>> Wish for Po Ko River charity bridge granted
>> ‘Charity bridge’ needed to realise children’s dreams of schooling
>> Crossing the river by cable could be deadly
With DTiNews/Dan Tri’s expansive coverage on the Po Ko River story over the past two weeks, an amount of over VND 1 billion has been raised by readers from all over.
Phan Viet Cuong, a reader of DTiNews, who is currently living in the U.S., donated USD 200 for the construction of Khuyen Hoc & Dan Tri Bridge on June 14. With the help of his friends in the U.S., he was able to raise another USD 500 a week later, and transferred the amount to DTiNews on June 21.
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| The new bridge will be built where the old bridge, destroyed by a strong flood last year, had been. |
On June 22, Hoa brought VND 1 million (USD 50) to a DTiNews representative office in Ho Chi Minh City. Hoa shared that she herself didn’t have the money, but she and her friends were able to mobilise and raise money from their acquaintances. Kim Soo Dong, a Korean friend of Hoa, who is currently working in Vietnam, after hearing the story of the children being unable to go to school safely without a bridge in Kon Tum, immediately decided to donate VND 1 million and asked Hoa to bring this amount to DTiNews as soon as possible.
“It is very hard to believe that there is still a place in Vietnam where people have to cross the river in such a dangerous way. I hope the bridge will be built soon, so that it would be much safer for them to commute daily,” Hoa said.
Two day before, on June 20, taking the opportunity of having her Sunday off, Nguyen Thi Dung, a female police officer, left her house at 7 am and took a bus to travel all the way from Dak Nong Province to DTiNews HCMC office with VND 8 million (USD 420). Dung forgot to make an appointment, so there was apparently no one there when she arrived at the office, but she waited patiently for an hour outside the office before a DTiNews reporter turned up.
Tu, an elderly woman living in District No.7, Ho Chi Minh City, had VND 500,000 (USD 26) to donate and she wanted to do it directly at the office herself, but couldn’t due to her poor health. She ended up having to ask a motorbike taxi rider to do her a favour. Back Khoa Computer Company’s staff members were able to raise amongst themselves VND 31,660,000 (USD 1,600) to send to DTiNews.
These are just a few names among many others who have kind-heartedly supported the campaign of Khuyen Hoc & Dan Tri Bridge launched by DTiNews/Dan Tri in coordination with the Vietnam Association for Promoting Education a few weeks ago.
The amount of money that has been collected up until now is VND 1,079,916,000 (USD 56,541). So exactly 13 days after the campaign was launched, readers from all over the country have contributed enough money for the bridge to begin its construction work.
The total sum exceeds the estimated necessary amount by about VND 10 million (USD 523), but DTiNews and the Vietnam Association for Promoting Education hope to have the readers continued support, as a Reserve Fund will be created for any additional costs to arise during the construction of Khuyen Hoc & Dan Tri Bridge.
