SOS Sai Gon members help fix a commuter’s motorbike at night. (Photo courtesy of SOS Sai Gon) HCM City (VNA) - When night falls,the bustling city becomes quiet and peaceful but in some corners, there arealways people in trouble that desperately need help.
It is also when members of the SOS Sai Gon team— a business director, an engineer, an officer or a student — start to take uptheir second job, which is offering help to people in need.
As usual, they get together at around 9pm everyday and then spread out in different directions around HCM City near NationalHighway 1A, Pham Van Dong Street and Hanoi Highway.
Since their establishment last March, the SOSSai Gon team has offered help in time to thousands of people. Most of them havetrouble with vehicle breakdown, traffic accidents or encountering criminals.
“We feel that people in contemporary societieshave become more and more insensitive to what is happening around them. Inother cases, many people do not want to get into trouble by helping others eventhough they are good in nature,” said Ho Tuan Sang, a founder of the team andalso a construction engineer in HCM City.
“SOS Sai Gon was established with the aim ofevoking kindness among people and gathering individuals willing to help others.By working in a team, we hope to help more cases. During its first days,the team received nearly 30 applications from people who learnt about itthrough friends, newspapers or Facebook. However, after three months, thenumber of members has reduced to 17, 12 of whom are stable members - which somehowreveals a part of the difficulties that we are encountering,” Sang added.
SOS Sai Gon often finish their work at 2amor later if there are more people in need of help every Monday, Wednesday,Friday and Sunday and until midnight on the other days. They normally receivefrom 30 to 40 calls for help per night, but can only assist one-third of thecases due to shortage of time and members.
Before setting off, each member brings alongvehicle fixing tools and medical first-aid, which they have purchased themselves.The local authority has also allowed them to equip their vehicles with flashes,priority horns and luminous sticks for better professional service.
Besides, they have to spend their own pocketmoney on purchasing petrol and for phone call expenses, but they never accepteven a penny from the people they help.
Sang said he has had many unforgettable memorieswhile helping thousands of people.
“Once, we helped a young man whose motorcyclebroke down on his way home at midnight. There was no one there to help so hehad to walk his vehicle for nearly seven kilometres until he met us and had hisvehicle fixed,” he recalled.
“I cannot forget the day we saved a drunkardfrom falling into the swamps. If we had been late by 15 minutes, this man wouldnot have survived,” he explained.
He also added that the team has helped manyforeigners in the city. “Their most frequent problem is vehicle breaking downor being stolen, or being deceived,” he said.
Every member has worked wholeheartedly with avolunteer spirit, but sometimes they have gotten into trouble themselves inwinning people’s trust.
“Some people ignore us or refuse our helpbecause they are afraid that we are deceiving them for money. In such times, weshow them our uniform or vehicle fixing tools to make them believe that wereally want to give them a hand,” said Nguyen Van Nam, a member of SOS SaiGon.
Of course, sometimes they cannot succeed inrepairing the broken motorbikes. On encountering the seriously damaged ones,they still help to push the vehicles back to their house, no matter how far itis.
“Our priority is helping people in the bestpossible way. We cannot rest until the person in trouble is back home safe andsound,” he added.
Despite his tight working schedule, Huynh QuangNhat Minh, another member of SOS Sai Gon, still manages to volunteer afterlearning about the team via Facebook.
“Many people advise me to stay home to take abreak instead of joining the team but I find it is a waste of time if I comeback home and stick to my smart phone. I have been in trouble many times,running out of petrol or having my bike broken down at night, so I feel veryhappy by helping others in the same situation,” Minh said.
According to Sang, contributing to the voluntarywork of the group significantly affects the health, primary job and income ofthe volunteers; therefore, many of them have left the group due to difficultsituations.
However, many others get determined to stay dueto their dedication to help people in need. They always try to arrange theirtime and work for SOS Sai Gon.
“Our biggest wish now is maintaining andexpanding the team’s activities to help more cases,” Sang said.
“Particularly, we want more foreign visitors tolearn about us so that we can give them a hand on time. We expect to enhancethe image of Vietnam in general and HCM City in particular, in the eyes ofinternational friends. What we need now is the support and contribution of thewhole society so that kindness will be widespread,” he added.
So, when you encounter any trouble whilediscovering the city at night, let SOS Sai Gon know by contacting them on 0974131 709. They will always be there and give you a hand in time.-VNA
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