gift packages to impoverished children across the country.

The event has raised more than 20 billion VND (917,000 USD) for charitable purposes over the past seven years.

According to Minister of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs Pham Thi Hai Chuyen, Vietnam has more than 6.7 million people with disabilities, including 1.2 million children, over 330,000 orphans and nearly 25,000 Orange/Dioxin victim children.-VNA