By XAVIER SMERDON
TWO western suburbs women have taken their passion for helping others to the eastern coast of Vietnam.
Werribee’s Marelyn McDonald and her friend Margaret Morrison from Taylors Lakes have been travelling to Hoi An in Vietnam once a year for the last four years.
Together they deliver rice, clothes and toys to families struggling to live day to day.
“When they see us coming they are just so excited,” Ms McDonald said.
“We just love being with those people and we’re so happy when we’re over there.”
Ms McDonald, who has been visiting Vietnam for 11 years herself, said initially she and Margaret had funded their own charity trips to Vietnam.
But now that friends and family members had started to realise what they were doing, donations of clothes and toys have been flowing freely.
“It makes your heart swell,” Ms Morrison said.
“I used to feel guilty for feeling so good about it. We’re just doing what we can do.
“To give someone a 10 kilogram bag of rice is like winning the tattslotto for that family if you could see their faces.”
The pair’s yearly journey has since grown and they have even become volunteer handywomen, repairing the roof of an elderly woman’s severely damaged house.
“It makes us happy to see how appreciative they are,” Ms McDonald said.
“We’ve got it all here in Australia and we’re just trying to give to people that haven’t got as much as us.”
The ladies are expecting to return to Vietnam in May or June this year and they said they intend to continue spreading joy for many years to come.
