The miserable situation of a widow who is both mother and father of 3 children

In recent days, the people of Duong Trung hamlet, Thanh Duong commune (Thanh Chuong) have been worried about the health of Ms. Nguyen Thi Soa (41 years old), a widow with especially difficult circumstances in the hamlet, who had just had a traffic accident and had to be hospitalized.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Soa is hospitalized waiting for surgery. Photo: Huy Thu

According to relatives, Ms. Soa had been in traffic accidents and injured her leg many times. She had been to Thanh Chuong and Nam Dan District General Hospitals and had taken medicine from traditional healers. Although her leg was in pain, she still tried to move to go to work and go to the market. Her old motorbike had a broken starter, and her injured leg could not start the engine, so she had to ask someone else to help her pedal.

Not long ago, while going to get noodles at dawn to sell at the flea market, Ms. Soa had a traffic accident, leaving her unable to walk. After being examined at Nghe An Orthopedic Trauma Hospital, the doctor said she had knee effusion, torn ligaments, and had to be hospitalized for surgery. She is currently in the Rehabilitation Department waiting for cartilage surgery, ligament repair, etc.

Soa's family situation was already difficult, now that she had an accident and had to be hospitalized, it became even more dire. Six years ago, her husband, Nguyen Dinh Truong (born in 1971), passed away in a traffic accident on Highway 46. That year, Truong and his son were driving a cart to harvest corn when they were hit by a car, causing both father and son to die. The cow died, the cart was damaged, Truong died on the spot, and his eldest son, Nguyen Dinh Tho, suffered broken ribs and a crushed sternum.

The small house of Soa and her four children in the middle of the village. Photo: Huy Thu

The year Truong died in an accident, Tho was in 8th grade, her daughter Nguyen Thi Thanh was in 6th grade, and her youngest son Nguyen Dinh Thanh was just 1 year old. Her husband died, leaving behind 3 young children. She tried to overcome her circumstances, shouldering two burdens, being both mother and father to raise her young children.

Over the years, she has shouldered all the big and small tasks at home and in the fields. The difficult situation has forced her to try her best, even when she is tired, she still tries to do it, even when she is in pain, she still tries to go. After working in the fields (3 sao of rice fields, 2 sao of yards), working for hire, she also runs errands at the market… to earn extra income and send her children to school.

Although her family is poor and her father passed away, her children are all well-behaved and good at studying. Tho is currently in her second year of studying Automation at Vinh University of Technical Education. Due to her family's difficult circumstances, Tho has to both study and work part-time to earn money to pay her tuition. On Saturdays and Sundays, she comes home to help her mother with farm work and housework.

Inside the kitchen corner of Ms. Soa's family. Photo: Huy Thu

Thanh is studying in class 12C, Nguyen Sy Sach High School. In the excellent student exam of the 2022-2023 school year, Thanh won the title of Excellent Student of the province in History. The diligent and gentle female student dreams of becoming a teacher training student after graduating from high school.

Thanh is in first grade at Thanh Duong Primary School. Since his mother went to the hospital and his siblings went to school, after each class, Thanh often herds goats and does extra housework. His school backpack is torn, but Soa has not been able to buy one for him yet.

Working hard all year round, staying up late and waking up early, but difficulties and poverty still surround the mother and her four children. For many years, her family has been a poor household in the commune. The small, dilapidated house in the middle of the village, with only one room and a corrugated iron roof, was built when Mr. Truong was still alive, next to it is the kitchen for cooking. For her, "having a house to crawl in and out of is enough, but where is the money to repair it?"

After school, Thanh helps his mother herd goats. Photo: Huy Thu

The thing that worries her most is her children's education. She doesn't want them to drop out of school because of poverty. From the hospital, Ms. Soa shared: "I had to sell my old motorbike, my means of earning nearly 5 million, to go to the hospital.

I thought I would just get a check-up, buy some medicine and then go home, but I had to be hospitalized for surgery, so I was worried about my children at home. The doctor said that after 6 months of surgery, I would be able to walk normally and go to work. I wonder if my children would have to stop going to school.

Talking about the family situation of Soa and her children, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Loc - Head of Duong Trung Hamlet, Thanh Duong Commune said: Soa's family is the most difficult household in the hamlet. Her husband passed away, and she alone has to work to raise 3 children. The family is poor, but the children are good students. She is currently in the hospital, so the situation is very difficult.