KRAFTY PAGE CHRONICLES · ISSUE 3 · INTERNATIONAL VOICES
Neighbourly Love in Vietnam
Vinh Nguyen · Vietnam
Read the original contribution as text
ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTION · VIETNAM
Neighbourly Love in Vietnam
In Vietnam, the bond between neighbours is an enduring warmth, one that people lean on most in times of sorrow. In a small village, a funeral revealed this truth: when darkness falls, no one is left alone.
Today, a single phone call can arrange everything. Yet in the Vietnamese countryside, it is still the neighbours who come. From early morning, they gather without being asked. One sets up the tent, another cooks, others take care of the rites. No one complains, no one holds back. Their soft words of comfort ease the family’s grief. When the procession begins, a long, orderly line follows, full of respect, full of shared feeling.
When it is over, the family visits each home to give thanks, inviting everyone to a simple meal. Only a few stay, those who carried the heaviest burdens. They sit for a while, share a small drink, speak quietly, then take their leave.
What remains most precious is this: in Vietnam, even amid the weight of daily life, neighborly love endures. The funeral ends, but kindness lingers. Help given from the heart asks for nothing in return, and that is the lasting beauty of true community.
VINH NGUYEN (Vietnam)
PERSONAL CULTURAL REFLECTION
What Vietnam Is Teaching Me About Community
By Nelly Vee
My introduction to Vietnamese culture began through Võ Thị Như Mai, a fellow writer from Vietnam whose friendship and cultural perspective have opened another window into a world I am still learning about.
I have always believed that culture is more than the place where we were born. It is also reflected in how we treat people, how we remember those who came before us, and how we respond when someone needs us.
Reading Vinh Nguyen’s Neighbourly Love in Vietnam gave me another opportunity to think about those beliefs.
What stood out to me was not simply that neighbours came together to support a grieving family. It was that they knew what needed to be done and acted without waiting to be asked. Some prepared food. Others helped with arrangements. Each person contributed what they could.
That kind of responsibility is familiar to me.
Growing up with Caribbean cultural influences, I came to understand that neighbours could become an extension of family. People checked on one another, shared what they had, and showed up during difficult moments. There was a sense that another person’s hardship was not always theirs to carry alone.
Of course, the Caribbean and Vietnam have different histories, traditions, and ways of expressing community. I would not pretend that one story represents an entire country. But I am beginning to recognize something meaningful in the similarities.
Different cultures can teach us familiar values in unfamiliar ways.
Vinh’s account also made me question how easily modern convenience can replace personal involvement. We have more ways to communicate than ever before, yet communication does not always mean connection. A message can express concern, but there are moments when someone needs more than words.
What I am learning so far about Vietnam is not limited to its customs or beautiful cultural traditions. Through the people and stories I have encountered, I am discovering how deeply ordinary acts of care can communicate respect, belonging, and shared humanity.
I am grateful to Võ Thị Như Mai for helping introduce me to another cultural perspective, and to Vinh Nguyen for offering a glimpse into the neighbourly relationships described in his community.
I still have much to learn about Vietnam. That is precisely why I value these exchanges. They remind me to listen before making assumptions, to appreciate differences without exaggerating them, and to recognize the humanity we share.
For me, that is one of the most important things literature can do. It allows us to encounter another person’s world and return to our own with a little more understanding.
Nelly Vee · Founder, KVI Network Creations
About the Contributor
Vinh Nguyen contributed Neighbourly Love in Vietnam to the KVI Network international literary collection. The submission explores neighborly care and shared responsibility in a Vietnamese village. Further biographical information has not been verified.
References and Further Reading
Vinh Nguyen, Neighbourly Love in Vietnam, original contributor manuscript, KVI Network Creations, 2026.
Editorial research note: No independent online biography has been verified for this contributor. Other writers sharing the name Vinh Nguyen have not been attributed to this submission.
