Nguyen Hoai Thanh with his volunteer journey to build rural bridges

Mr. Thanh (right cover) and his group members have built more than 100 bridges for free in the Western provinces.

From small dreams

Growing up in a poor countryside with a network of rivers, Nguyen Hoai Thanh, more than anyone else, was familiar with the sight of people in the countryside having to cross rivers on monkey bridges. Adults were fine, but children had to drop out of school because they fell into the river every day. So the dream of having concrete bridges and temporary bridges for his hometown began to grow in Thanh's heart since he was still a book boy.

Mr. Nguyen Hoai Thanh recalls: “In the past, from Thanh’s house to Cau Mong market through Hoa An commune, there were 5 bridges. Every time I went to school and saw my aunts and uncles fall, I couldn’t help but feel sad. From then on, I wanted to grow up and build concrete bridges so that people could travel more easily.”
The dream became a reality when Mr. Thanh started to mobilize people, friends and local authorities to join hands to build the first bridges. This person gave a few million, another contributed materials, labor days, the local authorities supported the method. Just like that, Mr. Thanh built bridges in the hamlet, in the commune, then to neighboring localities and spread out to other provinces.

According to Mr. Thanh, whenever he hears about a dilapidated bridge, he and other members are ready to go there to survey and mobilize everyone to do it together. Just like that, over the past ten years, Mr. Thanh has helped to complete more than 100 rural bridges in the Western provinces from Dong Thap to Hau Giang (old) and Bac Lieu (old). Each bridge costs an average of about 250 million VND.

What worried Mr. Thanh the most in the early days was not the lack of capital or materials, but the worry that he did not have enough professional knowledge about bridges and roads to do it properly and firmly. Because for him, each bridge is not only a traffic project but also the trust, the heart of the benefactor and the desire of the people. Therefore, he always put technical responsibility first, personally drawing up the drawings, calculating the structure, assigning reasonable and clear human resources to each member, so as to save maximum costs while still ensuring quality. Each stone, each bag of cement is carefully considered to save maximum capital while still ensuring quality.

To volunteer

As one of the workers who worked alongside Mr. Thanh in the journey of building bridges and volunteer roads for the rural people, Mr. Pham Van Truoc in Hoa An commune, Can Tho city, shared: "Up to now, I have never heard Mr. Thanh scold or nag any of us. If we did not do it right, Mr. Thanh only reminded us to learn from our experience. The happiest thing is that when the project was completed, the local people were very excited and praised the whole group."

Mr. Thanh said: “Now I have 3 teams including a charity house building team, a road building team and a bridge building team, a total of about 18 brothers. Some of the projects are with me, others are home to do family things or work for hire. When there is work, we gather together. The salary is only 220,000-250,000 VND/person/day, both working and doing charity work.”

Not only having the support of friends and philanthropists, Mr. Thanh is fortunate to have a strong family as his backing. His parents not only support him but are also proud that their son is loved by the people.

“My parents know that I do this with a volunteer spirit, so they not only agree but also accompany and share. People who take care of work outside the home will inevitably have to face difficulties. Therefore, without a solid support system, it is difficult for me to wholeheartedly devote myself to working outside. I am lucky to have my parents' love and understanding,” Thanh confided.

Thanks to that support, Mr. Thanh not only builds bridges, but also spreads the spirit of volunteering to other works such as building houses for poor households, making roads for remote communes. Each project he contributes to is imbued with humanity, made with diligence, enthusiasm and the desire to bring a better life to those who are still in need.

Nguyen Hoai Thanh’s journey to connect the two banks is a series of days of hard work for the community. For him, building bridges is not only to connect the two banks but also to connect the hearts of volunteers. And above all, it is to sow the belief that wherever there are difficulties, there are still people willing to give.

Article and photos: MONG TOAN

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/nguyen-hoai-thanh-voi-hanh-trinh-thien-nguyen-xay-cau-nong-thon-a192781.html