Warmth of human love during the flood season in Central Vietnam

The whole village stayed up all night to cook banh chung.

Through the media and social networks, seeing people in the Central provinces submerged in floodwaters, with the spirit of "a piece of food when hungry is worth a package when full", "love others as you love yourself", the people of my hamlet, a village on the banks of the Lam River in Thanh Chuong District, Nghe An Province, which has been "bombarded" by floods many times, decided to wrap banh chung to give to people in the flooded areas.

People cook banh chung to send to people in flooded areas. Photo: PV

Immediately after the call of the hamlet chief, the villagers gathered in large numbers at the community house to start making cakes. Sticky rice, green beans, and pork were quickly brought in. Some cut banana leaves, others rolled sticky rice, split bamboo… In no time, the community house grounds became a bustling, jubilant place for making cakes.

Thanh Chuong residents (Nghe An) cook cakes to send to people in the flooded areas of the Central region. (Photo: Huy Thu)

Perhaps since I was a child, this was the first time I saw people from my hometown gathering to wrap banh chung so quickly. In just one afternoon, thousands of banh chung were wrapped. More than thirty large pots borrowed from local people were arranged in a long row in the yard of the cultural house to cook the banh chung.

The work of making the cakes took place in the rainy night. Everyone stayed up all night beside the pots of cakes, stirring the fire and adding water so that the cakes would cook evenly. That was how the people in my hometown prepared gifts for the people in the flooded areas.

Not only my neighborhood, on this occasion, many localities in the district and other districts such as Anh Son, Quy Hop, Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc... also organized wrapping and cooking banh chung like that to show their support to people in the flood-hit areas of the Central region.

Depending on each unit, initiated by the hamlet, commune, department, or organization, banh chung is wrapped at the hamlet cultural house, commune committee, or school. No matter where the cake is wrapped, it attracts a large number of people, students, workers, and civil servants to participate.

Local people voluntarily contributed ingredients, picked banana leaves and dong leaves in the forest, contributed firewood, stayed up all night to cook cakes... The cakes were small, but they contained everyone's love for the people in the flood-affected areas.

The image of pots of banh chung and banh tet cooked on wood stoves, flickering brightly at night in localities, from the mountains to the plains, not only shows the spirit of solidarity and friendship but also lights up the flame of love of Nghe people towards the Central region.

Along with the banh chung cooking movement, the donation activities launched by departments and organizations at all levels have received enthusiastic response from people in all localities in the province. It seems that the spirit of sharing and mutual support of people after the Covid-19 pandemic has been promoted to a higher level.

Depending on their generosity, some people contributed rice, some money, everyone wanted to send a little gift to the people in the flooded areas. People from the coastal village of Quynh Luu sent fried fish, peanuts, and fish sauce, while people from Nam Dan sent water from Cong Kep... A typical example is Mr. Le Van Dong (98 years old) in Nghia Dan district, who used part of his pension and mobilized his children and grandchildren to raise 40 million VND to buy 3 tons of rice and some necessities to support the flood victims.

Each district has raised at least 1-3 billion VND, tons of materials and organized dozens of relief trips to the Central region. It can be said that, along with the banh chung cooking movement, the donation activity towards the flood victims has spread throughout the community as a beautiful spiritual feature of the people of Nghe An.

Rumbling relief convoys

From Vinh city, joining the volunteer army, our relief convoy carrying a large amount of materials including banh chung, rice, instant noodles, clothes... set off for the flooded districts in Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, Quang Tri...

Along Highway 1A, on the way we met many volunteer convoys with license plates from provinces and cities such as Hanoi, Thai Binh, Nam Dinh, Dong Nai, Ho Chi Minh City... On average, each convoy had from 3 to 5 cars, many convoys with many people, carrying large quantities of goods had from 8 to 10 cars, with all kinds of big and small vehicles.

Relief trucks carrying people from the Central region continue on the national highway. (Photo: Huy Thu)

Most of the relief vehicles had red banners hanging in front of them or on both sides of the vehicle, clearly stating the names of the villages, agencies, and volunteer units. Convoys of vehicles flying the national flag with the words “Towards the Central region”, “Supporting the flood-stricken compatriots in the Central region”, “For the beloved Central region”… from the North to the South were all rushing towards the Central region. On national and provincial highways in the flooded districts, relief vehicles lined up in unprecedented long lines.

