A man of compassion

(Baonghean) -Upon hearing that Mr. Le Trung Thuc, Director of the Do Luong Center for Vocational Training and Humanitarian Employment (TTSXDN>VL Nhân nhân Đô Lương) is an official delegate to attend the upcoming provincial Patriotic Emulation Congress, we went to the Center to meet him.

Mr. Thuc is taking care of a newly adopted disabled newborn baby.

He still has an open and sincere personality, but he looks less fat these days. He said he has been following a vegetarian diet for over a year, doing charity work, and finding peace of mind according to Buddhist philosophy.

Leaving his hometown (Viet Tri city, Phu Tho in 1993), he went to the scorching Central region to extend his loving arms to support the unfortunate lives. Starting with a voluntary tailoring class for 20 disabled children in Do Luong. He thought he was only teaching a profession voluntarily, but he did not know when the children had touched him and tightened their compassion, making it impossible for him to stop. In the position of a teacher who passed on his profession, he "played the role" of a father and then voluntarily worked with all his capacity and intelligence, from making tofu, then collecting scrap metal to sell to traders to get rice to feed his children. Then, with the products the children made, Mr. Thuc introduced them, found customers, and then introduced them to jobs. Feeling the noble heart of Mr. Thuc, in 2000, according to his proposal, Do Luong district allocated nearly 3 hectares of land from the old ceramic factory (in Luu Son commune) for Mr. Thuc to build a humanitarian facility and from here, Do Luong Humanitarian Production Center was born.

Abandoned and orphaned children are being raised at the Center.

It has been exactly 10 years, from a desolate and ruined land, Mr. Thuc has built a vocational training production center and a humanitarian job introduction center with a larger scale, more beautiful and cozy than any other center. The Center's achievements in vocational training in 10 years are also admirable: 550 students have been trained in industrial sewing, civil sewing, 200 students in civil carpentry - industrial carpentry, 150 students have learned mushroom growing techniques, 120 students have learned civil electricity, 120 students have learned information technology... 500 students have been introduced to jobs through training to work in industrial parks, more than 50 people have been exported to Malaysia, Taiwan, India...

In particular, the Center has welcomed and cared for nearly 60 orphaned newborns. For nearly 10 years, Mr. Thuc has not slept well. Every night, when the children cry for their mother's milk, he rushes to take care of them and feed them. During the monsoons, the children get pneumonia, then diarrhea. Mr. Thuc becomes emaciated and shriveled after "staying up with the children". He is happy when the children play well, every night they gather around him and call him "Dad Thuc". Now, he has another baby named Linh Tam, whom he adopted and who was abandoned at Vinh City Hospital more than 3 years ago. Although he has a small child, it seems that Mr. Thuc still does not feel at ease. After much questioning, he finally confided: he is planning to build a social house in Quynh Lien (Quynh Luu) for orphans in the lowlands and build a retirement home, raise orphans and provide vocational training in Anh Son district. All of this is raised from charitable contributions and has been supported by all levels.

Mr. Thuc guides each movement for students in the Center's sewing class.
Little Linh Tam (right corner) did not leave her father Thuc for even half a step.

So, 47 years old, unmarried, with no assets of his own, for Le Trung Thuc, his asset is his kind and tolerant heart that protects the unfortunate. His joy is seeing the innocent smiles of the children and feeling warm every time he hears them call out "Dad Thuc!".

Huu Nghia - Tran Hai