Thousands of students get free eye checks under its For Children's Eyes programme.

HCM CITY — Having gone through a tough year, Việt Nam nowadays stays strong and resilient with many real-life fairy tales of sharing care, love and support.

Installing rice ‘ATMs’ was one of the most amazing initiatives to help needy people overcome hunger when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out.

Leading insurer Prudential Vietnam will continue to instal rice ATMs in many affected provinces this year.

A machine that dispenses free rice has become a familiar sight to Vietnamese people these days.

Those who need can come and get a bagful of rice from a small silo, while those who can help by donating rice or cash. This is how workers, street hawkers and people who earn a living from cash-in-hand jobs like housekeeping and selling lottery tickets overcome this most difficult period.

Prudential has teamed up with Red Cross Vietnam to instal the machines in various places around the country. It launched the programme on December 22 in the Mekong Delta province of An Giang with support from the local Red Cross unit.

A free rice dispensing machine installed by Prudential in An Giang

Machines were installed in six communes in Long Xuyên, and thousands of people living in difficult circumstances are expected to benefit from them.

Looking back upon the early phase of Covid-19 and the unending storms over the central coast, tonnes of free rice was quickly dispensed to people in badly affected areas like Đà Nẵng, Thừa Thiên Huế, Quảng Nam, Quảng Trị, and Quảng Bình by Prudential volunteers.

Besides the company’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Response Fund, the money for this mainly came from employees and agents. Every individual extends their helps to make every contribution counted.

It was a month of tragedy with the places barely recovering from the economic impacts of a renewed outbreak of the pandemic before they were hit by historic floods and landslides brought about by a succession of storms.

Thừa Thiên Huế was severely hit and suffered great loss of life and property.

As soon as local authorities allowed travel, Prudential was present in Huế to dispense rice, help affected households recover and share in the loss of 13 military rescue personnel who perished in the deadly Rào Trăng 3 Hydropower Plant landslide.

Two of them were Prudential customers.

Students at a primary school participate in the SAFE STEPS Kids Road Safety campaign.

Besides completing the claim process as quickly as possible, Prudential issued four policies to all children aged under 18 in the two families to support the continuation of their education and give them a better future.

A tough year has passed, but its effects have not. There are places in the country where people are involved in a constant struggle to earn a livelihood. No one should have to die because of hunger.

Prudential will instal rice ATMs in places like Bình Phước, Hà Giang, Yên Bái and many other provinces in 2021.

This year marks the 22nd since Prudential came to Việt Nam. It has always contributed to the development of Vietnamese society through a number of practical and meaningful projects.

The three main pillars it focuses on are education, healthy living and safety. Besides continuing to instal rice ATMs to succour vulnerable sections, this year Prudential will also continue with two other programmes, both targeted at children, Cha Ching and Safe Step Road Safety.

The Cha Ching curriculum is expected to be taught in many more primary schools to provide students aged seven to 11 with basic knowledge of financial management through four essential skills: Earn, Spend, Save, and Donate.

The other programme, Safe Step Road Safety, aims to raise children’s awareness of traffic safety, donate helmets and facilitating infrastructure repair of schools located in dangerous areas in terms of traffic.

Prudential has been listening to, understanding and delivering the needs of communities since it first entered the market, and continues to carry out its mission of helping people get the most out of their lives.