Desolate in the resettlement village without young people

80 year old man raising disabled grandson

After a long heavy rain, the corn garden behind his house was broken, Mr. Lo Van Phong (born in 1940) in Kim Hong village, Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong) patiently went out to rebuild each plant one by one. The corn plants had sprouted ears, were thin and weak, and with just a little force they would break off, and each time Mr. Phong felt as if his heart was being torn out. "Although this amount of corn is not much, the three of us can eat it for a whole week, now every time a plant breaks, it is a pity because it took months of care," said Mr. Phong.

Following Mr. Phong was a dark-skinned boy who screamed and ran away when he saw strangers. Mr. Phong said: “He is my grandson, his name is Dong. His parents are now separated, he and his sister live with me. Dong cannot speak, he only mumbles and screams, so at the age of 6, he still cannot go to school, he just hangs around his grandfather all day.”

Mr. Lo Van Phong's wife has long since passed away, and his four children have all gotten married. The youngest son, Lo Van Tuyen, has had a rough life, married and had three children, but their lives were not compatible and they had to go their separate ways. Mr. Tuyen's wife adopted their eldest daughter, Lo Tieu Ly, who is currently living with her grandparents. Mr. Tuyen adopted his second daughter, Lo Thi Khat, and his youngest son, Lo Duy Dong. With too little land to produce and no work, Mr. Tuyen had to leave his two young children with their grandfather to go to the South to work as a laborer.

Mr. Phong is now almost 80 years old, it is difficult for him to walk, let alone work. Every month, the three of them can only look at the few million VND that Mr. Tuyen sends home to cover food, medicine and education. Mr. Phong shared: "I am old, I can eat however I want, I just feel sorry for the two children, especially Dong, who has suffered so much. Every night I hold him in my arms, sometimes he wakes up and bursts into tears, making me unable to control myself."

Having just finished cooking rice for lunch, Mr. Lo Van Phong went out to the garden to replant the fallen corn plants. His body was thin, his gait was limping, his back was bent because of the burden of time, his face was filled with sadness. Outside on the street, we could still hear him let out a sorrowful sigh.

When grandparents work as... nannies

Mr. Quang Van Phan - Head of Kim Hong village said that it is not uncommon for parents to work far away and leave their children with their grandparents. As if to prove it, he led us to a house on the edge of a hill, where a woman of about 60 years old was hoeing the soil in the backyard.

Her name is Kha Thi Binh, she and her husband are currently raising 3 young children to go to school, because their parents are working all the way in Dong Nai. Her three grandchildren, the oldest is just starting 2nd grade, the youngest is not yet 2 years old, not yet past the crying stage, and on top of that, they are often sick.

Mrs. Binh’s son and daughter-in-law occasionally send home a few million dong, which is not enough to cover the family’s basic needs. Therefore, despite their age, the couple still have to take turns going up the hill to dig holes to plant acacia trees and go to the fields to plant rice so that the grandchildren can have more rice and meat.

She shared: “Their parents said it was hard to make money there, they could only save a few million to send home, so they had to eat and spend sparingly. Not wanting to sit and watch the children go hungry and lack clothes, my husband and I worked hard every day to weed and raise chickens and pigs.” According to Mrs. Binh, the most painful thing was when the children had a fever, their mouths were thirsty for milk, their hands were shaking, they looked around the house as if searching for their father or mother...

Mr. Vi Van Nhan and his wife are currently taking care of their two grandchildren.

Mr. Vi Van Nhan and his wife are currently taking care of their two grandchildren, Vi Hoang Nam (born in 2011) and Vi Hoang Bao (born in 2013). The parents of the two children, Vi Van Canh and Luong Thi May, moved to the South to make a living several years ago, when their second son was just learning to walk. Since then, the two boys have been raised by their grandparents, who take care of their meals, their sleep, and when they are sick or have bad weather.

“Children cannot avoid getting sick and crying. There were times when Bao cried and called for his mother all night, and no matter how hard we tried, he wouldn’t stop. One time in the middle of the night, Bao had a high fever and was exhausted. My husband and I had to leave his brother alone at home to take him to the medical station,” Mr. Nhan shared.

It is said that the son and daughter-in-law's jobs and incomes are also unstable, so they only send home about 2 million VND each month to take care of their grandchildren's education. Every day, in addition to taking care of the grandchildren and taking them to and from school, she also has to take care of the fields and garden; while Mr. Nhan goes to exploit acacia trees for hire to earn income and cover expenses for all four of them.

Mrs. Quang Thi Duyen (wife of Mr. Vi Van Nhan)

Similarly, Mr. Vi Van Suong's family has a daughter and son-in-law who are doing business in the Ban Ve Hydropower Reservoir (Tuong Duong), and two grandchildren, Lo Thanh Thuan (born in 2015) and Lo Thanh Thinh (born in 2017), who are being cared for by their grandparents. Occasionally, their parents come back to visit and give them some money, but the rest is up to their grandparents. Raising and caring for children who are only a few years old is never easy, but because of their love for their children and grandchildren, Mr. Suong and his wife do not hesitate to do anything, even though there are times when it is extremely difficult.

Kim Hong village has 109 Thai ethnic households, economic conditions are difficult, many people go far away to find a living, leaving their children to their grandparents to take care of. Village chief Quang Van Phan estimated that there are currently about 15 couples working far away, not to mention households where the father or mother is away from home and those who come and go irregularly. Therefore, many households only have the elderly and children at home, sometimes the village is deserted and desolate.

“Due to lack of land for production and unstable income, many people in Kim Hong village have to send their children to their grandparents to work far away. We hope that authorities and sectors will create more jobs and help people stabilize their lives so that children will be less disadvantaged because they do not have to be away from both their parents.”

Mr. Luong Duy Nhat - Vice Chairman of Ngoc Lam Commune People's Committee