Beautiful just the way you are: Australian motivational speaker Nick Vujicic on Sunday spoke to 500 disadvantaged children from HCM City and neighbouring provinces. — Photo courtesy of Ton Hoa Sen

HCM CITY  (VNS) — "You are a part of beauty of this world. You are beautiful just the way who you are. Don't give up. You are created for greatness," Nick Vujicic told an audience of 500 disadvantaged children in a speech given on Sunday.

Australian limbless and motivational speaker Vujicic spoke as part of the 2015 Vietnamese Energetic People Shining programme titled Nick, You and Me.

"Everyone has different occupation and dream. We all look different. We all have different things. You are the only you in the whole world."

"You know the truth that you are beautiful. It doesn't matter how you look," he said. "It is about the person."

"I want you to start love yourself. Do not hate yourself. Do not put yourself down. Do not worry about fear in your life. If you have a difficult time, do not give up. Tell friends what you are going through, and tell members in your family what you are going through."

"Money does not make you happy. Trying to change yourself doesn't make you happy. Find a good friend. Be a good friend. You take every step toward direction of a future and hope. Take one step one time."

Tu Thanh Thuy of Can Tho, who was abandoned when she was 10 days old, said she admired Vujicic and attended all his talks in Viet Nam. He inspired her and gave her the strength to carry out her dream trip through the country to raise funds for gender violence prevention.

The programme was broadcast live on HTV7 channel. It is organised by Viet Nam Youth Federation in co-operation with Hoa Sen Group and HCM City Police newspaper in HCM City, the central province of Nghe An and southeastern province of Dong Nai.

This is Vujicic's third trip to Viet Nam. During his previous trips, local people were impressed about his energy and persistence. — VNS