This will be an article without many numbers from official studies on the nature of relief, social work, the sustainability of social relief, and the dignity of the people being bailed out.
Because I will talk about my feelings when looking at open arms, pleading eyes, begging gestures and the pleading attitude of many people in Central Vietnam, flooded areas, as shown through the Live stream video that singer Thuy Tien’s group is directly coming to distribute donations.
I will get criticized for this article.
-Are hungry people still demanding to save their dignity? Brain loss.
-The Central people are just that simple, shouldn’t they have to wear nice clothes to receive relief money?
– Houses and properties for a lifetime were gone, so they look pitty. Have the author donated a few thousands or just writting about them?
– People should help Mrs. Thuy Tien doing charity but not stay at home and make comments about other people’s works.
This kind of reaction would be that of the vast majority of Vietnamese readers.
…
On the videos of singer Thuy Tien, yesterday there was a commotion. People were given money by ticket, but still many people squeezed the goods, dragged other people, presented suffering. She also easily gave more money to some who look pitifully. Before that, an old man in Ha Tinh had a loan of VND200 million from the bank for his farming which was swept away by the flood. This guy asked for more money apart from VND10 million Thuy Tien gives for each household. After hearing the presentation of the old man and asking a few questions to the local people, she turned around and immediately gave him VND200 million.
“Thuy Tien is very good. She gives more money to old people,” fans of Thuy Tien started exploding comments.
A few warnings, concerned about the emotion in this action drowned in the ocean of praising “Sister Thuy Tien is truly a fairy descending to help the people of Central Vietnam” “You are the living Buddha, sister.” The generosity of netizens quickly spread to her husband-former famous footballer Cong Vinh “The biggest goal in the life of Cong Vinh is Thuy Tien.”
And countless cmts burst out: “Sister, please stop by my house, my neighbor, it was hurt so much, we have nothing to eat and about to starve, during the past 12 days any relief team has came, etc.”
And also very quickly, there were comforting cmts: “Hey friends, wait and Tien will come.”
Then also began to have the cmts: “My family here pays all the local collections, but the commune does not give out vouchers, it is really not fair.”
In fact, right after that, in some places where Thuy Tien distributed money, people complain that the donations were not the same for every household.
Social activists worried about this situation.
Pham Truong Son, director of NPO programs at LIN Center (a non-governmental organization) wrote a status that is agreed by many colleagues.
“Some consideration when giving charity gifts”
Charity is a humanitarian work that requires kindness and tolerance, which will certainly do many post-disaster groups. The quantity or quality of the gift is just a small part and the giver’s heart is the most important part. So should avoid:
1. Gather a large number of people at the local squares and ask them to line up to receive the donations. This is completely incorrect because it shows no communication.
What to do: When gathering many people, it is necessary to organize a meeting like a local gathering like a shopping fair, if there is a service arts and assign many stalls for people to receive many kinds of gifts. If you are careful, find out what people need and prepare appropriate gifts.
2. When going to each house, it is not advisable to do it quickly to go to another house.
Need to do: spend 5-10 minutes in the house and talk and ask about relatives. Please ask for permission for taking pictures or videos and politely give a little heart, emphasizing that this gift of many people asked us to hand over and wish the health of the people.
3. It is necessary to remove the high and low ATTITUDE or condescending to consider yourself a saint to give charity gifts. Such things happen very often in charitable affairs.
What to do: Charity uses more reason and tolerance, if giving children, the elderly need to bend over so that they are equal to them and raise their hands to give their gifts, which is also the heart of many donors want.
They are small things but their implementation is very difficult, but once you have done so, it will make the receiver and the giver both feel warm.”
We used to go to quite a few houses where old people selling lottery tickets live. At first glance, everyone is pitiful to the heart. What they also need, everything is missing. But going back and forth for a long time, plus learning more in those around us, we break the truth. The dirty, broken house was once offered to be cleaned by a kind person, but the elderly people disagreed. They don’t want to receive used clothes nor wheelchairs. Even the local government has offered to buy the house they are living in and then assign to them to manage, they disagree. Because when they wear clothes that look miserable, live in a dark house, put on crutches, or drag on hands or a chair, they can sell the most lottery tickets, or get the most from charitable groups. That is the longest and greatest source of benefits for them.
I used to give presents on Christmas Eve to young people in the church. Before giving gifts, we are well taught: Must find homeless people and real sidewalk wanderers. When giving, must keep the body at the same height with them (for example, if they stand, we stand, if they are sitting or lying down, we must sit completely down), say hello, introduce yourself and give gifts with both hands. After giving the gifts, we have to send a sincere greeting.
It is difficult to do like that. We went to give gifts while the stream of youths of the same age dressed up in splendid clothes. When reaching for a homeless person, sitting down with them is faced with dozens or hundreds of curious eyes from the stream of people watching. I am also a young man like them only, I can’t help but be a little shy, shy.
But after meeting three or four people, I understand why the monks said so carefully. For just sitting down on par with the ragged homeless, looking them in the eye, and finally being able to say a sincere greeting from the bottom of our hearts, we gained a layer of meaning of the saying in the sutras of all the faiths “We are all brothers and sisters.”
Yesterday, singer Phuong Thanh had a status storm that caused public opinion.
She wrote: “This morning Chanh went to give charity in an isolated village in the mountains. Many people on the shore, only slightly affected, not in the flood zone, also waited for getting donations. Not being flooded very much also asked for money. Unintentionally, human greed also began to arise. And they want to get big donations.
Donations will cause chaos because everyone wants to get money, not stuffs as they threw away discarded necessities (the hearts of so many buyers stay up and down hard). Those who are in need do not have, those who do not need it will discard.
Journalist Nguyen The Thinh (Thanh Nien newspaper) also wrote on Facebook:
“We distributed gifts from house to house, according to a previous survey, VND500,000 each. This norm is required by the sponsor.
After handing over to people, you have to get receipts with full name, address, ID number, phone number of each receiver.
While receiving, local people ran away and shout: Thuy Tien, Thuy Tien!
We waited long long time and they came back with happy smiles, informing that they just received VND3 million from Thuy Tien.
What should you think?
***
In a 2015 study by the Institute for Economic, Social and Environmental Studies in Vietnam entitled “People’s perceptions of philanthropy,” 75% of respondents said one of their motivations for doing charity is to accumulate merit, to create blessings for themselves and their children. This motivation makes charity donors no need to know about the recipient’s circumstances or future. And there will be a scramble for charity: “travel charity,” “public charity,” “charity advertising“, “charity career” … just make the recipients feel bad. People in difficult circumstances are unconsciously turned into beggars.
Bad luck can happen to any of us at any time. But the deeper the feeling of physical loss (though unconsciously) the person being helped feels, the more sincere and respectful the giver should be to avoid cutting that mental wound.
Giving a fish or a fishing rod is precious, but the most precious and sustainable is arousing confidence in themselves of the people in need. Only then they can vigorously practice the mindset “after the rain, it will shine again.”
People in the Central region have a very accurate proverb about charity: “In fruitful season hard-working people earn more but during a disaster, lazy people may get more.”
Therefore, when the emergency situation is gone, the relief has to be done by professionals, in depth. Otherwise it completely becomes charitable. But the future of charity is just an increase in shabby houses, backcuffs, miserable faces, tragic circumstances.
And the tragic degradation of social consciousness.
Thoibao.de (Translated)
