29 years old, Thieu Duong, Thieu Hoa, Thanh Hoa 135
Hundreds of people with disabilities surrounded me at the Thanh Hoa wheelchair distribution ceremony, each with their own specific needs. I made my way to the corner of the hall, where I met a gentle young woman: Mrs Tran Thi Binh. Her eyes were dark and lively, making me wonder what emotion was contained behind their veil.
Mrs. Binh was born in 1979. Her twin sister died at birth and Mrs.Binh was left paralyzed. Her father passed away in 2006 after a long battle with toxic chemical poisoning; a consequence of his soldiering in Cambodia. It was believed that these poisons were passed onto his children, leaving Mrs Binh in her current position.
It was with joy that Mrs. Binh revealed that she has an 18 month old son. As I asked about his father she just smiled sadly with a shake of head. The ungrateful husband could not stand a life of poverty with a disabled wife and had left, with no promise of return.
“Sometimes I feel so much self pity, and so disadvantaged that I just want to burst into tears!” Mrs Binh told me. “However I have to try to fight and overcome my difficulties because I must stand on my own feet to bring up my son.”
Mrs Binh’s most fervent inner wish is to gain stable employment so that she can bring up her son and support him through school like other normal children. Needless to say, her son is her future; the most significant aspect in her life.
The wheelchair will help her to hold her son and carry him around the house more easily, feed him and do other errands if possible. She said that this was the first time she had ever received such a valued gift and she would keep it forever.
I am so pleased for her that this gift will allow her to bring up her son, and I only hope that her son will grow into a young man deserving of his mother’s sacrifices. If he is anything like his mother, I am sure that he will.
Mrs. Binh was born in 1979. Her twin sister died at birth and Mrs.Binh was left paralyzed. Her father passed away in 2006 after a long battle with toxic chemical poisoning; a consequence of his soldiering in Cambodia. It was believed that these poisons were passed onto his children, leaving Mrs Binh in her current position.
It was with joy that Mrs. Binh revealed that she has an 18 month old son. As I asked about his father she just smiled sadly with a shake of head. The ungrateful husband could not stand a life of poverty with a disabled wife and had left, with no promise of return.
“Sometimes I feel so much self pity, and so disadvantaged that I just want to burst into tears!” Mrs Binh told me. “However I have to try to fight and overcome my difficulties because I must stand on my own feet to bring up my son.”
Mrs Binh’s most fervent inner wish is to gain stable employment so that she can bring up her son and support him through school like other normal children. Needless to say, her son is her future; the most significant aspect in her life.
The wheelchair will help her to hold her son and carry him around the house more easily, feed him and do other errands if possible. She said that this was the first time she had ever received such a valued gift and she would keep it forever.
I am so pleased for her that this gift will allow her to bring up her son, and I only hope that her son will grow into a young man deserving of his mother’s sacrifices. If he is anything like his mother, I am sure that he will.
Interviewed and written by Mai Nga, Edited by Jodie-Lee Trembath
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