Tet is about reunion and love sharing

In the days leading up to Tet, Khuong Ha Communal House (Khuong Dinh, Ha Noi) feels livelier than usual. In the spacious courtyard, a small stage has been set up. There are not only red banners bearing the warm message “Tet of Compassion”, but also fresh green dong leaves, glutinous rice and mung beans carefully prepared. From early morning, dozens of members of the Khuong Dinh Ward Intergenerational Self-Help Club have gathered, ready to wrap banh chung for those in hardship. The activity has become an annual tradition of the club every Tet.

Sharing about the meaningful programme, Dao Thi Hoa, head of the club, said that each year members contribute funds and mobilise support from benefactors to purchase ingredients. Every year, the club wraps hundreds of banh chung to present to members, elderly people living alone, people with disabilities and disadvantaged households in the ward.

During the wrapping session, students from the British Vietnamese International School Ha Noi took part directly from folding leaf moulds and measuring rice to wrapping the cakes and tending the fire with the older members. Many of them wrapped banh chung by hand for the first time, listening to stories about Tet in earlier days and the meaning of the traditional cake, closely associated with the spirit of community sharing.

Teacher Nguyen Hoai Phuong of the British Vietnamese International School Ha Noi said the school has maintained regular exchanges with the Khuong Dinh Ward club over the past five years. Students not only experience wrapping banh chung and learn about traditional Tet, but also talk and share with older people about Tet memories. The communal house courtyard has become a place that connects generations where Tet traditions are preserved and passed on in a close and vivid way.

From Khuong Ha Communal House, freshly boiled banh chung were delivered by club members to the homes of disadvantaged members. On the occasion of Tet, the club mobilised benefactors and delivered 11 gift packages, including banh chung and cash, to help families welcome the holiday.

Among the families receiving Tet gifts this year was Pham Thi Hien (52, from Phu Tho Province), who is currently living temporarily in Khuong Dinh Ward. More than 10 years ago, when she first came to Ha Noi, life was extremely difficult for her and her children. Without stable work, she took any job available, living day to day in a cramped and deteriorating rented room. In 2021, the club supported her with a 20 million VND loan. She initially used it for small trading and, after building more capital, shifted to selling clothes online. Her family’s life has since gradually stabilised: her eldest child has completed university and now has stable employment, while her second child, now 10, is attending a local primary school.

Pham Thi Hien (in green) receives Tet gifts from the club.

Receiving a pair of hot banh chung and the club’s Tet gifts, Hien said she was deeply moved. She said the initial support and ongoing encouragement helped her gain confidence and build a livelihood for the long term, and she expressed her gratitude to the club members for staying by her side.

Established in 2018, the Khuong Dinh Ward Intergenerational Self-Help Club has so far mobilised hundreds of millions of VND, providing loans to 12 members to develop small businesses, with each loan ranging from 10 to 20 million VND. The club has also offered timely assistance to members facing particularly difficult circumstances, especially those who are ill and undergoing treatment.

Nguyen Thi Tu, Deputy Head of the Department for Promoting the Role of Older People under the Central Committee of Viet Nam Association of the Elderly, said that over the years the Khuong Dinh Ward club has maintained the banh chung-wrapping activity in a proactive and effective way, helping members in hardship so that everyone can enjoy a fuller and warmer Tet.

There are currently more than 9,000 Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs nationwide, serving as an important channel for grassroots social welfare. From Lang Son to Ca Mau, clubs actively support members and disadvantaged families during Tet. Alongside wrapping banh chung, they also run Tet markets to raise funds for gifts and mobilise benefactors.

According to Nguyen Thi Tu, Intergenerational Self-Help Clubs function as an extended arm of the Central Committee of Viet Nam Association of the Elderly at the grassroots level. For Binh Ngo Tet, the association called for and mobilised nearly 20 billion VND to provide gifts to older people across the country, including disadvantaged members of these clubs nationwide.