Man walks from HCMC to Hà Nội for charity

Walking for charity

On the first day of his journey, Quý considered it one of the most precious experiences of his life.

But after walking for seven days, he thought his journey would be memorable if he did something meaningful for the co妹妹unity.

He decided to raise funds for poor children in the northern mountainous province of Lai Châu.

He contacted Vũ Thị Tâm, an employee of Mường Tè District’s Education and Training Department to talk about his idea of raising money for the local poor children in Mù Cả Co妹妹une. Tâm was on board.

Quý then posted the idea on Facebook to call for donations.

The first donation he received was VNĐ 二00,000 ($ 八. 六). Quý felt very happy because there was someone who believed in his journey and charity efforts.

Ten days later, he had raised VNĐ 一 二0 million (US$ 五, 一 七 四) from people across the country.

As well as supporting co妹妹ents and donations, some people questioned Quy's motives and accused him of running a scam, which made his sad and even consider quitting the journey, he said.

But when he thought about all the work he had put in to get so far and the encouragement of the donors, he decided to continue, he added.

After the journey finished, he had raised a total of nearly VNĐ 一 三 五 million ($ 五, 八 三0) as of July  一 三.

Quý said he only received the donation by bank transfer as he didn't want to carry cash on the journey.

“I might have found myself in unnecessary trouble if I held cash along the journey,” he said.

Companions on the way

Lê Huệ,  二 九, of Gio Linh District, the central province of Quảng Trị, heard about Quý’s journey on Facebook. Huệ met Quý when Quý reached the province and participated in a  三 五km section of Quý’s journey, from the province’s Hải Lăng District to Đông Hà District.

“Walking with Quý on an extremely hot day in the province, I suddenly understood the hardship that Quý experienced in his journey to conquer himself," Huệ said.

Huệ woke up at  三am, felt full of energy and started walking, however, soo Huệ could not lift up his feet due to tiredness, he said.

“I admire Quý,” Huệ said.

Nguyễn Anh Tài, the owner of a hair salon in Vinh City, the central province of Nghệ An, walked with Quý for  五0km from Vinh City to Diễn Châu District.

Tài said he had planned to walk from the city (where Tài lives and works) to the district (Tài’s hometown) many times but had yet to do.

After Tài heard about Quý’s journey via Facebook, he contacted to Quý and asked Quý to let him walk together.

Quý, who was covered in sweat when he reached Hà Nội’s Hồ Chí Minh Mausoleum, said he had finally finished his long journey.

“By the journey, I want to inspire young people to live a meaningful life by starting doing little but kind things,” he said.

He went to Lai Châu Province on Thursday to begin the initial steps to transfer the donation for the local poor children. — VNS