"Harvesting" kindness?

(Baonghean) - Honestly, when reading the article "Donate like that, should?", by a group of reporters published in Nghe An newspaper (released on April 13, 2015), reflecting on the volunteer activities of disabled students, who are "spreading" to schools in mountainous areas to perform art performances to raise money, especially through the images in the press, surely few people can hold back their emotions before the circumstances and fates of these children. Yes, these are disabled children, nature has taken away their luck, but in return nature has molded them into people full of optimism and determination to rise up.

It is known that the "actors" of the exchange performance, "except for the female group leader and the driver who are able-bodied, the rest are disabled people". How heartbreaking and touching! So, this is a performance group of disabled students. The children were led by "able-bodied" people to exchange with students at schools in mountainous areas. A wonderful extracurricular activity, the children are truly examples of perseverance that are worth praising, worth promoting, worth "exchanging". However, the story would not have anything to say if it was outside the word "donation". It is known as "exchange" but it is accompanied by a charity box. For a long time, the mobilization of support for the disabled has obviously been normal and should be encouraged, but the concern lies in the fact that the participants of the program are students in mountainous areas, especially difficult areas, and the implementation of the "able-bodied" people in this series of activities is somehow not really convincing.

According to the Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Ky Son district, it is because "We only thought that they came to exchange culture and arts, taking students as an extracurricular activity, but did not know that there was a situation of donating and supporting money. Ky Son is still very poor, the families of students and teachers are lacking in all aspects...". Mr. Tran Xuan Bi, Chairman of the Provincial Association for Promotion of Education, said: "We only have information now", he also did not hesitate to express his opinion: "Going to Ky Son to exchange arts is fine, but going there to call for help is really unreasonable...".

So it is clear! Today, writing these lines, I do not want and cannot speak harshly about charity. However, the sharing of love must come from love. It is a heart, it flows quietly from the very deep source of compassion. Love is something that cannot be materialized, cannot be bought, cannot be exchanged, but unfortunately sometimes it can be exploited. I believe that those who are taking the children to sing have prepared certain arguments, most likely they have a basis in terms of legal procedures or service criteria to legitimize their activities. We also cannot deny that the disabled children singing and dancing on stage will have the effect of encouraging and adding to the striving spirit of students in remote areas. For teenagers and children, knowing how to save a little bit of gift money to do charity work and share with the disabled is obviously an activity that guides them towards humanity, it has educational value of love between people. It is also moral education.

It is a pity that such a meaningful and noble activity has recently made people feel suspicious. The Provincial Association for the Promotion of Education “did not know”, the district committee “thought” that it was just an exchange so they “created conditions”. Could it be that someone who was able-bodied “sneaked” to take disabled children to “go to the grassroots”? Sorry, saying this is bitter, I also do not intend to generalize but in reality there have been cases of using disabled people as a tool to make money. Although this situation is not common, the level, form, target, and location may be different, but it is not absent.

Volunteer activities must first and foremost be legitimate, transparent and decent. If one of these three things is missing, it will be difficult to gain the most important thing: trust. I would like to say that none of us talk much about money. Indeed, for those with disabilities, any compensation in terms of material value is a drop in the ocean. However, I am haunted by a television report showing students in the mountainous areas of my province having to build a hut next to their school to stay and study. Meals are white rice mixed with a few stalks of wild vegetable soup, a thin shirt in the cold... It can be said that, looking at "financial capacity", I think that these ethnic minority students are probably no better than those disabled children. If the students in our mountainous areas donate to share with their disabled friends, it would be "a few leaves help each other". It is true that we are mobilizing donations, but has the delegation reached the point where they have to go to the “dead end” places where children go through the forest to find letters to place charity boxes? I think that if we do not understand and do not proactively share the situation of the students in the mountainous areas, it is really difficult to have full compassion for the disabled children. If we had the opportunity, it would be meaningful to invite the delegation to visit and “exchange” a lunch at the boarding house of the children in the remote areas.

Organizing forms of mobilization to contribute and share with the disabled is a noble act that should be honored. However, more than anything, charity cannot come from anywhere other than the heart, it must certainly be non-profit. No one has the right to make disabled children suffer, and no one should force children who have nothing to share to share. Compassion is immense, knowing that, but perhaps do not "collect" it!

Nguyen Khac An