Old and young, two-way support

From birth, adolescence, adulthood, and even when the sun sets, the happiest and luckiest thing is to still have parents and grandparents to respect and care for. Taking care of health, creating conditions for enjoying spiritual culture, sharing information... is what helps the elderly live happily, healthily and happily.

Elderly people in Cai village, Chau Thanh commune participate in Women's Union activities.

The 5 years since the Ordinance on the Elderly has been put into effect have brought about positive changes in the awareness and responsibility of families and society towards the care of the elderly. Many practical and specific contents have had a direct impact on improving the material and spiritual life of the elderly. The movements to eradicate hunger and reduce poverty, eliminate dilapidated thatched houses... have given priority to this group of people. Many elderly people over 90 years old, those with severe disabilities, loneliness, and no one to rely on... have been regularly subsidized in the community (65,000/person/month) and given free health insurance cards. Many charitable activities such as visiting when sick, examining and providing free medicine, organizing longevity celebrations in early spring, organizing funerals when they pass away... have been carefully organized and implemented by the grassroots Elderly Association, local authorities and the community.

"Young people rely on their fathers, old people rely on their children", the older they get, the more they like to live with their children and grandchildren. From that characteristic, the role of the family in the obligation to support and care for the elderly plays a key role. Many typical examples, especially those of three or four generations living together, have been recognized and commended by the locality... By the end of 2006, 154,738 elderly families were awarded the title of "Cultural Family" (reaching 76% of the total number of elderly families and 25% of the total number of families in the province), nearly 70,000 elderly families were awarded the title of "Family of Learning".

This November, for the first time in our province, the Conference to honor exemplary families in caring for and supporting the elderly is truly an important activity. 19 families with 3 or 4 generations living together represent thousands of families with many outstanding achievements in organizing the care and support of grandparents and parents when they reach old age.

The 19 families this time have different circumstances. Families with favorable economic conditions such as the family of Mr. Ngo Sy Tap, an 80-year-old retired cadre (Bac Thanh, Yen Thanh), Mr. Ngo Canh Vinh and Mrs. Hoang Thi Nho, over 70 years old (Dong Son commune, Do Luong), their children and grandchildren contributed 30 million VND to help the elderly enjoy their old age. However, most of the families are economically disadvantaged, still facing many burdens such as expensive education for their children, hard work on the farm... but they try very hard to organize well the work of taking care of their grandparents and parents. The daughters-in-law and granddaughters-in-law who are responsible, patient, hard-working, take charge of developing the family economy, organize care for grandparents and parents, raise their children to adulthood, and build happy families like Ms. Nguyen Thi Tri (Thanh Nho commune, Thanh Chuong), Ms. Tran Thi Lan (Nam Trung, Nam Dan), Ms. Lu Thi Ly (Lien Dinh village, Chi Khe commune, Con Cuong), Phan Thi Canh (Long Son, Anh Son)... are all worth learning from. The conference also commended four-generation families, in which the second generation is also an elderly person but always sets a good example, taking care of themselves, trying to develop the economy, enriching the family, and taking care of and supporting their elderly parents, such as the family of Mr. Moong Van Cang, a Kho Mu ethnic group in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong, or the family of Mr. Phan Cong Truong (Nghi Dien, Nghi Loc), the late Mr. Cao Ba Sac and the late Mrs. Cao Thi Mong (Dien Thanh commune, Dien Chau)... In these families, grandparents and parents love and set a good example for their children and grandchildren; children and grandchildren respect, support and take care of their grandparents in many ways: taking care of their meals, sleep, health check-ups, creating conditions for them to interact and live with their peers, receiving information from books, newspapers, audio-visual media, sightseeing, tourism... These are also the experiences that the families brought up in the conference for us to learn and apply.

Nguyet Anh