Overseas Vietnamese help build more than 100 bridges in rural areas
Despite having donated much money to building bridges in Vietnam, many members of the VK, a group of golden-hearted overseas Vietnamese, have never been present at any honouring or bridge-opening ceremonies.
There have been more and more kind-hearted people joining the VK group on the occasions of its annual returns to their home country. Many of them, who cannot speak Vietnamese fluently, are second and third generations of overseas Vietnamese who left the country in the 1930s, 1940s or 1950s.
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| VK members and Vietnamese kids at a bridge-opening ceremony |
A successful overseas businesswoman living in California, USA, who has helped build six bridges is such an example. All of the bridges are named after her former primary school, Gia Long, for her childhood memory as a student of the famous school in Saigon.
VK leader Nguyen Van Cong, an overseas Vietnamese from France who has returned to Vietnam, says he feels very happy to know that the bridges have made the local people’s lives much easier.
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| The Japanese teacher |
A Vietnamese-French engineer, who donated money to building a bridge in Vinh Long province, spent the whole night practicing hard for his opening speech in Vietnamese.
“It is shameful for me if he cannot speak Vietnamese,” said his father.
One of the generous overseas Vietnamese could even persuade his Japanese teacher to donate money to build a bridge in the poor commune of Tay Yen in Rach Soi town, Kien Giang province.
These bridges do not connect only the rivers’ banks but also people’s hearts, said VK members.