Practical care to help the poor rise up

Under the “Whole country joining hands for the poor - Leaving no one behind” campaign and this year’s Peak Month “For the Poor”, provincial Fatherland Front Committees at all levels have implemented a lot of practical activities. These efforts have contributed to supporting those in need, helping them overcome challenges, improving their quality of life and moving toward the goal of sustainable poverty reduction.

Warmth in “great unity” houses

Nguyen Van Nien, a resident in Dinh An commune’s Dinh Thoi hamlet in Dau Tieng district, lives in an extremely difficult circumstance. He and his wife are elderly and have three children, yet they lack stable employment, with the family mostly depending on temporary construction labor. For many years, they lived in a makeshift, dilapidated house that could collapse at any moment, especially during the stormy season, yet they lacked conditions to repair it.

Nguyen Van Nien, from Dinh An commune’s Dinh Thoi hamlet in Dau Tieng District (second left) at the ceremony handing over a “great unity” house to him

In the face of Mr. Nien’s difficult circumstance, Dau Tieng district’s Fatherland Front Committee mobilized support from Most Venerable Thich Tac An, Head of Dau Tieng district’s Buddhist Sangha’s Executive Board and Head of Thai Son Pagoda to build a new house for the family. The new house of 51 square meters, was completed with a total cost of VND 100 million. On October 24, the local authorities handed over the new house to Mr. Nien’s family, bringing indescribable joy. At the house giving ceremony, Mr. Nien said: "This is a happiness beyond words".

In response to this year’s Peak Month “For the Poor”, many localities have launched practical activities to assist those facing hardship, with focus on funding home repair. Huynh Thi Hong Tham, Chairwoman of Tuong Binh Hiep ward’s Fatherland Front Committee shared that along with fundraising efforts to create resources for aiding those in need, the locality also received financial support from the “For the Poor” Fund of Thu Dau Mot city. This fund was used to build a “great unity” house for Nguyen Thi Ngoc Bich’s family in quarter 4. It is known that her family has struggled with housing challenges for many years. She has a heart condition and her husband has suffered from a stroke, leaving both to be unable to do heavy work. Their monthly income is not enough to live on. The level 4 house was built a long time ago and is seriously degraded, but her family cannot afford to rebuild it.

Previously, Tuong Binh Hiep ward’s Fatherland Front Committee also started the construction of two “great unity” houses for two households in the ward. Of these, one house received financial support from the province while the other was funded through contributions mobilized by Thu Dau Mot city.

Provincial Fatherland Front Committees at all levels paid more attention to the movement of building “great unity” houses for the poor over the past time. Thanks to this movement, hundreds of these houses have been built, providing stable shelter for many low-income individuals and families, enabling them to feel secure and focus on work in order to gradually improve their lives.

Leaving no one behind

To implement activities for the Peak Month “For the Poor” effectively and in line with the specific conditions of each locality in the province, provincial Fatherland Front Committees at all levels have issued early guidelines for this month’s activities. Building on the strength of the great national unity bloc and the tradition of compassion and sentimental attachment, provincial Fatherland Front Committee has called for organizations, businesses, units, and individuals to contribute to the “For the Poor” Fund to continue caring for those with extremely difficult circumstances.

Tran Thi Kim Lan, Vice Chairwoman of provincial Fatherland Front Committee and Deputy Head of provincial Mobilization Board of "For the Poor" Fund shared that this campaign is being implemented from communal to provincial levels in order to gather resources for the fund. With the collected resources, the province will carry out support activities for the poor such as building “great unity” houses, providing financial assistance for medical treatment for those with severe illnesses, offering scholarships to disadvantaged students... All the recipients must ensure compliance with regulations on management and use of the "For the Poor" Fund.

Along with efforts to raise money for the “For the Poor” fund, Binh Duong has focused on mobilized resources in response to the nationwide campaign to eliminate makeshift, dilapidated houses launched by the Government. Accordingly, Binh Duong was ordered to allocate financial support by the Prime Minister for Quang Ngai province to build 2,081 houses. The fund is implemented under the Government’s Resolution No. 119/NQ-CP dated August 7, 2024, extracted from the reduction and saving of 5% of regular expenditure in 2024 of the local State budget and transferred from the source  by 2025 to support other localities in implementing support to remove temporary and dilapidated houses for poor and near-poor households.

In the framework of this program, Binh Duong will strive to complete 419 houses for residents in the province. The goal is to eradicate makeshift and substandard houses by 2025. Therefore, provincial Fatherland Front Committee earnestly seeks the support and contributions of local organizations and citizens to the “For the Poor” Fund to successfully meet the objectives set by the Prime Minister.

Tran Thi Kim Lan, Vice Chairwoman of provincial Fatherland Front Committee and Deputy Head of provincial Mobilization Board of "For the Poor" Fund shared that with the "For the Poor" Fund and social welfare programs, provincial Fatherland Front Committees at all levels supported the construction and repair of 101 “great unity” houses in the first ten months of 2024, totaling VND 6.124 billion. Additionally, provincial Fatherland Front Committees at all levels mobilized local residents to donate land, crops and contribute to building roads and public works, amounting to nearly VND 23.8 billion. They also distributed approximately 130,107 gifts to the poor, policy beneficiary families and awarded scholarships to disadvantaged students, with a total value of over VND 67.8 billion.

Tran Thi Kim Lan, Vice Chairwoman of provincial Fatherland Front Committee and Deputy Head of provincial Mobilization Board of "For the Poor" Fund presents aid to disadvantaged residents in Thu Dau Mot city during the Peak Month "For the Poor”

Reported by Cam Lý-Thanh Tuyen-Translated by Kim Tin