At 6:30 am, we departed from our Head-office at No.6 Le Thanh Ton St., Dist. 1. The car seemed to be "more fully loaded" than it used to be because it was not only carrying the gifts but also our love and care for those unlucky ones at the Center. We left Saigon behind with all worries and hustle during the last days of the year and just brought along with us the luggage of humanity and enthusiasm. Our drive to the Center was full of joy by the songs of amateur artists but with all enthusiasm and love.
Through the journey of nearly 200km, until noon, we arrived at the Center. The warm welcome of the Board of Directors, employees and learners at the Center brought us great feelings of friendship, just like meeting relatives after a long time apart, a very warm and friendly atmosphere. Each song lyric and voice in the art performance of learners – those unhappy lives – was not simply a welcome greeting but truly touched our deepest feelings. Gemadept members also enthusiastically joined in the performance, in harmony with the song of “Nối vòng tay lớn” together with the learners, spreading their arms to give and receive love and cherish it. It seems that right here, in this place, we were left with human love and filled with laughters.
After the performance, Gemadept volunteer group donated to the Center practical necessities, daily utensils and more than 700 gifts to bring warmth and joy of Spring to all the learners here. Tet gifts and lucky money were handed to each learner. The innocent and eager smiles of thelearners upon receiving the small gifts did touch our hearts. Those boxes of milk and cake packages, simple foods in urban areas, became so practical and precious to the learners here. Despite knowing that those gifts just covered a small part in their daily needs, we believed that they would play encouraging role to the staffs and the learners by fostering their optimism and belief in life.
Our last stop was at the canteen of the Center, where we helped the staffs to prepare lunch for the learners. The daily meal seemed to become warmer and closer. Learner’s faces gleamed with joy and their eagerness to receive the meal dispelled all the distance between us. Just smiles and love remained.
Saying goodbye to the Center, we returned to Saigon amid the attachment of the learners. Knowing that as the wind blew away, charity was the action derived from the heart and we did not not expect any return, but each of us was left in good spirits with such emotions that were hard to describe; we all received warmness from every volunteer journey, which lit up our hearts and motivated each member of the team, who did tell to themselves "Next year and the year after, Gemadept will continue giving love". See you soon, Binh Duc – Binh Phuoc Social Center, we would return on a very close day.
