A poor young man from Quang Nam Province has decided to delay his university studies to set up a fund in support of poor children.
Born to a poor family, Nguyen Minh Vuong, 23, has to work as a hired labourer to nurture his dream of studying at university.
After taking the university entrance exam, Vuong cycled 20 kilometres from his hometown in Phu Ninh District to Danang City in order to earn money by doing odd jobs.
He dared not spend any money on buying food for himself, but cycled home for dinner at 5pm, then returning the city to work for a café at 6:30pm, returning home late each evening.
News that he had passed his university entrance exams was bitter-sweet, as the VND4 million (USD188.28) tuition fee was more than what his family had saved for his education.
“I had a wrestle with my conscience and really think about whether I should go ahead or not. My parents are struggling to support my older brother who is studying at college, as well as my younger brother who was studying in the 8th grade,” Vuong said.
Finally he decided to work and earn money to support his brothers’ studies.
"Even though the decision was hard, I was extremely happy when my younger brother was accepted into university last year," he said.
During his time working in Danang, Vuong met with many other disadvantaged children who had to earn money by collecting recycle materials and selling lottery tickets. Because of his own situation, he felt sympathetic with them.
Nguyen Minh Vuong helping children in Quang Nam Province
In 2011 Nguyen Minh Vuong decided to gather ten friends together to start the Association of Phu Ninh Fellow-Countrymen to conduct charity operations in support of disadvantaged children.
Their first act was to grant 10 gifts to orphan children in Phu Ninh District. In order to get funding for the programme, all the association’s members had to work hard to collect recyclable materials for sales and earn a combined VND1.1 million. Each of them also contributed an additional VND50,000 of their own modest savings.
To date, the association has gained support and expanded operations into Hanoi and HCM City.
They have organised over 30 charity programmes. In order to get enough funding for their operations, the association’s members work during weekends and at night to create hand-made products and collect recyclable materials.
In time to come, the association plans to conduct several new charity programmes including free meal delivery to homeless people and granting scholarships to poor and outstanding students.
Vuong has persuaded 50 regular members to take part in blood donations programmes to contribute to his charity.
