In his small house in Son Tra district in Da Nang, Liem, 33, spent the weekend recently hurriedly packing clothes to send to students living in mountainous areas so they could have beautiful clothes to celebrate Tet.

Liem is the head of Nu cuoi hong Da Nang (Da Nang Smile), a non-profit organization, which has been bringing joy for 12 years to unfortunate lives and poor students in the provinces of Quang Nam, Quang Tri, Gia Lai and Kon Tum. 

Liem said in 2009 when he was a university student, he took a charity trip organized by the school to Dai Son commune in Dai Loc district. He could see the hardships that local people had to bear, which his family had once experienced.

“As our family was also in difficulties, I could understand the people well. I decided that I needed to do something to help,” he recalled.

After the trip, at first, it was very difficult to mobilize students to help the community.  But later everyone used their strength and advantages to raise funds. The money collected was delivered to the poor in the city and in remote areas. 

“We were from different schools,” he said. “Some of us studied economics, others architecture. In order to have money to help the poor, we had to take extra jobs, such as selling sweets or flowers, or organizing street music nights."

Five years later, when they graduated from university and took jobs, the charity team became better known and they could offer more help. For example, they helped to install equipment for solar electricity, installed water purifiers, and built playgrounds for children.

There are about 50 members on the team, living in many provinces and ready to help when necessary.

In August 2021, when the pandemic broke out in Da Nang, Liem and other members organized VND zero markets, bringing food to needy families.

In December 2021, they brought 4,000 warm clothes to children in Kon Tum, Huong Hoa in Quang Tri and Nam Tra My in Quang Nam province.

Liem and his co-workers also have helped children in remote areas have access to movies and the internet so they installed solar panels at schools in mountainous areas.

“Two years ago, a group of 13 people carrying solar panels walked to hamlet 5 in Tra Don commune in Nam Tra My district,” he recalled.

So far, solar panels have been installed in 16 places.

Ho Giap