Journey of sowing love

For many years, Nguyen Anh Dung has been the "father" of unborn children. In the midst of a busy life, he quietly bends down, carrying each little body back to the mother earth, so that the graves will no longer be cold and the souls will be at peace.

Quietly watch over the sleep of unborn creatures

In the mountain town, the name "Ba Dung" has long been familiar. That is how people affectionately call Nguyen Anh Dung (38 years old), residing in Dak Bla Ward, Quang Ngai Province (formerly Nguyen Trai Ward, Kon Tum City, Kon Tum Province). For nearly a decade, he has quietly brought unfortunate fetuses to their final resting place.

Whenever he receives a call, even from a stranger, he immediately puts on his coat, helmet and sets off. The destination could be a hospital, a cemetery or some remote place where a small creature has just been abandoned. "Regardless of day or night, rain or shine, as soon as I hear the news, I rush to pick up my children and take care of the funeral," he shared.

Hành trình gieo mầm yêu thương - Ảnh 1. — Mr. Dung embalmed and buried the unfortunate fetuses.

In 2018, during a visit to the old Kon Tum City People's Cemetery, Mr. Dung was silent before the small, cold graves. The question kept haunting his mind: "Besides the babies lying here, how many souls have not been buried? If no one takes care of them, what will happen to them?". At that moment, he determined to start the journey of collecting and burying fetuses. His first trip was to Sa Thay District (old) to receive a 5-month-old fetus. When he opened the bag, his hands trembled, the baby's body was complete but not once did he cry. His heart felt like it was being squeezed. "At that moment, I understood that this was not just charity, but my mission," he recalled with emotion.

In the early days, Mr. Dung did everything by himself, from searching, receiving, digging graves, burying... He took care of all expenses himself, even had to borrow money. Not everyone understood, some felt sorry, some advised him to give up, but every time he saw an abandoned fetus, he could not bear it. Gradually, his work touched the hearts of the community.

In 2018, the Hoa Tam Fetus Fund was established with 26 members, with him as the group leader. Every month, on the 16th day of the lunar calendar, they go together to the cemetery to burn incense and arrange flowers for more than 3,000 fetal graves in 7 separate grave areas. Each grave is numbered and carefully recorded so that parents can visit if they want. To him, those thousands of graves are thousands of children, and his greatest wish is that no fetus is abandoned in the middle of life.

Hành trình gieo mầm yêu thương - Ảnh 2. — Mr. Dung gives gifts to lonely elderly people

More than a decade of sowing the seeds of charity

Born and raised in Kon Tum (old), where many ethnic minorities live, Mr. Dung's childhood was associated with thatched roofs, slippery red dirt roads in the rainy season and dirty faces but clear eyes. He understood that poverty is not only a lack of rice and clothes, but also gaps in knowledge, the precariousness of people who do not know where to turn.

In 2012, he started his volunteer journey with trucks loaded with instant noodles and white rice, transported to Plei Ngol Yo village, Ia Chim commune. Those were trips regardless of sun or rain, through bumpy roads that often had to stop so everyone could push the trucks through the mud. But every time he arrived, seeing the bright smiles of the villagers when receiving bags of rice and boxes of noodles, he felt light-hearted, all his fatigue disappeared. From those first trips, his footprints gradually left their mark in remote villages.

Hành trình gieo mầm yêu thương - Ảnh 3. — Giving gifts to students in difficult circumstances

In 2016, with the desire to do more for the community, he established the "Grain of Loving Rice" program, regularly supporting 20 lonely elderly people in Dak Bla Ward and Dak Ro Wa Commune. Not only sending rice, noodles or necessities, he also regularly visited and talked to them to help them feel less lonely. Also in that year, he initiated the "Green Seeds" Fund, sponsoring 5 poor but studious students, helping them have money to buy books, uniforms and maintain their studies. In 2018, witnessing many sick people in remote areas without timely means of emergency care, he established the "Zero-dong Ambulance" team. Initially, there was only one car, operating thanks to contributions from friends, but now the team has grown to 5 cars, regularly taking patients to major hospitals in Gia Lai and Da Nang . His team is also connected with many volunteer groups across the country, forming a network of emergency support for people.

Not stopping there, in 2022, he launched the "House of Charity" project for people in remote areas in Dak La commune, Mang Den commune, and Duc Nong commune with new, spacious houses to replace makeshift, dilapidated houses, helping people live in peace. In the same year, he contributed to building schools in border areas such as Mo Rai commune and some communes of Kon Plong district (old) so that children here have a solid school roof, strong against the sun and rain.

Hành trình gieo mầm yêu thương - Ảnh 4. — Mr. Dung *(4th from right)* and the volunteer group handed over a charity house to a family in difficult circumstances.

Despite the many difficulties, Nguyen Anh Dung has persistently sowed the seeds of charity on every step of the way. These silent actions not only spread love but also contribute to building a humane and kind society.

To live is to give

Mr. Dung did all of the above in silence. No banners, no social media buzz, just the continuous trips and smiles of the people being helped. For him, the greatest reward is the moment when he sees an old person enjoying peace of mind in their old age, a child continuing to go to school, or a patient receiving timely treatment. He believes that if everyone joins in a little, unfortunate lives will have more opportunities to change.

Hành trình gieo mầm yêu thương - Ảnh 5. — Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung received the title "Youth of Beautiful Living 2022"

Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung always keeps a simple but powerful reminder for himself: "While you are still young, give your all, don't hesitate or calculate." For him, the most valuable reward is not measured by money or fame, but the moment an old man smiles when receiving a bag of rice, the clear eyes of a child when wearing a new shirt, and the peace when a small creature is warmed and freed from loneliness. With his lasting contributions to society, Mr. Nguyen Anh Dung was awarded the title "Beautifully Living Youth of 2022" by the Vietnam Youth Union of Kon Tum province (old).

On his journey of sowing seeds of charity, Nguyen Anh Dung has never counted how many villages he has passed, how many fetuses he has brought home, or how many houses of charity he has built. For him, every smile, every grateful look, every soul that is laid to rest is a part of the memory to carry with him for the rest of his life. For him, each trip carrying his "child" to the cemetery is not only a journey to close a short human life, but also opens a loving embrace to embrace pain and sorrow. From the highlands of the mountain town, the story of "Ba Dung" spread like a fire warming the belief in kindness. Among the rows of small graves arranged neatly, that silent father will continue to watch over the sleep of the angels who have not yet had a chance to cry when they are born.