The Congregation of the Lovers of the Holy Cross of My Tho is another religious group cooperating with the Hong An Association. The poor people being supported here are very special. The number of poor people is so large that the Hong An Association agreed to let the Sisters choose which poor people receive gifts every three months, based on the need. Besides the sick and elderly people, the Sisters help the lottery ticket sellers or bottle collectors.
The Hong An Association would like to tell the story of the poor people who sell lottery tickets on the streets. Most of them are elderly or disabled. Many of them sit on rickety hand quarts to move around.
Each lottery ticket sells for about 10,000 VND (~45 cents). The seller will earn 1,000 VND per ticket (~4.5 cents). Selling more or less depends on each person. Every day, they walk about 20 km (12 miles), wandering around town to sell tickets.
However, the lottery sellers’ worst fear is being followed and robbed of their tickets. There are thieves who dress in very nice clothes, sitting in nice cars, offering to buy more tickets. But when the seller gives out more tickets, the thieves snatch the tickets and run away. There is no way for these elderly or disabled ticket sellers to chase after them!
A second fear is that someone will fake a winning lottery ticket to exchange for money. If this happens, the sellers can only sit and cry over this sad situation. Many people said that: “Our life is already difficult because we have physical disabilities, and we are poor. But we still try to earn a living.”
Understanding this sad situation, the Sisters of My Tho Cross always pay more attention to the disabled and elderly who sell lottery tickets. The Sisters said they either have to wait until late evening, when the poor people come from work, or find them on the street and put the gifts directly on their hand carts. Upon receiving gifts from the Sisters, these poor people are very happy! The Sisters said, “seeing them happy, makes us happy.”
