FEEDBACKS & OPINIONS

Relief Mission at Mat-Kla Village in Siem Reap Province

Mission: This is the continuation of the relief effort in July 2020. In this second distribution, food supplies were provided to 150 families of stateless Vietnamese, along with many families of poor Khmer villagers residing in the nearby areas.

Time of the mission: The relief mission was organized at the end of August 2020.

Funding and costs: Monetary contributions were received from the generosity of benefactors living in the USA, Australia, and Canada. The total cost of the two relief efforts in July and in August was $22,253 (USD), categorized as follow:

• Food supplies (each family received 30 kgs of rice, 1 kg of sugar, one cardboard box of ramen noodles, one bottle of cooking oil): Total costs were $21,946 (USD)

• School supplies (uniforms, notebooks, pens, snacks): $1,307 (USD) for school children at Pursat, Kampong Chhnang, Prey Veng, and Siem Reap.

Benefactors:

• Eyes of Compassion Relief Org. (Toronto, Canada); Charity Group of VA Affection (Va, USA); Friends of Australia (AUS); the MIRO association.

• A sincere thank dedicated to Mr. Butmao Sourn, Mr. Dork Ra, Kimsroy, Ngo Ly for their help in the transportation and distribution of food supplies.

In their effort to reduce costs, the relief workers stored rice in various and colorful bags that they recuperated from different places. Nobody paid any mind to that fact, as long as the bag held a total weight of 30 kgs of rice, everybody was absolutely elated.

Distribution of essential sustenance also extended to several native Khmer families that suffered the same extreme poverty as their Vietnamese neighbors due to various situations. This gesture has helped strengthen the understanding, empathy, and kindness between the two people sharing the same water of Bien Ho, in Cambodia.

The most heartwarming scene that left a strong impact on the relief workers was the picture of many poor villagers sharing a motorized boat, all came together to receive their shares of food. The boat carried old and not so old folks, children not even ten-years-old, any available persons in the villages. They received their parts and also took care of the shares of any absentees. This alone spoke volume of the trust and the solidarity amongst villagers that shared the same hopeless destiny.

The villagers enjoyed the occasion in their own sweet way. The women and children had a chance to put on their best clothes, to go out for a social event, and to meet people. They reveled in simple joy, simple hope… so simple that it makes your heartaches and makes you want to do more, much more for them.

 

The gifts provided to the stateless Vietnamese and the native Khmer were made possible thanks to a multitude of benefactors and sponsors from all over the world. The ViDan Foundation is utterly thankful to have received contributions from so many people. The Foundation always saves up until the fund is enough to start a new relief mission. Even though they know that the villagers desperately need these food distributions, the ViDan Foundation associates could only carry them out once the fund reaches a suitable amount, or a generous sponsor steps up to finance the endeavor. It is so very hard to not have the answer to the hesitant question of a villager in a hushed voice …” when could we have this again, please?”

The challenges facing these stateless Vietnamese are immeasurable, but the education of the Vietnamese children is the most urgent one. The ViDan Foundation continues its mission in providing floating schools, organizing classrooms, searching for teachers to teach Vietnamese and Khmer, fundraising to maintain the schools, providing books, pens, pencils… for hundreds of children of all ages.

The ViDan Foundation humbly gives thanks to all the kindhearted people abroad, in Viet Nam, and in Cambodia for all of their supports. The ViDan associates sincerely hope that the valuable contributions will continue to pour in so that more help could be brought to the hopeless and stateless Vietnamese of Bien Ho.

www.vidan.us

by Que-Chi Truong-Bolduc

• Trang sau