As you know, the Hong An Association has two main programs:
– Hong An Rice Program for the elderly and for the sick/disabled people with no ability to work. These people will be given rice/food by the Sisters each month or once every three months. They are usually close to the Sisters’ locality, within a few kilometers. From the very beginning, the Hong An Association invited many congregations in different areas to collaborate so that more poor people could be supported.
– The “Long Journeys” Program: By the end of the year, if there are still some funds left, the Hong An Association will provide additional assistance for the nuns to travel long distances 
into remote areas that few people visit or help. Each of those trips is complicated and takes a lot of time to prepare, but the Sisters are happy and eager to go. Each congregation is assigned to different areas which allows for the program to expand and serve more poor people.
We invite you to read together a letter from the Daughters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in Nam-Dinh, after their return from one of these trips to a remote area:
Thank God for the safe trip. The journey is difficult on winding hills of more than 450 km. It takes nearly 10 hours. We departed at 6 o’clock in the evening and arrived 4 o’clock in the morning the next day. On this his trip, we took two vehicles:
– A 30-seat van, including many locals
– A 5-seat car for the Sisters
This time, we went to Bo To – Ta Lung Parish belonging to Lang Son Cao Bang Diocese. Everyone gathered in front of the parish to receive gifts. After that, we visited some families in the village. Most of them had a kitchen inside their homes. In winter they must be very cold because sometimes it snows in the area. But their houses are basic, flimsy, and with many holes!
On behalf of 450 families of the Tay and Lung ethnic minority groups, we would like to thank the Hong An Association. The people received rice, dried sea shrimp, fish sauce, noodles, and some clothes. This time we asked many parishioners to help. They rented a car, which allowed us to give more fish sauce and dried shrimp. Many of the poor people traveled from 40-45 km (about 30 miles) away just to pick up their gifts. This time we asked a group to make pho for those traveling such a long distance. Some of them even begged for a second bowl! Because of the dry land, they only grow corn. But they desperately need rice. When they do not have rice, they eat dried corn!
When we finished distributing the gifts, an old lady came over and said, “Give me a handful of rice, so I can cook hearty soup for the children to eat.” She is raising three orphans whose mother died. What a pitiful situation! We bought more rice and asked the parish priest to deliver it to her later. The parish priest here is very loving and cares for the poor.
We plan to go to two or three more places in Ha Giang and Son La (Song Ma) with the remaining funds from the Hong An Association. But we cannot go immediately because it is extremely far, and those areas experience heavy rains.
May God bless all of the benefactors and the Hong An Association.
Sincerely,
Sister M. Jean Bosco K.D.
