Leaving Soc Trang, we all headed to Can Tho for overnight stay so that we can ride the boat to the the Floating market at 5pm the next day Nov 30th. As planned, we left Can Tho for the next destination in Ben Tre. We made a quick visit in Vinh Long, then headed to Ben Tre quay where we took a motorized boat ride to a village near Tan Duc temple because there is no paved road to it. It was the first time we experienced something like this. We felt more peaceful being away from hustle and bustle of the other cities in mien Tay and got little cool off by being near the water. The boat woman driver parked the boat along the quay where we got off and easily walked up to a small village in Con Phung, Ben Tre.
As we arrived, we saw a lot of families already inside the temple waiting for the event to start. We did have the food products delivered ahead so that the gift handling could be faster. We decided to hand those out before having lunch. We planned to hand out 70 portions for families in hardship, each with 10kg bag of rice, 1 box of instant noodles, 1 clothing set and an envelope of 100.000VND.
There are quite many elders who came to receive the donations. One of them who is over 75 years old expressed his thanks on people behalf (in the picture above). He pleasantly surprised us by his very touching speech. He genuinely said he regretted that he could have done the charity works when he was young like we do but could not now at his age. So he decided to give to the temple what he got today as one way to give back to what temple has supported him ever since back then till now. It's a simple but beautiful thing to see in your own eyes: giving is receiving. It reminded us the very true 'cause and effect' that could happen right at the time being in this life...
Hoping on the return boat ride, we silently said good-bye to the Mekong canals and kept in the back of our mind what we have learned a lot from people with integrity and kindness even though they are still struggling with life difficulties everyday. It's a wonderful memories to keep!
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