Volunteers offer helping hand to poor hospital patients

A group of young people from the central city of Da Nang led by Ho Ngoc Thanh have set up a volunteer programme to help poor sick people get to hospital.
Volunteers offer helping hand to poor hospital patients ảnh 1Members of the 0 VND trip programme are helping a patient to enter the car for free transportation. (Photo: VNA)

Da Nang (VNS/VNA) - A group ofyoung people from the central city of Da Nang led by Ho Ngoc Thanh haveset up a volunteer programme to help poor sick people get to hospital.

The programme "Chuyen Xe Khong Dong"(0 VND Bus Trip) is a special charity work which offers free transportationfor poor and disadvantaged patients when they have to move to a newhospital for different treatment.

Although it has just been put into operation fora few months, the bus has spread love, community cohesion and dedicated supportto poor and lonely patients.

The 32-member group uses more than 10 carsoffered by the members themselves as well as kindhearted individuals andbusinesses to transport the patients.

They operate across cities and provinces inthe central region, including Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai.

In the first two weeks alone, 24 patientsin difficult circumstances were transferred from home to hospitals or fromhospitals to hospitals with no charge.

In some cases, the group offered financialsupport worth between 500,000-1 million VND (22-44 USD) to those inserious conditions and without money for transportation.

The case of patient Phan Van Hoa was an example.

Hoa, 45, was suffering from a broken neckvertebrae, quadriplegia and had been treated at Da Nang General Hospitalfor a long time until the doctors said he could be cared for at home.

His family was facing hardship after a longtime of caring for him at the hospital and had run out of money, so they askedfor help from the programme.

The charity group met Hoa and hisfamily and decided to help. They brought him from Da Nang GeneralHospital to his home in Que Son district in the central province of Quang Nam.

His wife, Vo Thi Be Loan, was very touched toreceive the support of the volunteer group.

“The group and their trip have really encouragedme much. They not only helped warm my heart but also lifted part of thefinancial burden from my family’s shoulders during our hard time. We hopethe programme can spread widely with more people to join so they can help manyothers like us to get out of difficult circumstances,” Loan said.

The group's founder and leader Thanh saidhe came up with the idea of running the "0 VND Bus Trip" programmeafter joining many voluntary projects at hospitals.

Thanh, 33, who is also the chairman of a charityclub named "Bep Com Van Tinh"  (Kitchen with Love) in Da Nang’sSon Tra district, said through his charity work at hospitals, he saw the hardshipsand miserable conditions of the patients, some of whom were homeless orunemployed.

“Some young volunteers and I decided to setup the programme to contribute our small resource to help unfortunatepeople. Although our actions were just the very first steps and wefaced challenges, we all put our charity and humanity spirit on top so wewill never stop,” Thanh said.

One of the group members, Le Tu Hoang Tuan fromSon Tra district, said to complete a trip successfully, all the members had toface hardship but they were all happy whenever receiving thanksfrom patients and their relatives.

“All hardship ends and I am more motivated tocontinue since I see the affectionate eyes of the patients after each trip,”said Tuan.

Meanwhile, another member, Trinh Dang Quyen alsofrom Son Tra district, said the 0 VND Bus Trip programme was not just forhelping poor patients, but also helped spread the warmth of love throughoutsociety.

Quyen added that with such goals, theirprogramme had received a lot of support from the community since some donorshad learned about the programme and were ready to pitch in.

When Thanh announced the programme on hispersonal Facebook page, he received support from many friends and thewider social networking community.

In the first post, there were more than 1,600likes, nearly 500 comments and more than 3,800 shares.

Many people expressed appreciation for thismeaningful and practical work and suggested it should be done elsewhere aswell.

A Facebook user named Tran Thuy said itwas a noble gesture and wished the group members health and happiness tocontinue their noble work.

User Hao Phan suggestedspreading information about the group with the member's phone numbers soneedy people could approach.

The programme founder said to make theprogramme serve the right people in need, a board has been set up to beresponsible for organising trips for the patients' families.

