Warm hands in the flood season

I called Tang Thanh Thuy - a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper to work in Nha Trang in the midst of the water level. Thuy said: "My house is also flooded a lot, but it's better than other places, I can still go out".

And Thuy took the opportunity to not only do the job of a reporter in the flood to send regular reports and articles to the newsroom but also connected with the local union to promptly bring 1,000 warm blankets to the people.

Thuy is a simple person but has a strong personality. When the water had just reached the safety threshold, Thuy had time to send 1,000 blankets and warm clothes to the people. The first photos sent back from the flooded area made her almost cry: The water was right next to the house with half a roof collapsed; inside was the mother hugging the child in a warm, trying to re-encrust the unfinished fire. She calmed down and said: "What I'm doing... is too small compared to what people have lost."

But for people in flood-prone areas, that gift is not small at all. Workers received a warm coat in the kumquat afternoon on a thin corrugated iron roof that had been blown off the wall; the child hugged the blanket and took the blanket that still smelled of new fabric, her eyes lit up a rare joy in the day of the storm. And Thuy recounted that those 1,000 blankets were like a soft bond between those who had never met each other but thought about each other in trouble.

In another place, a group of women in Hai Chau ward (Da Nang) were busy with another quiet job: gom and sorted 5 tons of clothes to move to Quy Nhon in time that night. From afternoon to 8pm, they still quietly bend down, fold each set of clothes, call a car, ask someone to carry and unload each package. No one is paid, no one is forced to work hard. They told each other: "As long as the people need it, we will do it."

Some people are so tired that they have to temporarily lean on the house pillars and stand up again. Some people felt numb because of the rope, but their mouths still laughed. Happy because I dont sit still, one sister said. That evening, when the bus arrived and rolled towards Quy Nhon - a place that was very,very needed - everyone felt their hearts warmed up, as if they had contributed a little to the great flow of love.

In the repeated calls between flood areas and the city, another piece of information makes Ms. Trang - the person connecting the relief groups, also Thanh Thuy's friend - alert all night: In the flood center of Quy Nhon, raincoats are needed. A small dream that comes to sin. She did not dare to promise, but her heart kept exclaiming: "If I don't listen to them and don't do it, it would be a pity." So she went to ask around, hoping to get 100 sets of raincoats for the people to wear during the days when their houses were not yet repaired and the rain shelter was still dilapidated.

Late at night, Ms. Trang's phone kept lit up. Some people asked for their account number to send a "warm breath". There are times when I get married, sometimes I get married, sometimes even have long-time friends and even those I have never met before. In just one night, the amount of donations reached 10 million VND - exceeding the target from the beginning. It is as if, not only giving, but also a way for each person to feel less tormented when knowing that someone is cold somewhere.

There are very small donations, just enough to buy a 50 thousand VND warm coat or a blanket for 60 thousand VND. But the sender said: "Just listen, it's warming up". On rainy days, sometimes just one shirt is enough for a child to not shudder to hold. A blanket is enough for a mother not to have to hug her child in a cold, wet outfit. A little warmth can also restore confidence.

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Thuy and Trang's story is just two of countless stories when natural disasters hit. The long story of those flood days has no central characters, no heroes, no big slogans. Only ordinary people, doing ordinary things, become extraordinary because they do them in the most difficult times. Some people only contributed a shirt. Some people contributed all night. Some people deposit small sums of money from small savings. But all blend together into a vast flow - as light as breath, but so enduring that no storm can sweep it away.

In the flood season, people understand that humanity is not a big deal. It is a way for each person to automatically lean towards each other, like a herd of fish leaning towards them when encountering waves. When I heard the news that "mother needed it", my heart softed, and I wanted to do something. It is the warmth that spreads from person to person, from the city to the flooded areas, from a pair of hands to hundreds of pairs of hands.

People in flooded areas will rise up, then move their yards, rebuild corrugated iron roofs, and replant vegetable beds behind the garden. But the memories of warm blankets handed over on rainy nights, trips overnight, hands not resting... will live forever like a lasting light.

Because in the days of the storm and flood, what remains the longest is not loss, but the love of compatriots that has never run out.

In Dak Lak, when the floodwaters rose too quickly, the story of a man who only had time to carry his two children to the attic. When the water receded, the whole house was left with only a plaster wall, furniture collapsed, and all the chickens and ducks died.

He stood in the middle of the house - dry but covered with mud, sighing: "After 40 years of living here, I have never seen this scene. But anyway, there are still people. Everyone's neighbors are the same. I am lucky to be alive.

But then, very quickly, a group of young men in the commune waded in mud to help him clean up. They are not close relatives. It is simply that people are together in trouble, when they see each other in difficulty, they come to help.

In the sound of mudghghasting, the sound of water, the sound of people encouraging each other, who can clearly feel one thing: Storms and floods take away many things, but cannot sweep away the community spirit.

One of the most beautiful images in recent days is the non-stop relief trucks. When Khanh Hoa raised the emergency alarm, teams from Da Nang, Binh Dinh, Ho Chi Minh City... immediately set off. There are cars of organizations, cars of businesses, and even personal cars of people that are collected by themselves.

In the Appeal of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front to support the people of the Central and Central Highlands affected by floods spread since the end of November, there is a section: "Every heart, every sharing, no matter how small, is extremely precious. Every contribution, no matter how small or large, contributes to helping people have more confidence, motivation, and conditions to stand up after storms and floods.

Natural disasters can rob property and destroy villages, but cannot rob humanity, cannot extinguish the sacred fire of solidarity of the Vietnamese people. We believe that, with the thousand-year tradition of kindness and sharing hearts from all over the country, we will together help the people of the Central and Central Highlands to soon overcome difficulties, rebuild their houses and rebuild a new, peaceful life.