Phuoc Linh Pagoda, Thoi Binh, Ca Mau 2024: 170 Gift Packages for Families in Need

On March 5, 2024, the Compassionate Hands Foundation gave out 170 gift packages at Phuoc Linh Pagoda in Thoi Binh district, Ca Mau province, including rice, wheelchairs and emergency gifts.

On March 5, 2024, the Compassionate Hands Foundation (Hội Từ Thiện Bàn Tay Nhân Ái) arrived at Phuoc Linh Pagoda in Tan Loc commune, Thoi Binh district, Ca Mau province, to give gifts to poor families during its 2024 Vietnam charity trip. The group travels under Most Venerable Thích Minh Nhựt, the Foundation's president. That morning, after a night's rest, he and the other monks led a short sutra chanting on the road, wishing that everything would go smoothly and that team members would have the health to finish the journey.

Ca Mau and the pagoda

Ca Mau lies in the Mekong Delta and meets the sea, so the climate is somewhat mild. The team came with the saying "a good leaf shelters a torn one," the idea behind this year's trip.

At Phuoc Linh, the abbess, the monks and the local organizers have passed on gifts from donors far away to struggling families for more than ten years. That day they again helped receive the group and arrange the distribution.

What was given, and to whom

Before handing out the gifts, the team leader told the crowd plainly that rice this year was down to 5 kg a share instead of 10 kg. He gave the reason as the global economy and the finances of every organization, which are no longer as comfortable as before. The Foundation will keep trying and, if it can, raise the share back to 10 kg. He also mentioned the scholarships for good students, which the Foundation has supported for more than 14 years.

At Phuoc Linh, the Foundation gave:

32 monthly rice books (regular rice allotments)
gifts for 20 students
10 wheelchairs
108 emergency gift packages for people in hardship

That made 170 gift packages in all. Some people had come to the distribution without a wheelchair of their own, so the team gave them wheelchairs along with the usual gifts.

Voices from the day

A team member told the crowd that their presence is what makes the sharing possible:

Sự hiện diện của quý vị làm cho chúng tôi cảm thấy biết ơn quý vị.
A monk from the team

(Your presence makes us feel grateful to you.) On the receiving side, local representatives thanked the Foundation and prayed for blessings on the monks, nuns and lay followers everywhere. A young speaker thanked the team on behalf of the recipients:

Tụi con không có điều gì quý báu hơn bằng lời cảm ơn.
A young speaker for the recipients

(We have nothing more precious to give than our thanks.) One team member described the blind elders at the event:

Hình như tôi đã nhỏ lệ khi nhìn thấy những bàn tay gầy trơ xương của các bác khiếm thị.
A team member

(I think I shed a tear seeing the bony, thin hands of the blind elders.) The member watched them feel their way step by step, guided by volunteers, smiling as they collected their gifts and holding the boxes to their chests with trembling hands.

What stays with us

A member traveling with the team said it was her third day of giving. Some stops meant taking a small motorboat to reach the pagoda and another back, and others a shared minibus, which was hard, but arriving made it all worthwhile. She thanked Thầy Minh Nhựt, who organized the trip, and thanked Ms. Mỹ, who looked after the group's rest, meals and transport.

Several members said that watching people receive their gifts felt like children coming home to care for their parents. They said they were learning to give not because they have a lot, but because they understand what giving means. The Foundation hopes its members will keep walking with it on trips like this.