Each "rice ATM" consists of an upper storage tank and a pull-down pipe system. An intelligent control system is also set up, people receive rice by pressing the button, and rice will be poured out. In each press, the receiver will receive two kilograms of rice.
The people orderly line up waiting for their turn
From the early morning, many people in difficult circumstances, most of them are manual labor workers, Cyclo drivers, waste bottles collectors, and lottery ticket vendors, etc., stand in long queue at the locations of "rice ATM" machines. At each location, the functional force also arranges officials to guide people to stand apart from each other on the signs marked before so as to ensure the safety.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ty (50 years old, living at Xuan Phu Ward, Hue City) said that over the past two weeks, due to the impact of the epidemic, her job as a house cleaner had been interrupted. Her difficult life now faces many more obstacles and she struggles to find food for the whole family every single day. “To many people, this amount of rice is just nothing. But to my family, it is whole happiness. Just having rice to cook for meal, it is happy. Through this, I would like to express my gratitude to the philanthropists for supporting us, the poor people in this difficult time,” shared Ms. Ty.
For the cases of the elderly and young children, they are supported by volunteers and given priority to receive the rice first; or there are ready-made rice bags to be distributed to them immediately.
A representative of the charity group organizing the "rice ATM" program said that, up to that point, the "rice ATM" machines has worked very well. The people are also self-conscious and orderly wait in line to receive rice. In addition, hand sanitizer is prepared in each location for the people to wash their hands before receiving rice.
"By this time, there are more than 20 tons of rice supported for the "rice ATM" program in Hue by many philanthropists. Depending on the situation, the group can install some more machines at other locations. And the "rice ATMs" will be operated until rice runs out," shared the representative of the charity group.
Story and photo: P.T