The Journey of Heart season 2: Sharing Love

07/05/2020

Continuing the "Journey of Heart" campaign in Season 1, Khang Thanh packaging company's volunteers returned to Kon Rong, Vietnam with deeper understanding and perspectives on the local lives here. More than 10,000 notebooks, 200 gifts, and 1,000 warm clothes were sent to the Bana ethnic brothers on the cold days of December 2019.

"Journey of Heart" - The journey of sharing Love

1. From the bare footprints

Have you ever realized that the ordinary things we receive every day are a luxury gift to others? When we think of "dress up and good food", the dreams of the children here are simply enough food to eat and enough clothes to wear.

In the cold weather of 15 degrees of highland mountains, children in Kon Rong carefreely play and run on the group without shoes. Their footprints were on every road, from the gravel road, the dusty ashes, to the terraced, red soil steps.

Despite the harsh and deprived life, she was still sleeping peacefully on her mother's back.

“Hey barefoot. Hey barefoot
Sleep well, baby, on mom's back, listening to the song
The words of the small stream, the words of the far mountain
Oh oh oh
Hey barefoot oh barefoot
Tomorrow when you grow up, follow father
Long distance wind dust road very far
Passionate about a lifetime”

2. To extend the dreams

Crossing the distance of 600km and 15 hours is not enough for us to fully understand and feel the lives of the Bana ethnic brothers in Kon Rong. However, we can easily recognize that Kon Rong children love learning.

They can practice writing anywhere and under any circumstances, just like this little girl is working hard on writing

And this 4-year-old girl is practicing to spell every word

We prepared 10,000 Khang Thanh notebooks to give Kon Rong students - a small job that can extend their dreams of learning

3. From warm hospitality

Kon Rong village is more than 60km from the national highway, so the lives of the people here seem to be completely separate from the outside world. For quite a long time, the front yard of Kon Rong village was full and bustling by the flickering fire, the sound of adults singing, children playing and dancing to the music.

The Kon Rong people welcome us with a jar of canned wine, a traditional dance of Bana. We shared the joy with dried squid, grilled fish and honey sweet potatoes

Their hospitality is gentle, yet that is fun and warm

4. To the shared love and happiness

Sharing can double happiness and divide sadness by half.

These gifts are just a necessity, but for Kon Rong people, they are valuable

The people of Kon Rong lined up to receive gifts, most of them were elderly

A piece of bread has become a delicious breakfast of this boy

This is the drinking water area of over 200 Kon Rong households

This small flame is the heating source for the children of Kon Rong under 15 degree weather

In the quiet morning, you can see the beauty even in the unexpected corners. The ordinary life scenes from life suddenly become poetic when we look with the eye of love.

The second "Journey of the Heart" has ended, leaving us with a bigger question: Have we loved and treasured the simple things around?

Read more: Journey of Heart diary - April date with Kon Rong, Vietnam

Khang Thanh