Dieu Thuan was born and raised in Vinh city, a good and studious daughter, the pride of her family. She thought she had a bright future ahead, but everything fell apart on what should have been the happiest day of her life: Thuan learned that she had leukemia right after receiving her university admission notice!
2005 became a year of despair for Thuan. In the not-so-distant memory, the days of that 18-year-old girl were filled with countless times being friends with the hospital bed, with the pain from chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Her body was exhausted, emaciated, almost just skin and bones, life was fading away before her eyes. Thuan said: There were times when I wanted to give up because I was so tired and in pain. But thinking of my family, of the hearts of my friends and neighbors, even strangers, people I had only met a few times, I chose to fight and face it.
“I can’t describe all the emotions I felt the first day I received the news that I would have a chance to live if I had a bone marrow transplant,” Thuan said. However, where did the money come from, when at that time, 500 million VND was a huge amount that her family could borrow or mortgage to get. Although she was very lucky to have received a part of the “For a Bright Tomorrow” Support Fund’s funding, the lack of funding was still too great. Then, a large campaign in the entire hospital and social network community to save Thuan’s life took place. Some donated 50,000 VND, some donated 500,000 – 1 million VND. There were cleaning ladies and motorbike taxi drivers in front of the hospital who, upon hearing that Dieu Thuan had a chance to have a bone marrow transplant to cure her illness, skipped breakfast and went to her hospital room to give her money. That gesture made Dieu Thuan choke with emotion, promising herself to be more resilient, more optimistic and live a meaningful life to be grateful for life. And heaven understood, Dieu Thuan's bone marrow transplant was successful beyond expectations.
“During the days of treatment after the bone marrow transplant, I often wandered around the hospital and found out that there were many “little warriors” who were also fighting blood diseases every day. The little girls and boys had bald heads but were very innocent. I told myself that when I was healthier, I would definitely come back here to give more strength to the young patients,” Thuan recounted.
As soon as she recovered, Dieu Thuan immediately made her promise come true. She programmed herself a new path, a path towards children with cancer, bringing them faith, love, and optimism through companionship and meaningful gifts.
“I bring songs, singing, life stories, beautiful pictures, good books… to be friends with children” – Thuan said. From those conversations to get to know each other, they gradually became regular weekly activities at the Institute. Here, she joined forces with members of the Social Work Group, the Central Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion to support children with cancer mentally, listen to them confide, and help them overcome difficulties in daily life. This not only helps to share the difficulties with the children but also makes Thuan’s spirit more excited, making her determination to do greater things for children with leukemia even more filled.
During the first days of volunteering at the life skills class for children at the hospital, Dieu Thuan put all her attention and care into that space, into the children she called "little warriors". Through the classes organized by Thuan and the other members of the Social Work Group, the children had the opportunity to express their thoughts and hidden feelings. The stories of those special children inspired Thuan to write "A Thousand Suns" - a book about children with leukemia.
Dieu Thuan shared: The book has many stories that make you cry. Those are stories where children innocently share their feelings and desires for themselves and their families. There are babies who, since birth, are blowing out birthday candles for the first time next to a birthday cake. That little child is filled with happiness under the flickering candle and wishes to make up for more than ten years of not being able to wish. And he wishes for good health, dreams of going to high school, and entering university. There are children who only wish for their older brother to have a better life, because that brother has suffered so much because of his illness...
After the book was sold, Thuan thought a lot about bigger projects, to raise more funds to help more children with blood diseases. With the thought of creating conditions for patients' families to participate in the project and create a livelihood for them, Dieu Thuan launched a project to produce hand-embroidered products, including embroidered bags, embroidered towels, book covers, etc. Participating in this project are mothers of children with leukemia, the products they make will be purchased by Thuan. "I realized that hand embroidery is the most suitable profession for mothers who are taking care of children with leukemia. Because embroidery not only creates a source of income for mothers, but also serves as a mental therapy that helps mothers relieve some of their worries, sadness, and sometimes even despair" - Thuan said.
Mothers participating in the project will be provided with embroidery thread, embroidery frames and embroidery patterns; at the same time, volunteers in Thuan's group will teach the mothers to embroider by hand until they are proficient. After a certain period of time, the mothers will hand over the finished products to Thuan's group. Some mothers embroider 50-100 thousand VND per day, but there are also mothers whose finished products can be up to 200-300 thousand VND, depending on their skill and objective conditions. After receiving the finished embroidery products, Dieu Thuan and her friends in the project will find a way to connect with purchasing units, many people know about this product and have volunteered to buy it long-term. Many people buy a few products but support the project's additional funding.
During the months of volunteering at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, Dieu Thuan was moved by the dreams of many children with thick, long, shiny hair. Therefore, she cherished the idea of a "Dream Hair Station", hoping to connect many hearts towards children with this terrible disease, realizing that simple but very distant dream. Then, after much support from the Social Work Group of the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion, starting from October 8, 2022, Thuan and her brothers and sisters here organized a hair donation festival. The festival attracted 500 participants, thereby collecting a volume of hair equivalent to 200 wigs. To date, more than 3,000 people have donated hair and hundreds of wigs have been given to children undergoing chemotherapy.
Focusing her life on the journey of sowing seeds of love, Dieu Thuan has established a social enterprise called “Network for Children with Cancer” and the revenue from the projects will be divided into many categories. Up to now, Thuan has established the scholarship fund “I wish for you”, awarding scholarships to 22 children whose parents have cancer in Dien Ky commune (Dien Chau), Vinh city, Quy Hop and children in Quang Ninh, Hanoi, each child 5 million VND.
