Voulunteer at Hoi Nu Cuoi Viet 2019 - 2025
I have been volunteering with Hội Nụ Cười Việt since 2019 — long enough to realize that kindness is not measured by how much you give, but by how consistently you show up.
There was nothing glamorous about the work. No staged photos, no certificates, no applause. Just early Sunday mornings — the sound of pots clanging, rice porridge simmering, hands moving in quiet coordination. Week after week, I stirred the same pots, packed the same containers, rode the same delivery route to hospitals across Hanoi.
At first, I thought I was there to help feed people. Over time, I learned I was there to be fed with perspective.
Charity is not about solving problems. It’s about reminding people they haven’t been forgotten.
There is a moment I will never forget: an elderly woman, too weak to speak, pressed her palms together in gratitude. She had no strength for words — yet her silence carried more weight than any thank-you I had ever received.
That was when I stopped seeing volunteering as an activity — and started seeing it as a commitment.
Not an event.
Not a one-time act.
But a promise — to keep showing up, even when no one is watching.
Because real impact isn’t loud. It’s steady.