Tịnh Độ Pagoda, Bến Tre 2024: a message from the Compassionate Hands team

On March 3, 2024, the Compassionate Hands Foundation from California came to Tịnh Độ Pagoda in Bến Tre province with rice, wheelchairs and gifts for poor families, and explained why monthly rice had to drop to 5 kg.

On March 3, 2024, the Compassionate Hands Foundation (Hội Từ Thiện Bàn Tay Nhân Ái) from California came to Tịnh Độ Pagoda in Bến Tre province during its 2024 charity trip through Vietnam. About 60 Buddhist followers made the journey to meet families in need again, many of whom already receive monthly rice from the foundation.

A long way from home

The team representative opened by greeting the monks and nuns, the abbess, local officials and the families. The speaker said the group came from Quan Âm Temple in California, a flight of almost 20 hours, more than halfway around the world. Though they live far away, the speaker said, the Buddhist followers in America always think of Vietnam, especially its remote areas.

By this account the foundation travels once a year. Some years it visits one set of pagodas, some years another, and some pagodas are revisited only after five years. The team gives as much as it can raise, and even with their best effort it is never enough to meet every need.

Why monthly rice dropped to 5 kg

Monthly rice used to be 10 kg per person. After the pandemic, donors in America had economic troubles too and gave less, so the foundation temporarily cut it to 5 kg. The representative said the foundation will try to restore the full 10 kg.

For students, the foundation once gave scholarships but had to pause them when funds ran short. This time the team gave gifts directly to the children, and promised to work toward bringing scholarships back so the children can study and build a good future for themselves and for society.

Wheelchairs, one-time gifts and tịnh tài

The team also gave wheelchairs to people with disabilities. Families in hardship whom the foundation cannot support monthly received one-time gifts. About 60 followers travelled with the team, and each added a personal share of tịnh tài (cash offerings) to help the families further.

The representative thanked the abbess and the monks and nuns of the pagoda for handing out monthly rice on the foundation's behalf throughout the year, and thanked local authorities for permitting the event.

A plain statement

The recording has songs about compassion and home playing between the speeches. The team's own words say the same plain thing:

We help as much as we manage to raise.

Team representative

What remains

The morning at Tịnh Độ Pagoda showed how the foundation works: go to remote places, meet families on the monthly rice list, and add one-time gifts for people outside it. The foundation says the team continues the next day, March 4, 2024, to Long An Pagoda in Hậu Giang province.