From business trips to the project "Light up a Lam Dan"
The project "Light up a spark" has just been honored in the Inspiration Project award category of the Human Act Prize 2025 organized by Nhan Dan Newspaper.
However, the project did not originate from a systematic charity plan from the beginning.
For Lieutenant Colonel and journalist Hoang Truong Giang, the first activities of the project only originated from the memory of a person who was born and raised in a highland area, witnessing the deprivation of the people in the mountains, especially the children.
When he became a military journalist and had the opportunity to travel to many places, he realized that he could do something, even very small. At first, he only raised a few tens of millions of VND to give scholarships, warm clothes, books, and school supplies to students in mountainous areas.
Over time, efforts, prestige and trust from the community have been gradually built, new activities have expanded to build schools, boarding houses and educational facilities in remote areas.
The name "Light up a Lam" came after more than ten years of the project when many people told him that such a long journey requires identification.
After nearly 18 years, the project has passed through many localities across the country, from Dien Bien, Lai Chau, Cao Bang, Son La, Yen Bai, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen to Quang Tri, Ho Chi Minh City. Each year, the mobilized resources of about 1.5-2 billion VND are used centrally, in line with the actual needs of each locality.
Volunteer activities do not stop at short-term support but gradually move towards essential projects to serve the community. More than 36 projects such as schools, boarding houses, dining houses, libraries, clean water systems, and solar power have been built.
In particular, from 2014 to now, there has been a new goal that the project is aimed at, which is the family of officers and soldiers in the army, this is a group of circumstances that is not weak but very special.
"When mentioning the army, people often think of strength, fighting, and sacrifice. Few people know about their own difficulties, shortages or pain, because the soldiers are brave, reserved and self-respectful. But they are also human, citizens like us, sometimes even more confused because they work in special forces. Therefore, I want to be able to support and help my teammates, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Truong Giang shared.
In the implementation of "Light up a spark", journalist Hoang Truong Giang does not apply a rigid process but handles it flexibly according to each situation. The consistent principle is to always work through the government and armed forces in the area.
Thanks to the network of comrades, teammates and personal prestige accumulated over the years, many programs are connected, verified and implemented remotely while still ensuring implementation.
I am lucky to receive the trust and support of everyone, I call it the 7 words C: individual - colleagues - community - government - officers, soldiers - share and make public, Lieutenant Colonel Hoang Truong Giang said.
Not chasing quantity
Lieutenant Colonel, journalist Hoang Truong Giang shared that he did the project within his personal activities, so he did not expect to expand it to a large scale. He did not set a target of mobilizing tens of billions of VND each year, but only maintained an activity of about 1.5-2 billion VND, or at most 3 billion VND.
Each program will be implemented for about 2 weeks to 3 months. According to him, that is the amount of budget and time that he can control, because he still has to balance between professional work and family life.
The project is not in a hurry to expand, not pressured to do more than last year, but focuses on making each program, each situation, each story.
For him, volunteering is not a race for achievements but a persistent journey of care and responsibility. The role of a military journalist is a new career, a main mission. As for volunteering, although he has been involved for nearly 2 decades, it is just an out-of-the-school activity, partly "outside the curse" carried out when he has enough time, interest and resources.
I myself have to see that I am a journalist, a military officer, doing charity or organizing community activities is an activity on the sidelines of my life, journalist Hoang Truong Giang shared.
Limitedness becomes the core principle in the charity journey of this soldier. He does not participate in any fund, organization or group. Not because of lack of opportunities - on the contrary, there were times when businesses and individuals were willing to stand behind him, willing to spend a long time accompanying him to establish a professional charity fund, but he refused.
Therefore, for many years, the programs of "Light Up a Lam" have always been on a scale under control. Each program is only about 300-500 million VND, the highest is only around the one billion VND mark; the time for implementation is neatly within two to three months, at most four months is to end, hand over, and finish.
He admitted that the feeling of helplessness still appeared when he saw too many difficult circumstances that he could not help. But instead of expanding at all costs, he chose to "know enough", do things within his ability and spread that meaning to those around him.
A passionflower can burn and then go out, no one can burn forever, but before it is turned off, the fire will spread to other passionflows, just like that, the fire of kindness will never go out..., he said.
