For the Lunar New Year 2008, Metta Heart joyfully took part in Buu Son Temple’s annual New Year Gift Giving event to distribute needed food items to households who face financial difficulties in time for them to celebrate the New Year. The gifts consisted of rice, noodles, and spices. Many people "boat-pooled" together in small canoes to come and happily received the gifts.

In February 2008, Metta Heart's representative visited Kien Giang, Vietnam and saw a need to build new homes for the indigent households who were living in threadbare dwellings in cramped quarters. These families live in very remote areas with no running water and electricity. The roads are unpaved and at times even motorcycles are unable to pass through, thus the only mode of transportation is by walking. The makeshift huts the people dwell in do not provide sufficient shelter from the elements, especially during the rainy season.

Metta Heart responded by sponsoring the building of a new home for a hard-working family. The family consists of a father who is a laborer, the mother who is partially blind, and a school-aged boy.

This is an on-going project since there are many deserving families on the waiting list. With the generosity of the donors, we can provide a home with tile foundation  for a needy household. The selected recipients are all hard working families who demonstrate an immediate need for adequate housing along with access to clean water because their only source of water comes from the contaminated river.  

The issue of pollution, in particular water pollution, is of utmost concern in Vietnam. The waterways are laden with chemicals and pesticides from outdated agricultural practices. Yet sadly, they also serve as sources of water needs for all the people who live along it. This in turn causes a lot of health problems for the adults and especially the children. Our site coordinators, assessing the situation, saw the need for a way in which the people can obtain clean water for their daily needs. Therefore, with most of the new homes being built, two large water containers are included for the people to collect rainwater for their use.

In addition, we also funded the construction of a hand-pumped well at a school site to serve as a source of clean water for the entire surrounding community.

Summer 2008 Event

A another site visit will take place in the summer of 2008 in U Minh, Camau to distribute rice and noodles to approximately 100 families. We will also assess the situation for building wells to access clean water for the local people. All traveling expenses will be paid for by the volunteers themselves.