Over 5,000 people participated in a walk in Ho Chi Minh City to support Agent Orange victims and poor disabled people on Saturday morning.

Held at Dam Sen Park in District 11, the event was organized by the humanitarian organization Vietnam Red Cross Society’s Ho Chi Minh City chapter, Vietnam Television Center, and Dam Sen Park, among others.

The event celebrated the Vietnam Red Cross Society’s Agent Orange Day (August 10), as well as World Humanitarian Day (August 19) themed “Connect, Share, and Spread."

In addition to praising role models living with Agent Orange or disabilities who were able to overcome their challenges, the organizing committee gave away wheelchairs and presents to Agent Orange victims and disabled people in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thousands of participants set out on Saturday morning to walk a distance of almost three kilometers around Thuy Ta Lake, while some also made donations to a fund aimed at taking care of and improving the lives of the disabled and those affected by Agent Orange.

Tran Quoc Hung, deputy director of the Vietnam Red Cross Society, Vo Thi Dung, deputy secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee, and To Thi Bich Chau, chair of the Vietnamese Fatherland Front’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City, also joined the walk.

“Please do not forget them - Whoever you are, no matter what place in society you are holding, your contribution for victims of Agent Orange and poor disabled people gives them great belief in life!” said the message the event wanted to convey.

“Everybody is born and raised with love,” Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang, a participant who brought her four-year-old daughter to the walk, said.

“Only love and sharing can help a person to live happily before they grow old,” Thuy said, adding that she brought her daughter so that she could learn how to sympathize and share with others.

The walk for Agent Orange victims and the disabled in 2018 raised over VND1 billion (US$44,000) in donations accounting.

The Vietnam Red Cross Society is a member of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and has its headquarters in Hanoi.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization which was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and to prevent and alleviate human suffering.

Here are some photos of the walk in Ho Chi Minh City:

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