For many years, Venerable Thích Minh Hạnh, Abbot of Thien Thoi Pagoda in Soc Trang province’s Ke Sach district has been called as bridge builder for his contributions to the construction of concrete bridges in rural areas.
So far, Venerable Thích Minh Hạnh has mobilized resources from sponsors and devotees for building nearly 200 concrete bridges.
He also has a wish to complete 1,000 concrete bridges for people in the remote and mountainous regions in the Mekong River delta.
Recently, a new bridge with 2,5m wide and 28m long in Ke Sach district’s Phong Nam commune was inaugurated after one month of construction, with a total cost of nearly VND 100 billion and 300 working days. Venerable Thích Minh Hạnh himself designed this bridge and supervised its construction.
Venerable Thích Minh Hạnh is not constructor and he has learnt construction skills by himself and accumulated experiences from the construction of first concrete bridges.
As reported, the new bridge is the 4th bridge in Phong Nam commune’s Phong Phu village and also the 24th bridge built by the Venerable in 2016. The bridge connects three schools in Phong Nam commune, including Phong Nam kindergartener and primary schools of Phong Thoi and Phong Nam.
According to Buddhist Phan Kim Nhẹ, one of the Venerable’s collaborators in building concrete bridges, the construction cost for each bridge is only half of what would be paid to a construction company. It’s because with his call for support, working labors for the bridge construction were provided for granted, so he only had to pay for constructing materials.
Sharing about his work, Venerable Thích Minh Hạnh said that the most important thing is the loving kindness and he himself can’t build any bridge alone. With loving kindness, he has successfully asked for supports from local authorities and residents, as well as from devotees across the country.
Vice Chairman of Soc Trang provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee Phạm Thị Trinh stated that the concrete bridges built by Venerable Thích Minh Hạnh replacing wooden bridges have made great contributions to rural transportation in the province, and practically helped poverty reduction and hunger eradication in the locality.
Acknowledging his practical contributions in social, charitable activities, Venerable Thích Minh Hạnh received the Second-class Labour Medal from the Vietnam President in 2015 and the Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister in 2014.
TP (daidoanket.vn)