As planned, our group stopped at Quang Ninh district, one of the heavily flooded districts of Quang Binh province. The destination was Tay Ninh commune, which was submerged in immense floodwaters and could only be reached by boat.

Due to careful advance planning, the group was transported by local boats when they arrived. We quickly loaded relief goods such as banh chung, rice, instant noodles, etc. onto the boats. Motorboats and rowboats loaded with relief goods swayed on the floodwaters. In the middle of the flood, the villages were undulating, the level 4 houses were submerged up to the roof, many houses had to have their tiles removed to make a way in and out.

During the flood days, it seems that in front of the People's Committee headquarters of flooded localities, there are many cars and trucks of all kinds, carrying charity goods, lined up waiting for their turn to give gifts. In general, the local authorities have done a good job of receiving, providing relief, and giving gifts from all volunteer groups heading to Nghe An to help people in flooded areas. Photo: Huy Thu

From the parking lot, it took about 40 minutes by boat to reach the gift-giving location. We rowed to each house to deliver gifts to the people. Boxes of noodles, banh chung, etc. were passed around in the floodwaters, making everyone feel warm.

The image of people wading chest-deep in floodwater to get gifts moved us deeply.

Concerns with people in flood-affected areas

From Tay Ninh commune (Quang Ninh), we quickly marched to Phu Hoa commune (Quang Trach) and Cam Thuy commune (Le Thuy). In some localities, the floodwaters had receded, leaving behind a desolate, desolate landscape. The houses had sunk, leaving traces of red water; the drying yards were full of rotten rice; the barns were empty because livestock and poultry had been swept away; the schools, classrooms, desks, chairs, books were all covered in mud...

Travel by boat to give gifts to flood victims in Quang Binh.

From Quang Binh, we went up National Highway 1A to Cam Due Commune, Cam Xuyen District, the most flooded area in Ha Tinh Province, by boat and tractor to provide relief. In these localities, we have given thousands of gifts of food, necessities, and necessities to the people, contributing to sharing the immediate difficulties with the people.

Mr. Hoang The Bao (24 years old), from Thanh Chuong, a young man who has had 5 trips to the flooded areas of the Central region, working hard for many days in the flood zone of Ha Tinh and Quang Binh, shared: "I love the Central region so much, listening to the call of our hearts, we have organized many donations and traveled to the flooded areas of Ha Tinh, Quang Binh, and Quang Tri to provide timely supplies to the people.

Only by going there directly can we understand the suffering of people in flooded areas. Giving gifts to people makes me feel choked up. I feel so sorry, really sorry, but I can’t put it into words, I just hope to help people with what we can.”

Heavy rains and widespread flooding that lasted for many days have disrupted the lives of people in the flooded areas, compounding difficulties. The shortage of food, drinking water, medicine, etc. has been temporarily resolved, but the long-term livelihoods of people and the education of their children will still be full of difficulties.

Mr. Nguyen Dinh Thanh, who participated in a volunteer group in Quang Binh of Vietnamese students studying in China, said: "When giving gifts to people in flooded areas, the image that impressed us the most during the painful days of rain and floods was the relief convoys from all over the country rushing to the Central region as if carrying the spirit of the whole nation."

However, the flood has not passed, the water has not receded, the storm will come again, making people unable to cope with the natural disaster. In many rural areas, the flood has taken away all their property, now the storm is on top of the storm, they probably have nothing left to lose.

Therefore, after this charity event, we will launch more fundraising, especially mobilizing human resources to help people rebuild their houses. First, we must repair their housing, and then the economy will recover.

Only by going there in person can one understand the suffering of people in flooded areas. Giving gifts to people makes one feel choked up...

During the natural disasters and floods, once again, the Central provinces have received the support and care of the people of the whole country. From the major policies of the Party and the State to the charitable acts of the people, all are imbued with human love. The tradition of mutual love of the nation is being lit up more than ever, contributing to encouraging and supporting the "central region" to overcome difficulties and calamities.