American teacher inspires hope for better life in Vietnam

Alfred Meza - an English teacher from Elgin, Illinois state, the United States - is in a charity trip in Vietnam (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Hanoi (VNA) - Hien, a scrap dealer, has just come home after a hard working day when Truc, her 8-year-old daughter took her straight into her family new breeding facility which was built last month. Looking at the healthy chickens, Hien smiled while tears came out of her eyes.

Only three months ago, Hien couldn't imagine any possible light of making a living. Thanks to dedicated help of Alfred Meza- an English teacher from Elgin, Illinois, the US, Hien and her kids now can hope for a better life.

“We will help you, I promise”

Hien’s husband died in an electric accident last year, leaving her three small kids. Life has been difficult and she’s tried to do everything to feed her kids. She moved to Hanoi and worked as a dish-cleaner in many restaurants after her youngest kid had an eye operation.

Alfred Meza and Bella Nguyen, a member of  LoHi Project, visited Hien in a late autumn afternoon, after finishing a program to donate cows to another orphan family nearby.

“We will help you, I promise”- Alfred Meza said after hearing Hien’s story.

Hearing about the project promoting support for sustainable economic development for poor households, Hien immediately reckoned that it’s a hope for her family life.

The LoHi (Low Overhead-High Impact) project spends all the money received from donors in both the US and Vietnam to support the programmes, and those directly involve in the project are all volunteers and unpaid. (Photo: VietnamPlus)

A week later, 100 chickens were released into the breeding facility, each weighs 1.8 kg on average, fully vaccinated. The project has brought Hien and her children something more valuable than a fortune, which is the belief in people's kindness and hope for a brighter future”- Hien shared with a glance of happiness in her eyes.

“Teacher by night, shipper, book seller by day”

If it was just me, no matter how hard I try, the project will not be able to make any progress," Alfred Meza said.

The LoHi (Low Overhead-High Impact) project spends all the money received from donors in both the US and Vietnam to support the programmes, and those directly involve in the project are all volunteers and unpaid. Everything is transparent.

The "sustainability" and humanity of the LoHi project is not only about creating long-term livelihoods for the beneficiaries, but also enabling the beneficiaries to continue to help others in difficult and similar circumstances. (Photo: VietnamPlus) 

"Although the support of donors is very important, we do not rely entirely on that," Alfred shared. Another major source for the project is the remuneration he receives from evening English classes.

Then when the owner of Vi Vi teahouse suggested that he would give some money from his teahouse’s profit for LoHi, Alfred turned to work for the shop. Although he was always busy, Alfred believed that he is living the most meaningful days in his life.

Although he was always busy, Alfred Maza believed that he is living the most meaningful days in his life (Photo: Vietnamplus)

The "sustainability" and humanity of the LoHi project is not only about creating long-term livelihoods for the beneficiaries, but also enabling the beneficiaries to continue to help others in difficult and similar circumstances.

In the flock of chickens gifted to Hien's house, there were 10 roosters. From the initial eggs, Hien will incubate an additional 20 flocks of chickens, which will be presented to another household designated by the project.

Alfred Meza grew up in an immigrant Mexican family in the town of Elgin, Illinois, the US. After eight years serving in the army, he wanted to have a more liberal life, so he decided to demobilize and move to Hawaii.

In early 2019, Alfred met and made friend with a Vietnamese journalist, who was attending a short course in Oahu. They two went hiking to watch the sunrise, and shared the story of volunteering while enjoying coffee on the top of Koko Head.

At the time receiving the notice of admission to the Honolulu Police Department, Alfred knew that his father was suffering from cancer. He quitted the training, flew back to Chicago to accompany his father on a three-month radiation therapy course.

That time made Alfred think a lot about the meaning of life. His father was the first one to support him when he heard his son expressing his wish to come to Vietnam to help the orphans.

Waiting for his father's health become stable, Alfred returned to Hawaii, sold, donated all his belongings and then wore a single backpack to Vietnam, starting living the most meaningful days in his life by spreading love and hope to many others./.