Pity the Khmu couple raising 3 children with cerebral palsy

Entering Muong Tip commune (Ky Son), following the Na My village management board, we arrived at a small stilt house, the temporary shelter of Cut Pho Ban's family (born in 1974). The first image that appeared, making everyone shed tears, was the 3 children (2 girls, 1 boy) with ragged clothes, lying all over the dusty floor. Seeing strangers coming to the house, they were stunned and then laughed.

Mr. Cut Pho Ban and his three disabled children. Photo: Lu Phu

Mr. Ban said: “The house was eroded and swept away during the recent flood, leaving no place to live. This is the house of my younger brother’s family who are working in the fields to make a living, so my family is staying here temporarily. When the hut is finished, we will move our three disabled children in.”

Cut Pho Ban and his wife are poor Khmu people in Na Mi village, Muong Tip commune (Ky Son), a poor household, with no more income than slash-and-burn farming. Their first daughter is Cut Y Ban (born in 1995). When she was born, Y Ban was very plump and healthy, without any unusual signs. The couple was extremely happy and joyful.

Mr. Cut Pho Ban takes care of his disabled daughter. Photo: Lu Phu

But the happiness was too short, Y Ban grew up without knowing how to walk, nor could he say a word. At the age of 5, Y Ban's limbs gradually shrunk, could no longer flex or stretch, his brain did not develop, and he could not recognize anything around him. Although he loved his son, because of his family's difficult circumstances and the difficult roads, Mr. Ban and his wife had to watch their son grow up in tears.

Three years later, the second daughter, Cut Y Bang (born in 1998), was born. When she was over 2 years old, she also began to show signs similar to her sister. Cut Pho Ban and his wife were even more pained when they had to witness their two children being physically and mentally disabled. In that extreme pain, the two still could not stop dreaming of having a healthy, whole child like other couples in the village.

Cut Pho Ban's house was eroded and swept away after the flood, the family had to temporarily stay at his younger brother's house. Photo: Lu Phu

That prompted Mr. Ban and his wife to have a third child, Cut Ba Hung (born in 2005). But once again, the cruelty still clung to this family, the father and mother's hearts ached when Hung grew up to be like his two sisters, with both physical and intellectual disabilities. This time, Mr. Ban took Hung to district and provincial hospitals for examination and treatment, but the situation did not improve.

Mr. Ban choked up: “Seeing our children not be as normal as other children, my wife and I were very heartbroken, but because of difficult economic circumstances, we could not take them to a proper place for treatment. Thanks to the policy of supporting the disabled, our children received a subsidy of nearly 500,000 VND/child, which helped to cover some of the costs. But recently, our house was swept away, and life, which was already difficult and arduous, has become even more miserable.”