'Scarf-wearing people' from Ho Chi Minh City build houses and provide medical care to people in the northern flood-hit areas

Tuổi trẻ TP.HCM dựng nhà, khám bệnh cho bà con vùng lũ - Ảnh 1. — The gifts of love brought from Ho Chi Minh City were gathered at the Binh Phu Commune Medical Center (Chiem Hoa District, Tuyen Quang Province) to be distributed to people after medical examination and medicine distribution - Photo: DIEU QUI

1,200 gifts (VND 2 million/gift) were delivered directly to households heavily affected by storms and floods in these two provinces.

"For me, a penny is very precious now"

Hearing that a delegation from Ho Chi Minh City was coming to support the flood victims, Ms. Trieu Thi Chieu (living in Binh Phu commune, Chiem Hoa district) woke up early and walked 6km from her home to Binh Phu commune Medical Center to get examined.

Grateful - she used that word to describe her feelings after being examined and carefully advised by the doctor, receiving medicine and gifts of many necessities.

Typhoon Yagi washed away her entire cornfield, which was her family's main source of income. The house also suffered a landslide right next to the corner, leaving her family in a state of fear.

"The corn season is over now so I don't know what to do next," said Ms. Chieu.

Seeing volunteers hurriedly unloading goods and gifts into the Quang Kim Commune Cultural House (Bat Xat District, Lao Cai Province), Ms. Nguyen Thi Cay was in tears.

"The way you give is better than what you give. Seeing you guys travel all the way from the central region to come here makes me very emotional," Ms. Cay confided.

Tuổi trẻ TP.HCM dựng nhà, khám bệnh cho bà con vùng lũ - Ảnh 2. — Ms. Nguyen Thi Cay could not hold back her tears when receiving the gift from the youth of Ho Chi Minh City - Photo: CONG TRIEU

At 70 years old, she has lived in this commune all her life, but the recent flood was terrible and unprecedented for Mrs. Cay. The floodwaters rose quickly, inundating the house, leaving the old couple no time to react.

Many items such as washing machines, refrigerators, motorbikes, etc. were soaked in water for many days and were almost completely damaged even though they were raised high.

"I've been able to survive until now thanks to the packages of instant noodles I was given, which I just opened and ate raw. For me right now, every penny is precious, and I'm even more touched knowing that this is the love sent by my fellow countrymen from the South," said Ms. Cay.

'Những người quàng khăn rằn' từ TP.HCM dựng nhà, khám bệnh cho bà con vùng lũ phía Bắc - Ảnh 3. — Volunteers help people carry harvested rice from the fields to the road to wait for the threshing machine - Photo: DIEU QUI

Do your best, hope you get over it soon.

From early September 20, medical examinations and medicine distribution took place simultaneously in a number of areas of both of the above provinces.

Dr. Dang Quang Toan (Cardiology Department, Cho Ray Hospital) shared the goal of completing 1,000 medical examinations in Tuyen Quang. The whole team is determined to do their best to support the people.

Tuổi trẻ TP.HCM dựng nhà, khám bệnh cho bà con vùng lũ - Ảnh 4. — Doctor Dang Quang Toan (Cho Ray Hospital) examines people - Photo: DIEU QUI

Talking about the reason for registering to volunteer this time, Ms. Kieu Oanh (self-employed in Phu Nhuan district) very naturally said: "Seeing how terrible the storm and flood were, I wanted to help."

She said she couldn't help but shiver when she saw the water marks on the wall of the Quang Kim Commune Health Station (Bat Xat District, Lao Cai Province). After shaking hands with the locals, she said she felt "a little happy" because she didn't waste her time leaving work to go to Lao Cai this time.

"People have suffered too much, and our help is very small. We will try our best, just hoping that people will soon calm down and stabilize their lives," Ms. Oanh confided.

For student Nguyen Thi Truc Lam (22 years old, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education), as soon as she heard that the Ho Chi Minh City Youth Union was recruiting volunteers to help overcome the consequences of storms and floods, Lam thought this was an opportunity to contribute to sharing with her fellow countrymen.

Participating in supporting the distribution of medicine and gifts in Chiem Hoa district, Lam hopes that through the trip, he can maximize his spirit of volunteering for the community.

Tuổi trẻ TP.HCM dựng nhà, khám bệnh cho bà con vùng lũ phía Bắc - Ảnh 6. — Volunteers participate in dismantling and renovating a house for a poor household in Lao Cai province - Photo: CONG TRIEU

2 billion VND from Tuoi Tre readers to help people

This time, the Ho Chi Minh City youth volunteer team focused on providing medical examination and treatment, giving gifts, repairing and building houses, and cleaning in the two provinces of Lao Cai and Tuyen Quang.

The delegation will examine and give medicine to 2,500 people and give each province 1,200 gifts (2 million VND/gift).

In coordination with local forces, the group supported building new houses (100 million VND/house), repairing and re-roofing houses for 80 households...

The total cost of this relief trip is over 5 billion VND . Of which, 2 billion VND comes from contributions from Tuoi Tre readers to support the people of the North affected by storm No. 3 Yagi.

Some photos of the first day of activities (September 20) of the Ho Chi Minh City youth volunteer team supporting flood recovery in Lao Cai and Tuyen Quang: