Over the past week, Nguyen Ngoc Nga, who is member of the Provisional Committee of the Vietnamese People’s Association in Turkey, has joined seven Vietnamese brides to travel across the city to provide helping hands to Turkish people who lost their homes after the recent earthquake.
Nga said that soon after the earthquakes happened, the Association coordinated with the Vietnamese Embassy in Turkey to plan fund-raising events and visit and present gifts Overseas Vietnamese people and Turks living in the earthquake-stricken areas.
Every day, the group members visit and deliver gifts to 4 to 6 families, all of whom are living in extremely difficult circumstances.
Tran Thi Kieu Hanh, a member of the group, shared that she was born and raised in a Vietnam’s central locality, where floods occur regularly every year. Therefore, she understands the pain and loss of victims of natural disasters.
She stressed that no matter Vietnamese or Turkish and what skin colours are, she and other members just want to share the difficulties with needy people.
One of the earthquake victims they visited included the family of Baran, whose house in Adiyaman was destroyed by the earthquake.
“The earthquakes claimed 14 relatives and our house. Everything is very difficult for us now,” Baran said.
In the small space where his family is temporarily living in Istanbul, Baran was very touched to receive the words of encouragement from the Vietnamese women.
“We are very touched, and we have been fuelled with a source of encouragement. We feel like we have new relatives,” the 32-year-old man shared.
Nguyen Ngoc Nga expressed her hope that the word “Vietnam” will be remembered by international friends not only as a country with a heroic past but also as a nation that is ready to extend sympathy and help in times of trouble and difficulty.
The group has provided cash support to five Vietnamese families and two individuals living in the earthquake-hit areas.
In addition, they also visited and presented cash to 14 Turkish families, with a total of 57 members, and donated textbooks to help children who have been orphaned by the earthquake return to school.
