Meeting Nguyen Phung Uy on the day when Con market was in session, there were quite a lot of customers coming to repair their motorbikes. Sweat soaked his back, his hands were covered in grease, Uy was spinning like a pinwheel in the small repair shop next to the market, proficient with motorbike repair tools. The phone rang, he put the phone to his ear, answered the phone while working. Putting down the wrench in his hand, he quickly wiped the remaining lubricant on his hand on a nearby rag, Uy signaled to apologize to the customer: "There is someone in Vo Liet with a severe stomachache, he has to go to the doctor urgently, his family is poor and doesn't have money to rent a motorbike to go. I contacted my teammates but everyone is busy this morning. Now, I have to go urgently, the motorbike hasn't been fixed yet, whoever needs it can take my motorbike, when I come back I will fix it and deliver it later. I hope everyone will understand." With that, Uy got on the motorbike and drove away... All the customers were happy to sympathize with Uy, it seemed that the people here were too familiar with Uy's sudden busyness.
In 2018, after saving a small amount of money, Uy bought an old Matiz to transport passengers for service, earning extra income to cover living expenses. While transporting passengers, Uy encountered many cases of people in difficult circumstances, often sick, ill, and "desperate" to go to the doctor or hospital for treatment. That was the case of an old woman living alone, living on subsidies and bunches of vegetables and tea leaves collected from the garden to sell at the market. She had had a headache for a long time, went to the district hospital, they recommended going to a higher level for examination, but due to her difficult circumstances, she kept delaying. The pain became more continuous, longer, and more intense, forcing her to go to the doctor. When she received the fare, holding 100,000 VND collected from small coins of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 VND stacked in a pile, Uy felt guilty. Then Uy decided to waive all the fare for her, and even used his own money to buy bread and milk for her.
After that day, whoever was in difficulty or poor and had to go to the hospital, Uy would take them without charging. Then gradually, word of mouth spread, Uy's charitable work became more known to poor patients in the district, so Uy's "free" trips also increased according to the needs of the people. Since then, eating at irregular times, not getting enough sleep, or eating instant noodles on the road, or a quick sandwich became a normal thing for Uy. "There were many times when my wife had just served the meal, picked up the bowl to eat, and someone called, asking for help, so I dropped the bowl and ran. In the middle of the night, while I was sleeping, the phone rang, I heard a cry for help, I threw the blanket, quickly put on my clothes and ran away... One day, after taking the patient to the hospital, completing the admission procedures and getting in the car to go home, I realized I had mistakenly put on two different colored slippers, my stomach growled, and I remembered that I hadn't had dinner yet," Uy shared.
Later, Uy's charity activities had a great influence, creating a positive effect in society. Many people voluntarily contributed to Uy for a few dozen or a hundred dollars so that Uy could add to the cost of gas to transport poor patients; many people with cars also shouldered the burden with Uy when the number of poor people going to the hospital for examination and treatment increased, beyond Uy's ability to handle.
In 2022, Uy and Nguyen Tu Hoang, a son of Thanh Chuong, who does business in Vinh, called for the establishment of a zero-dong car team in Thanh Chuong district. Seven people with private cars in the district participated, including: Nguyen Phung Uy (Thanh Duong, team leader), Tran Van Cuong (Vo Liet commune), Nguyen Dinh Manh (Hanh Lam commune), Tran Thi Ngoc Dieu (Dung town), Hong Minh (Thanh My), Nguyen Huu At (Thanh Dong) and Duong Thuong (Thanh Linh commune). Most of them are manual laborers, working as taxi or service car drivers, their income depends on the trips, and their lives are still difficult.
But they all have one thing in common: the spirit of mutual love and support, ready to share according to the motto "the poor help the poor". For example, in the case of Mr. Nguyen Phung Uy, the captain of the 0-dong car team, his wife teaches on contract at a kindergarten dozens of kilometers away from home, with a monthly salary of less than 4 million VND; his eldest son is constantly sick, his parents are old and weak, and he is taking care of his nearly 100-year-old grandmother, all expenses depend on car repair shops and service trips. "My economic situation, compared to others, is much lower, if not difficult. So when I did charity work, at first I could not avoid criticism, doubts and even contempt", Mr. Uy recounted.
Not only Uy but also the brothers in the team have to endure criticism. Those who know the situation of the brothers in the team think that "a snail cannot even carry its own shell, yet it carries a stake for moss"; many people are skeptical about the activities of the team members, "that they must receive "salaries" from certain organizations to work, but where would the money come from to do charity?", there are also people who think that the charity activities of the 0-dong team are just "for show", "using name and reputation" to polish their name...
Ignoring the bad words, slander and ridicule, Nguyen Phung Uy and other members of the team still quietly do charity work, transport poor patients for free, call on benefactors to help unfortunate lives and difficult circumstances in the area. “Instead of explaining, take action. I believe that everyone will understand and share with the team. To do charity work, you don’t need to wait to be rich or have enough, you just need to have a heart. And to do charity work, you don’t care about reputation, about gains and losses, you just hope to help people, help life and feel at ease, that’s enough,” Uy said.
Thanh Chuong's area is large, the distance between this commune and other communes is quite far and it is also a locality with many difficult and miserable lives. On days when the weather is harsh, many elderly people, children - those with weak resistance are hospitalized, the whole team works at full capacity but still cannot meet the needs of the people. "Currently, the team only has 4 members left, 3 people have asked to leave the team because they are busy with work, because they are still struggling to make a living. 4 people are in charge of 4 clusters but still cannot manage everything, there are calls for help from people but we have to sympathize because it is overloaded. There was a day when one person ran 4 trips from Vinh to Thanh Chuong and vice versa and was exhausted, in addition, economic conditions are also limited so they cannot afford it. Just counting the cost of gasoline alone, it costs about 200,000 VND/trip from Vinh to Thanh Chuong", Phung Uy worried.
The most worrying thing is using personal vehicles, mostly 4-seater, manual transmission, small and narrow cabins, transporting mildly ill patients is easy, transporting severe cases, emergency cases is really difficult. The only way the team members can overcome this is to remove all the back seats, insert a folding bed that is carefully tied together, and add a mattress for the patient to lie on to reduce pain. However, many problems also arise: the bed is not fixed, so the road is bumpy, the patient bounces around, making his whole body sore; it is not a specialized vehicle, so in an emergency situation, they only dare to go within the allowed speed limit. And because personal vehicles are not equipped with oxygen tanks and other medical equipment, it is very limited in transporting patients to the emergency room.
Working with the zero-dong buses, Mr. Nguyen Phung Uy and the other members of the team cannot remember how many patients they have taken to the hospital for examination and treatment. The happiest thing for them is to take the sick patients and pick them up when they are healthy. Now, when more and more people are looking for the zero-dong bus team, what Mr. Uy and the other members of the team want is to have a specialized ambulance to serve the people better, to help more people, to help the poor reduce the disadvantages they have to bear...
