The difficult situation of an old mother raising two blind children

One early winter day, we visited Mrs. Tran Thi Nghi's family. In a small house with 2 rooms and an area of ​​38 m²is the daily living place of the mother and her three children and also the place to worship ancestors and martyrs. Looking up at the Certificate of Merit of the Fatherland and the Resistance Medal hanging on the wall, Mrs. Nghi said: “My family is worshiping our grandparents, ancestors, worshiping my husband and also worshiping my husband’s younger brother - a martyr who died in the resistance war against America.”

When her husband's parents were old and passed away, Mrs. Nghi and her husband took the place of her parents to raise her husband's younger brother, Ngo Tri Lam. During the fierce resistance war against the US, Lam volunteered to join the army. He was assigned to an engineering unit; building and protecting bridges, roads, tunnels and military warehouses on Highway 7, Yen Thanh area. In 1968, Lam died during a US bombing campaign that destroyed the construction site, right in Vinh Thanh commune.

Mrs. Nghi's husband worked at the Dien Chau Construction Materials Store (located next to Bung Bridge), which was also a key target of US aircraft attacks. At that time, he was the Store Manager, and many times, together with his colleagues, he rushed into the midst of bombs and bullets to evacuate and protect state goods. Later, he was awarded the First Class Anti-American Resistance Medal.

19 years ago, Mrs. Nghi's husband passed away. All four children (three girls, one boy) were taken care of and educated by Mrs. Nghi alone. However, Mrs. Nghi's second and third daughters were both blind from birth. For many years, all three of them relied on each other to survive. Now Mrs. Nghi is old, has difficulty walking, can no longer do anything and relies on the care of her second blind daughter.

“My two sisters have been blind since birth, but I am more agile than my third sister so I can still move around, take care of my mother, and do chores around the house as usual. Because I cannot see, I have to use my hands and feet to do everything, which makes it difficult. My mother is old and has to stay in one place, and my younger sister cannot do anything, so I have to try to overcome it. If I don’t do it myself, who will take care of all three of us?”, Ms. Ngo Thi Thu (Mrs. Nghi’s second child) shared.

Seeing her children living in the dark every day when their eyes are not as bright as others, Mrs. Nghi feels more sorry. “Out of the four children born, only the youngest son is normal, healthier than his sisters. Now the youngest son is married and lives 10 km away, the eldest daughter is also weak so she cannot come back to take care of me often. The three of us manage everything in the house. Many times I blame myself for not taking my eyes away so that my children can have light and live a normal life like everyone else,” Mrs. Nghi said.

Mrs. Nghi’s family is still facing many difficulties. The three of them are currently relying on monthly allowances for relatives of martyrs and the disabled. This small amount of money is used to pay for daily meals and medicine for the three of them.

Looking at the portraits of her husband and younger brother, who are martyrs, Mrs. Nghi only wishes that in her final days she could build a small house separate from the one she is living in, so that the whole family can live in it, and the old place could be used as a more solemn place to worship ancestors and martyrs.

Mrs. Nghi shared: “I can only wish for that, but my family’s financial situation cannot support the construction of a house. There are many daily expenses, and medicine is not enough, so where can I get the money to contribute to building a house? I can only pray for the health of my two blind children, and take care of the incense in the house properly, so that when I leave, I can rest in peace.”

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hung - Chairman of Vinh Thanh Commune People's Committee (Yen Thanh) said that Mrs. Tran Thi Nghi's family is one of the poor households in the commune. In the house, the mother is old and weak, the two children are blind so they cannot do anything and can only rely on the subsidy for relatives of martyrs and people with disabilities.

In such circumstances, Mrs. Nghi's family is worshiping martyrs, so the local government has paid special attention to her. Every year and on holidays, departments and branches from the commune to the village come to visit, encourage and share with the family.

The locality will continue to call on and mobilize benefactors and philanthropists to provide necessary support so that Mrs. Nghi's family can upgrade and build a more spacious house.