The new house handed over to Vuong Van Dao family on December 21.
The 100-square-metre, three-bedroom house was built with an investment of VND 340 million (USD13,600), of which Dantri's readers donated VND66.50 million, the Nghe An Bar Association VND70 million,and local communities over VND 200 million.
Dao, 43, has a mild mental disease, and his wife, Bui Thi Thanh, 39, also suffers various health problems due to Agent Orange. They have two sons, and the four-member family used to live in a small house that had severely deteriorated.
Vuong Van Dao, his wife Bui Thi Thanh, and their two small sons (first row) at the ceremony.
Speaking at the house hand-over ceremony on December 21, Thanh said that the house was a dream come true for them.
"I just want to send my biggest thanks to all the kind donors for building this house for our family," Thanh said. "We used to dream of a house like this for ages but couldn't afford it. We now have a safe place to live without worrying about the rain and storms."
The old house of Dao and Thanh.
Attending the event, Doan Ba Canh, chairman of the Lang Thanh Fatherland Front Association, said that in addition to the VND340 million donations, many local people and firms joined to help build the house.
"We had all tried to complete the house in time for Dao's family to move in before the Tet Lunar New Year 2025," Canh said. "We hope that they can now have a better life."
The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has asked organisations and individuals to build 100 new houses for disadvantaged families nationwide between 2024 and 2025.
As a ministry publication, Dantri Newspaper has begun a campaign to build the houses with financial support from the newspaper's readers and donors. Each family will receive at least VND50 million.
As of December 23, 2024, Dantri had constructed 76 houses, almost 50 of which had been completed.