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Todays note is written by Chinh, One of our extraordinary team members. Please enjoy and as always if led to write a note of encouragement please do> I will be sure to forward.
I sometimes imagine that 7.7 billion people in this world are going on a road to the future. Surely people from America and other western countries would be in the top leading group, fast forward with the amazing support of technology and many other means. Meanwhile, I see those from poor countries at the end of the road, struggling to take step by step and trying to catch up with those at the front. Many of them are children, the innocent and weak ones that always need our help.
Recently, thanks to some donors, GIBTK has contacted some local governments to know more about students' needs for bikes and we were so surprised discovering that many children of all ages have to walk 20 to 30 minutes or even one hour to get to school. Therefore, immediately, hundreds of bike were given to them. You probably have heard us saying this many times, but I think I need to say this again, "A bike is not solely a bike or a means of transportation. It is the happiness, the thing that helps shorten the distance to school of poor kids and lengthen their path to a better future." We hope that with these bikes, kids can spend their energy on learning, not walking too far to school, like what the little boy Nham from Hiep Duc district has been through.
"After arriving at my class, I take a few minutes to breath. I did ask my mom for a bike but she was silent." I went through the same situation back when I was a kid, so I guess I can understand what that "silence" means. It is the powerlessness of a mother knowing that her kid is suffering, but she could not say "yes" because she does not have the money. Painfully at the same time, she cannot say "no" either, as she does not want to hurt her child's feeling or maybe she feels bad when she cannot give the kid what she/he needs, so she just keeps silent.
We also hope that with the new bike, Quyen, an eight-grader from Chu Van An secondary school in Hiep Duc district, won't be late for school. His old bike bought since he was in grade 3 is broken often, especially the bike chain, so he usually has to stop for a while to fix it during his way to school.
Another child named Hoa receiving her bike from GIBTK lights up his father's eyes, the one who always feels sorry for letting his little girl walk for two kilometers to school. There were many other stories that we cannot tell you enough about. Covid-19 is messing up our lives, but it also gives us a chance to slow down, to look back to those behind us, to open our eyes and see that there are still many disadvantaged people needing our help. Some people may think, "Come on, I have heard enough, please leave me alone. I cannot even take care of my own family!" I must admit that I used to have the same thinking, but have you ever wondered why humans always live in groups or societies since the day we appeared on this planet? The answer is "United we stand, divided we fall." Together we have helped each other get through disasters, enemies, epidemic, wars and so on.
Recently, on Vietnam YouTube and social network, there is a song that goes viral and I would like to end my journal by quoting one sentence from its lyrics, "When we have to keep distance, our hearts grow closer" Let's stand together and give hands to the weak ones so that no one is left behind, even in this difficult time!
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