50 years old, Yen Chau, Tinh Gia, Thanh Hoa
When I attend the wheelchair distribution ceremonies in remote areas like Thanh Hoa there are a lot of situations that move me profoundly. I understand more clearly that the majority of our people are still poor and underdeveloped and that they have to struggle all their life just to earn their daily bread. Therefore the humanitarian donations of kind-hearted people, in conjunction with the important contributions from the government, are becoming more and more significant and invaluable.
One of the situations that I encountered on this occasion was that of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh who lives at Yen Chau village, Tinh Gia district. She is 50 years old and has never married. Ms.Thanh is paralyzed in both legs from a birth defect and still lives with her 72 year-old mother. In spite of her advanced years, Ms. Thanh is unable to do anything for herself, even her personal hygiene and self-caring. All the responsibility is borne on the shoulders of her mother who is getting older and weaker. Ms. Thanh has 3 brothers but they toil all year long over the salt fields just to earn enough for a daily meal, thus they cannot support her. Her mother is too old and weak to do farming work so the two women grow peanuts on the barren ground outside their dwelling to earn the little money they have to get by. One peanut crop gives them 200.000VND (approximately $12USD) every 4 months. They receive no government assistance. Hearing their stories, I could not imagine how they have survived on such little income, and said as much. Ms Thanh gave me a small smile: “We are not the only ones. You only need to look around you – we’re all in the same boat.” I felt such sympathy for her and all the other poor people who toil all day with the farm work to manage enough food to survive.
Hopefully the wheelchair will make her life easier. But situations like these help me to understand just how important these contributions are to people like Ms.Thanh and her mother. And it makes me hope, more fervently than ever, that the assistance will continue, and increase, in years to come.
Interviewed and written by Mai Nga, Edited by Jodie-Lee Trembath
One of the situations that I encountered on this occasion was that of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh who lives at Yen Chau village, Tinh Gia district. She is 50 years old and has never married. Ms.Thanh is paralyzed in both legs from a birth defect and still lives with her 72 year-old mother. In spite of her advanced years, Ms. Thanh is unable to do anything for herself, even her personal hygiene and self-caring. All the responsibility is borne on the shoulders of her mother who is getting older and weaker. Ms. Thanh has 3 brothers but they toil all year long over the salt fields just to earn enough for a daily meal, thus they cannot support her. Her mother is too old and weak to do farming work so the two women grow peanuts on the barren ground outside their dwelling to earn the little money they have to get by. One peanut crop gives them 200.000VND (approximately $12USD) every 4 months. They receive no government assistance. Hearing their stories, I could not imagine how they have survived on such little income, and said as much. Ms Thanh gave me a small smile: “We are not the only ones. You only need to look around you – we’re all in the same boat.” I felt such sympathy for her and all the other poor people who toil all day with the farm work to manage enough food to survive.
Hopefully the wheelchair will make her life easier. But situations like these help me to understand just how important these contributions are to people like Ms.Thanh and her mother. And it makes me hope, more fervently than ever, that the assistance will continue, and increase, in years to come.
Interviewed and written by Mai Nga, Edited by Jodie-Lee Trembath
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