“The beneficiaries should be the patients andtheir families who are really poor and can't afford to hire an emergencycar for transportation. They should have a certificate for theircircumstances granted by local authorities,” said the founder./.
VNA

See more

Authorities search for missing victims at the site of a work accident at Dak Mi 1 Hydropower Plant in the Central Highlands province of Kon Tum in December 2024. (Photo: VNA)

Economic losses from workplace accidents increase by 1 billion USD

Data from the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs on workplace accidents in 2024 revealed that last year, there were 8,286 workplace accidents across the country, an increase of 892 cases from 2023, resulting in 8,472 victims, an increase of 919 people.

At the groundbreaking ceremony. (Photo: laodong.vn)

Dak Lak to build nearly 4,300 homes for needy households

On March 2, the provincial Department of Public Security broke ground on the first home for the family of Y Than Ksor in Kmien village, Ea Drong commune, Buon Ho township. This marks the start of the province’s initiative to eliminate makeshift and dilapidated houses as part of a national campaign launched by the Prime Minister on October 1, 2024.

Senior Lieutenant General Hoang Xuan Chien (L), Deputy Minister of National Defense and Japanese Ambassador to Vietnam Ito Naoki visit models for explosive material signal processing at the Vietnam National Mine Action Centre. (Photo: VNA)

Japanese-funded bomb, mine clearance equipment project launched

Colonel Le Quang Hop, Deputy General Director of VNMAC, noted that the project includes the acquisition of four specialised pieces of equipment for mine clearance, as well as training and technology transfer. The initiative will provide hands-on training and technical guidance for VNMAC personnel on the latest demining technologies.

At the event (Photo: vnu.edu.vn)

Vietnamese, Chinese universities cooperate in AI research, development

The event served as an academic forum among researchers, education managers and lecturers from both countries. Discussions delved into how artificial intelligence (AI) can transform higher education, and explored solutions to ensure the sustainable and effective development of higher education systems in the modern era.

Motorcyclists cross the bridge. (Photo: VNA)

Long Bien Bridge set for renovation

The project aims to propose solutions to ensure the bridge’s structural safety and explore future uses once the railway line running across it is decommissioned.

Illustrative image

Vietnam, Cuba enhance medical cooperation in Angola

At the signing ceremony on February 28, Vietnamese Ambassador to Angola Duong Chinh Chuc expressed his belief that the partnership would open new avenues for professional exchange between Vietnamese doctors in Angola and their Cuban counterparts at Meditex.

Border guard examines a fishing vessel in Binh Hai commune, Binh Son district in Quang Ngai province. (Photo: VNA)

Quang Ngai to remove hundreds of unregistered fishing vessels

To date, Quang Ngai has 5,194 registered fishing vessels, with data regularly updated in the National Fisheries Database (VNFishbase). The provincial licensing rate for fishing activities has reached 81.94%, while 99% of local vessels required to install vessel monitoring systems (VMS) have complied.

Representatives from agencies in Hue city at a ground breaking ceremony for a project on eliminating temporary and dilapidated houses. (Photo: VNA)

A total of 351 communes free of temporary, dilapidated houses

From February 21-28, 7,540 temporary and dilapidated houses were renovated or replaced nationwide, bringing the total number of facilities improved under humanitarian policy to 115,481. Of these, 62,737 houses were inaugurated, while construction began on another 52,744.

Minsitry of Public Security on February 28 launches the National Aviation Security Centre. (Photo: VNA)

National Aviation Security Centre launched

The Ministry of Public Security (MPS) held a ceremony in Hanoi on February 28 to take over the responsibility of ensuring aviation security and launch the National Aviation Security Centre.

A new house handed over to a needy family in Tay Ninh province. (Photo: ninhson.tayninh.gov.vn/)

Tay Ninh strives to eliminate temporary houses by Q2

In 2025, the southwestern province plans to rebuild or renovate 567 houses under its temporary housing eradication plan, including 443 new constructions and 124 repairs, with an estimated budget of over 44.8 billion VND (1.75 million USD).