Mother has mental illness, 8th grade female student has to carry her younger sibling on her back to school every morning

For a long time now, during morning school hours, the people of An Phong village (old hamlet 9), Thanh An commune have been very familiar with the image of the child.schoolgirlThe skinny man often sits and looks after his younger sibling in a thatched hut along Highway 46C, near Thanh An Secondary School. That is the pitiful situation of Hien. At times like that, because his younger sister cries for her, Hien cannot leave her with the hut owner to go to school.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Binh, a resident of An Phong village, Hien has been taking her younger sibling to school every morning for two years now and she is the one who regularly looks after her younger sibling while Hien goes to class. “On sunny days, there is nothing to do, but on cold and rainy days, Hien takes her younger sibling to school, and her face turns purple, looking very pitiful. Thinking about itsituation"Because I love her, I often look after her younger sibling. There were times when her younger sibling cried and asked for her, so she had to skip school to sit here and look after her younger sibling. People in the area felt sorry for her, some gave her bread, some gave her milk, some gave her clothes," Mrs. Binh shared.

During school hours, Hien still has to sit and watch her younger sibling in a small shop near the school gate. Photo: Huy Thu

It is known that Hien is the eldest child in a family of 2 sisters. Hien's mother, Nguyen Thi Tuyen (43 years old), has a mental illness. When she was young, Tuyen went to the South to work, and after a while, she brought her young child back. Loving her child and grandchild, Ms. Phan Thi Nam (85 years old), Tuyen's mother, raised Hien from childhood until she was 11 years old. Hien has only been living with her mother for 2 years now.

Hien and her mother live in a house, or more precisely, a thatched hut on the hillside. In 2019, when Tuyen was pregnant with her second child, the villagers, local organizations... joined hands to build a house for the mother and her child.charity houseThe house has 3 rooms with corrugated iron roofs, so the life of mother and daughter Hien is less miserable. However, Tuyen's illness is getting worse, after giving birth to her second child, she often leaves home and her child to wander, so Hien has to take care of the younger sibling.

People in front of the school gate loved the two sisters so they often gave them bread, milk... Photo: Huy Thu

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hue (39 years old), who lives near Hien's house, said: From the time Tuyen gave birth until now, Hien has been taking care of her little daughter. Hien takes care of everything from feeding her, to cleaning, washing, bathing her... Every day, Hien often takes her to school because there is no one to look after her at home. Hien's mother leaves home early in the morning and doesn't come back until late at night. Many times, when she comes home, she destroys things and throws away all of Hien and her sisters' belongings.

Because she doesn't have a bicycle, Hien often has to walk, carrying her bag on her shoulder and carrying her younger sibling along the dirt road by the village to school. If she can get a friend to sit on her bike, she leaves her younger sibling in the front basket. The distance from Hien's house to school is 4km. Since 7th grade, Hien has been going to school with her younger sibling like this, whether it's sunny or rainy. "After school, I drop my younger sibling off in the middle of the house and go to the kitchen to cook. Whatever people give me, I eat. Occasionally, I go to the market to buy some food. When I run out of rice, I come to my house to eat," said Ms. Hue.

The charity house on the hillside of Hien and her mother has no electricity. Photo: Huy Thu

The house where Hien and her three children live does not have electricity, so at night, especially when studying, Hien has to use a flashlight. Hien said: “My house is very dark at night. I only have one flashlight, which I usually take to my neighbor’s house to charge, and at night I put it on the table to study. If the flashlight runs out of power or I forget to charge it, I cannot study.”

Hien's house is on a hillside, but also near the power line that people run through the fields. The households here, in Hien's family's favor, let them run the power line on the power pole system that they had built together (over 1km long), for daily use, but Hien's family did not have the funds to do so, so they had to give up. Hien wishes: "Right now, I only hope to have rice to eat, and milk for my younger sibling to drink every day, I dare not think about anything else."

Every morning on the way to school, Hien has to carry her younger sister. Photo: Huy Thu

In the stormstorm no. 5Recently, although no one in the surrounding households was affected, Hien's house had its corrugated iron roof blown away by the tornado and flew up the mountain. Fortunately, Hien and her sister were not at home that day, so they avoided injury. Once again, the people in the neighborhood joined hands to re-roof the house for Hien and her mother, and at the same time repaired and dredged the well in front of the house so that the family could have water for daily use. Before that, Hien had to carry water from the fields and distant canals to bathe her younger sibling.

Talking about the situation of Hien and her mother, Mr. Trinh Ba Dung - the head of An Hoa hamlet, Thanh An commune said: Hien's family has been a poor household in the commune for a long time, one of the households with especially difficult circumstances in the area. In the past, people in the hamlet as well as local organizations have cared and helped, but Hien's family's situation is too difficult.

Mother is sick and wanders around, so at home there are usually only Hien and her sister. Photo: Huy Thu

Teacher Nguyen Thi Thach, Hien's Literature teacher, shared: Knowing Hien's situation, the school also created conditions, exempted tuition fees, extra classes for her, encouraged her to attend school regularly, but there were many days when she could not go to class. I myself, who directly taught Hien, also helped her with some clothes, books, etc. Hopefully, Hien's situation will be shared and supported by kind-hearted people in society.

Please send all donations to: Nguyen Thi Hien, An Hoa hamlet, Thanh An commune, Thanh Chuong district, Nghe An province. Or Distribution - Social Department, Nghe An Newspaper, No. 3 - Le Nin Avenue - Vinh City. Phone: 02383.686.585. Or transfer to Nghe An Newspaper account number: 0101000556677, Vietcombank Nghe An. Content clearly states: Support Nguyen Thi Hien in Thanh Chuong