Wonderful journey of loving kitchen
There are only 10 members, including 5 lecturers and their relatives, operating the philanthropists’ loving kitchen of the Faculty of Tourism and Vietnamese Studies of Nguyen Tat Thanh University for more than 4 months. Lots of positive energy and emotions are spread from this loving kitchen.
The class hall becomes the space of loving kitchen
At 6 am, the kitchen started, the lecturers were busy in receiving ingredients, preliminary processing and cooking, then at noon, they would pack and delivery. Mr. Pham Phuc Loi, a lecturer of the Faculty of Tourism and Vietnamese Studies, also the writter of the words on the lunch box, said: “Every day, the loving kitchen provides about 300 – 400 meals sent to patients, doctors and nurses at the covid-19 field hospital. It is really not easy for people who are not familiar with cooking to have delicious dishes in large quantities. At the beginning, there were some small accidents during the cooking and preparation, but lecturers in the kitchen tried to support each other.”
Thousands of lunch boxes with caring words were sent to frontline doctors and nurses against the epidemic and many other recipients
After cooking and preparing food into each lunch box, Mr. Loi will take time to write down on the cover of 20 lunch boxes with words of love, encouragement and sharing to doctors and patients. So in addition to “seasoning” the food, Mr. Loi “seasoned” more optimism and cheers sending to recipients with the hope that they could overcome difficulties and illnesses. The action is small, but it has a strong impact on the community, bringing positive energy during difficult days in the pandemic.
The words with full of love and hilarity on the lunch boxes for patients, frontline doctors against the epidemic were written in this kitchen which is also the class hall of students in Restaurant & Catering Management of the Faculty of Tourism and Vietnamese Studies. Lecturers who are only used to holding pens, holding chalk or working in the fields of art and creativity but also now become main chefs while still completing their teaching tasks.
The end of a fully emotional journey
The city has eased the lockdown, a new academic year has just begun, and lecturers have to return to their jobs, so the loving Kitchen must stop working. Being with the kitchen from the very beginning, MSc. Phan Thi Ngan, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Tourism and Vietnamese Studies, touchedly shared: “Through the journey of loving Saigon in general and loving kitchen in particular, we have learned lots of how to love and give, all members learn to work with a high sense of self-discipline, time management and more effectively working. This is really a valuable experience that gives us many new perspectives and lessons that I think not everyone has the opportunity to experience. We really appreciate this volunteering time.”
The journey of food boxes with caring words has ended with a lot of joy and happiness
This special journey also gave them the opportunity to work together and stick together as a family. It is also a bond that connects colleagues, which is not always the opportunity to care for each other in a special way like this. What lecturers received in that short journey was the love of everyone for them which is small but meaningful and kindred. That journey has been nurtured and stemmed from the educational environment that is the cradle of the “Sharing love” tradition that Nguyen Tat Thanh University has built on its educational foundation.
The loving kitchen has ended its mission, but the fire of that kitchen continues spreading positive energy to everyone.