The platform is a feature on Zalo, a popular app with millions of Vietnamese people. Users can access Zalo Connect displayed on the top of Zalo page. They can click on ‘Toi can giup do’ (I need help), or ‘Toi muon giup do’ (I want to help).

The main function is to help people find urgent support from the community for food, drugs, necessities, or quickly connect physicians and specialist doctors to get medical advice from a distance.

Zalo Connect also connects volunteer individuals and institutions with needy people near their residential areas.

Since its launch, Zalo has been performing its functions well, helping many families receive support in a quick and convenient way.

However, there have been complaints about people who don’t have a serious attitude when calling for help from the community.

Some people have asked for ST25 rice (a delicious rice variety created by Vietnam and recognized globally), salmon, and Kobe beef, all very expensive items.

There have also been reports about incorrect behavior by donors towards people in need. Some of them say indecent words or make a pass at female students who ask for help.

Minh Trang, who donated food via Zalo Connect in Hai Ba Trung district in Hanoi, said she was upset when she came to visit a person who needed help and realized she lived in a street-front house. She met Trang wearing a skin-care mask.

Trang hopes that people only ask for help when they are in difficult situations.

“There are a lot of people who are experiencing hardships and they need help,” she said.

Doan Quoc Anh (Product Manage Zalo), head of Zalo Connect, said the platform is available in 21 cities and provinces in the country, including Hanoi, Da Nang, HCM City, Long An, Dong Nai, Binh Duong and some southern provinces which are applying social distancing under the Prime Minister’s Directive No 16.

In the last 10 days, 30,565 people have joined forces to help those in need and 60,982 individual turns of help have been reported.

Most people who needed help have asked for food (94 percent). Thirty five percent of people asked for essentials, 3 percent for medical advice, and 14 percent for drugs and medical supplies. 

Trong Dat

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