Grateful Hearts

Nha Trang, December 18, 2022

My name is Nguyen Ngo Phuong Thao. I am an 11th grader living in the small village of Xóm Nhỏ – Núi Sạn, Nha Trang. I wish you good health, peace, and happiness. 

I want to express my gratitude to the benefactors. I feel overflowed with joy when I count the blessings from you, the benefactors. As a child of the lepers who was born and raised in Xóm Nhỏ – Núi Sạn, the name of the town has implied simplicity and rusticity, but in it resides people who live who live a life suffering from the cruelness of leprosy.

As time went by, the physical and mental pain was more and more on the people of the small village of Xóm Nhỏ – Núi Sạn. The disease is like a curtain of the night that separates the villagers from society, and that curtain seems to cover the poverty and suffering of the people here. Watching my parents work hard day in and day out, soaking in the rain and sun, not daring to take a day off, trying to sell every loaf of bread or working as a street sweeper at night, pushing the garbage truck full and often overloaded to earn every penny for my food and education. Looking at my peers, I feel self–deprecating, avoiding contact with them for fear of being shunned. To overcome the prejudices of society and escape poverty, I create for myself a will to focus on my education. But the road ahead is still too difficult economically. At times the suffering broke my determination. 

Fortunately, in my despair, the Hoi Ban Nguoi Cio supported and encouraged me to continue. Your love, kindness, and help have comforted, supported, and helped me overcome adversity. Thanks to the HBNC and the benefactors, I am trying to break down the barrier that separates me from society. My respect and gratitude to HBNC and its benefactors cannot be fully expressed but can only be summed up in three simple phrases: Always remember you, Always be grateful to you, and Always appreciate you.

I know that in the past 3 years, the COVID-19 pandemic has broken out strongly worldwide, and many countries and families have suffered heavy losses in terms of life and financial resources. It is certain that HBNC and its benefactors also face many difficulties and challenges, but HBNC and its benefactors still love, despite the difficulties, providing us with more scholarship money for higher education in 2022 than in 2021; it is an extraordinary thing. From that, I learned the spirit of overcoming difficulties of HBNC and the benefactors, which will certainly help me throughout my life.

I can only pray and ask for graces and blessings continuously to be poured out on HBNC and its benefactors. I promise to study hard so as to not disappoint your tremendous efforts.

Sincerely, 

Nguyễn Ngô Phương Thảo