VietNamNet Bridge – It is easy to miss out on Tran Thi Kim Oanh’s bun bo Hue (Hue-style beef noodle soup) stall, sandwiched as it is between very similar looking buildings on a newly-opened street in Ha Noi.

Photographs of street-traders on a wall of Tran Thi Kim Oanh’s eatery, with a notice about the special charity offer on the first Friday of every month.

The 10sq.m eatery has a few sets of wooden tables and chairs, and its walls pay tribute to street life in the capital city with high-quality, enlarged and framed photographs of street traders.

Over two years now, the eatery has been famous for its charity programme “Thu sau se chia” (Sharing Fridays), under which low-income workers can enjoy bowls of bun bo Hue for just VND1,000 (4 US cents) each. This offer has been good on the first Friday of every month since June 2015.

Back in 2015, Oanh was a member of a group that cooked porridge to serve poor patients at the National K2 Cancer Hospital on the southern outskirts of the city.

She found herself exhausted from the long-distance travel, and having run a bun bo Hue eatery since 2013, Oanh decided to take advantage of her culinary skills and experience to start the Friday charity programme.

“I wanted something of my own, and set out to sell 150 bowls of bun to low-income people per charity day,” she said.

Her ‘Good Friday’ customers are street-traders, scrap dealers, construction workers and other manual labourers, some of whom are those who’ve come from other localities for medical treatments in the capital city.

Being sold at a super low price does not make Oanh’s bun bo Hue any less appetizing. There is no difference between ones made for charity and those she sells to regular customers at VND35,000 ($1.5) each.

Each bowl is filled with bun (rice noodles), beef slices, a mong gio (pigs feet roll), and two slices tiet canh (blood-pudding).

Frail and gray-haired, Do Hong Ngoc of Dong Da District, walked with difficulty steps towards the eatery. She lingered until Oanh called out, “Hey...” and motioned for her to come closer, gave her a small blue, number tag and invited her to take a seat.

Having suffering from heart failure for nearly a decade, Hong trembled every time she tried to take a spoon of soup.

“I’ve just been through a VND200 million ($8,800) stent placement surgery,” she said. “I’m a disabled person now, living off the State’s allowance of VND1 million ($44) per month.”

Her illness requires constant checkups and tests, and the monthly cost of medicine alone is already some VND2 million ($88).

“I’ve never thought of spending several thousand dong on breakfast. Oanh’s charity programme is such a heart-warming gesture,” she said.

Pham Thi Lanh, a scrap dealer from Nam Dinh Province who was having breakfast a table a way from Hong’s, said she was “too shy to try” the first time she saw Oanh’s charity sign.  

“Then she heartily called out to me and invited me over. She was so warm and kind-hearted.

“Now I feel more comfortable enjoying the bun bo Hue here.”

Le Thi Hoa, a customer, said she was touched on seeing poor people getting full, hot bowls of delicious bun at the eatery.

“My husband and I often order four bowls of bun or pho in a row when taking our children out for breakfast at weekends,” she said. “It’s kind of sad to see that what is common for us is a huge treat for someone else.”

Suspect goodness

Not everyone is happy with or appreciative of Oanh’s gesture.

Some have said she does it as a promotional activity for the eatery.

Oanh’s feathers are not ruffled.

“They don’t know that those low-income people never show up on regular days when the bun is sold at the regular price,” she said. “Who am I promoting it to, then?”

Sometimes, some low-income people make a mistake and show up on the second Friday of the month instead of the first, but Oanh is still happy to let them enjoy the VND1,000 bowls of bun.

“I think it is important to live in a way that gives blessings to our children and grandchildren,” she said, pointing at photographs of her two sons on the wall. The older one is getting a Ph.D at the Viet Nam Academy of Social Science, and the younger is an MC for Viet Nam Television.   

“There were times when the charity day was very close and I was almost broke,” she added. “But then on Thursdays we would get many customers and make enough money for charity.

“I don’t know if it was a sign from above. Now I find no difficulty in maintaining the charity.  Only a little extra effort, and a few more kilograms of beef and bun.

“I will do it as long as I am able to run the eatery.”

A plastic bottle placed in front of the eatery, containing low-income people’s payment for their bowls of Hue-style beef noodle soup. Each bowl costs VND1,000.  Low-income customers enjoy Hue-style beef noodle soup at Tran Thi Kim Oanh’s eatery.  Tran Thi Kim Oanh prepares beef noodle soup for customers.  A bowl of Hue-style beef noodle soup at Tran Thi Kim Oanh’s eatery. It is sold at VND35,000 ($1.5) for regular customers and VND1,000 for low-income people on the first Friday of every month. — Photos: Bao Hoa/VNS

Bao Hoa

VNS