Sympathy for the situation of two orphaned brothers in Thanh Chuong

Coming to Phat Son village, Dai Dong commune, everyone in the village felt sorry and sympathized with the situation of Van Khang and Anh Quoc. The two brothers' complete family home was short-lived when both their father and mother passed away. In the small house, Anh Quoc sat alone, occasionally looking up at his mother's portrait on the altar with lost eyes...

Brothers Khang and Quoc at their mother's altar. Photo: TH

The parents of the two children, Mr. Nguyen Van Trung and Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh, met and got married, giving birth to Van Khang in 2004. The couple started their business from scratch, the family's economy mainly depended on a few fields, so life was quite difficult. To earn more income, Mr. Trung learned carpentry and then opened a workshop at home. As he got used to the job and his skills improved, Mr. Trung had more and more orders to do.

In 2012, Mr. Trung and his wife gave birth to a son, Nguyen Van Anh Quoc. The joy seemed to be multiplied for the small family. Therefore, the couple worked harder to earn money to cover their living expenses, with the hope of saving up to build a new house, safer in the rainy days.

The simple life and simple dreams of the small family suddenly disappeared when in 2014, while driving a motorbike, Trung had a serious traffic accident that resulted in his death. Pitying her young children who had lost their father at an early age, Ms. Anh went to work everywhere to earn money to send her children to school. To be able to take care of her children, Ms. Anh learned sewing and worked at home.

After many years of saving, plus borrowing from relatives and friends, in 2019, Ms. Anh was able to build a new house as she had always dreamed of for the three of them to live together. It seemed that the three of them would have a better life, but disaster struck in 2022. Feeling tired, Ms. Anh went to the doctor and discovered that she had cervical cancer. After 6 months of treatment, her condition worsened and she passed away on February 7, 2023.

Despite their difficult circumstances, the two brothers loved and cared for each other very much. Every day, Khang guided Quoc with his studies. Photo: TH

Mr. Nguyen Van Hoi, 85 years old (Quoc's grandfather) said: "Since their father and mother passed away, Khang and Quoc have been living with their grandparents during the day, and only come home at night to take care of their mother's incense. I feel sorry for Quoc who is still young. Since his mother passed away, he has always been sad and depressed, no longer innocent like before. Now I am old and weak, no longer able to work, and my grandchildren are young, I don't know where to look for money to send them to school and pay off the loan for the house they built before."

Despite their tragic and painful circumstances, Khang and Quoc still loved and cared for each other very much. Khang had grown up and understood the pain of losing his father and mother and the difficult life ahead. Instead of his parents, Khang always spent time taking care of and encouraging Quoc to study and do housework to help his grandparents.

“After finishing high school, I dropped out of school because of my family’s difficult circumstances. After Tet, I planned to work to earn money to help my mother, but she suddenly passed away. I planned that after taking care of my mother’s funeral, I would go to the South to learn how to make medicine to treat and save people, then go to work to earn money to support my younger brother Quoc so he could continue his studies. But now I don’t know where to get money to go to vocational school, while Quoc is also studying. I don’t know what to do in the coming months,” Nguyen Van Khang shared.

Sympathizing with the orphaned situation of the two brothers Khang and Quoc, the villagers always encouraged and helped them to strive to improve their lives. At the school where Nguyen Van Anh Quoc is studying, all the teachers pay special attention.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Van - Principal of Dai Dong Primary School said: "Nguyen Van Anh Quoc, a student in class 5K, has a particularly difficult situation. He is always diligent and good at studying. Sharing the pain of losing his father and mother and to help him go to school, the Board of Directors and the Union mobilized all teachers and students of the school to donate and support Quoc to overcome the current difficulties and have the conditions to go to class like his friends. Along with that, in this school year, the school will waive all contributions; at the same time, give special priority and gifts on holidays and Tet to encourage Quoc to continue going to school."

Mr. Luu Van Hoa - Chairman of the People's Committee of Dai Dong Commune (Thanh Chuong) said: The family of two brothers Nguyen Van Khang and Nguyen Van Anh Quoc are poor households in the commune. Faced with the difficult situation when both children are orphans, the Party Committee, People's Committee and mass organizations of the commune and village promptly paid attention and visited them. Through this situation, the locality hopes to receive the attention and help of organizations and individuals with good hearts to help the two brothers have the conditions to improve their lives, so that the path to school is more open.