Quang Phu countryside people (Quang Dien District) processed sả ruốc (lemongrass with salt shredded meat) to send to HCMC people. Photo: PT

Thebang xep hang ligue 1re, countless people across the country, including Hue children, settle down and make a living. It is just a little humble but warm compatriot love, as the old folk verses go: A smooth, red silk cloth covers a mirror rack. /  The people in a country have to love one another". Hopefully, with those love and faith, Ho Chi Minh City with sentimental attachment soon overcomes the pandemic.

Million cakes of love

These days, Ngo Phuoc Tuan (32, Huong Thuy Town) is busy calling on everyone to gather love and heart for HCMC with the program "Million cakes - overwhelming love". That program was planned by Tuan and his associates as soon as Ho Chi Minh City applied distancing measures. Shortly after it was posted on many social networking channels, the program has received a lot of response and share.

Tuan said that in his youth, he used to live in HCMC and only returned to Hue about a year ago. Reminiscing about that land, he said that it is the land of generosity and love, nurturing millions of expatriates, including countless people from Hue. When the Central region in general and Hue in particular were in deep water, these people themselves "supported"   the sentimental truckload of relief goods, weathered the storms to Hue and the Central region.

“HCMC encounters difficulties; we desire to make a small contribution. Aside from the material value, above all, it is of a greater spiritual significance, which is the message of the Vietnamese people's heart in the face of adversity," confided Tuan.

With that in mind, the program set a target of sending 1 million bánh lọc (cakes made from cassava flour containing shrimp and meat) to HCMC people. Why are bánh lọc sent? Tuan explained they are a specialty of Hue. HCMC people are especially fond of bánh lọc not only for the typical delicious taste but also for bánh lọc promptly reminiscent of Hue, of the Ancient Capital people’s sentiment.

Young people in Thuy Phu Commune (Huong Thuy Town) wrapped bánh lọc (cakes made from cassava flour containing shrimp and meat) and through the program "Million Cakes – Overwhelming Love", sent to HCMC people in the days of straining against the pandemic. Photo: PT

Aside from the quantity of  bánh lọc ordered daily, a huge number of organizations also through the program have planned to wrap  bánh lọc by themselves.  After being wrapped, bánh lọc will be put in vacuum bags, frozen and then transported. Through many social organizations, those bánh lọc of sentimental attachment will come to workers and people in difficult circumstances.

If not sharing now, when will we share?

Like Tuan, hearing that HCMC “has a bad cold", the agencies, mass organizations, mothers in the countryside, or young people in Hue cannot hold back her feeling.

“If not sharing with HCMC right now, when will we share? More or less, we have to share,” asserted many people. It is because besides the compatriotic attachment, there are also brothers and children who are earning their livelihood and studying there. Because of the pandemic, Ho Chi Minh City is currently on the horns of a dilemma.

Then, some of Hue people collected a few dozen kilos of fish. Some made hundreds of jars of sả ruốc, others contributed a few dozen kilos of vegetables and fruits... in order to send to beloved HCMC.

Only less than a year ago, Quang Phu (Quang Dien District, Thua Thien Hue) submerged in flood and rain, received a lot of support from HCMC.  Now hearing that the South land is straining against the pandemic, the people in this countryside seem to be in a stew.

Busy with the villagers processing the jars of sả ruốc to be promptly sent, young girl Bao Ngoc (28, Quang Phu) said emotionally, when storms and floods surrounded her village, she was the bridge to receive the support gifts from HCMC to the villagers. Now seeing the land that once spread its arms is in deep water, she could not hold back her feeling. Bao Ngoc called for the people in the commune to join hands to support.

“How glad!  Despite their poverty, the villagers are very sentimental. They contributed lemongrass, beans, ruốc (salt shredded meat) …And everyone gathered together to process and can", Ngoc said touchingly. This week, hundreds of jars of sả đậu (lemongrass with beans) and ruốc will be sent and are seen as the heart of Hue poor countryside for …HCMC people full of sentimental attachment.

With such sentimental attachment, these days, many women's associations, departments and organizations across the province are also calling for support. And the kilos of dried fish, dried shrimp, chicken eggs, duck eggs ... of the countryside of Phu Loc, Phu Vang... are sent to the National Highway 1A towards the city named Uncle with overwhelming love and hope!

Thua Thien Hue Newspaper’s Green Lotus Fund - a bridge towards Ho Chi Minh City

In addition to the kind hearts from the agencies and mass organizations, in recent days, Thua Thien Hue Newspaper has also launched the program to call for support and share with HCMC people through the newspaper's Green Lotus Fund. After only a few days, the Fund has received tens of millions of dong and tons of necessities from the reporters, collaborators, people and donors from many places.

The Green Lotus Fund planned to transport all the support gifts  directly to HCMC and through Hue Association of Fellow-Countrymen there, HCMC Women's Newspaper.... to hand those over to the people.

Story: Phan Thanh