The wish of three orphaned sisters in Nhoi village

(Baonghean.vn)- Mom died of cancer 3 years ago, dad was a single parent raising his children in poverty. A few days ago, dad suddenly passed away, leaving three siblings bewildered in a cold, empty house.

In Nhoi village, Chau Cuong commune, Quy Hop district (Nghe An), people also mentioned the endless hunger of the family of Vi Van Canh (born in 1970) when his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. After 7 years of living in poverty, at the end of 2014, his wife - Le Thi Hai - passed away, leaving behind for the father and four children an empty house without a door, no property or furniture except for two old beds for sleeping.

Ms. Vi Thi Khuyen was heartbroken by the sudden passing of her son. Photo: Dam Phuong

His wife died, leaving behind a heavy debt and three young children. Not having their own home, Canh and his father lived on their parents' land. The small house was built by a few brothers who worked together to cast bricks and build it themselves. It had no doors or plastered walls. In the winter, the wind blew, in the rain, the water splashed, and in the summer, it was as hot as an oven.

Having no land to cultivate, every day Mr. Canh and his younger brother wake up at dawn, quickly cook rice for their children, then wrap banana leaves in them and take them into the forest for lunch to dig for ore. At night, they are tired and drag themselves home. They travel nearly 10 kilometers of forest road to earn 150,000 to 200,000 VND on lucky days, and return empty-handed on unlucky days.

The three children, the eldest sister Vi Thi Thanh Huong (born in 2001), the younger sister Vi Thi Cau (born in 2005) and the youngest son Vi Van Sang (born in 2008) are at the age of eating and studying in 3 levels but rarely have enough to eat. The bank debt from the project for the poor to borrow for economic purposes has been written off because of the inability to pay, but the debt to treat his wife's illness is still hanging there.

The empty house of three orphaned sisters. Photo: Dam Phuong

Sympathizing with the situation of the father and son, the Fatherland Front of the commune proposed to the district and the province, and the family was approved to support the house repair with the amount of 30 million VND. The joy had not yet been enjoyed when on March 28, after returning from work, Mr. Canh had a fever, taking medicine at the clinic but still did not improve, so the family took him to the district General Hospital, then transferred to a higher level hospital but he died on the way, leaving three orphaned children.

His grandparents and uncle lived next door, but he was mentally ill and paralyzed, requiring someone to take care of him. The family depended on their youngest son, who worked as a miner, to survive.

When their father passed away, the three sisters received donations and support from the government, organizations, departments, and schools, so they still had food to eat and could go to school every day. The eldest sister, Vi Thi Thanh Huong, is studying in class 10C5 at Quy Hop 3 High School. Every year she is an advanced student and is especially good at literature. Her family is poor, but Huong loves to study. Now she no longer has her parents, but when asked what she can do to support her younger siblings, Huong sadly replied: "Even if I have to eat cassava, sweet potatoes, or go hungry, I still want to go to school"...

The children's grandparents, uncles, and aunts have only one determination: to eat vegetables when there are vegetables, and porridge when there is porridge when there is porridge, but they will never let the children drop out of school.

Since the day their father passed away, the youngest brother Vi Van Sang has been clinging to his sister. Photo: Dam Phuong

Grandmother Vi Thi Thuyet said: All three children are of school age and have no source of income, but with the 30 million VND supported by the Vietnam Fatherland Front, my family still wants to repair the house for the children to have a place to worship their parents.

Mr. Sam Ngoc Luong - Chairman of the Fatherland Front of Chau Cuong commune wondered: Both the paternal and maternal families of the children are poor households, but they still value and put the children's education first, which is very valuable, but where will the children's daily lives and needs be?

The district Red Cross Society wants to send the children to be adopted by a benefactor so that they can eat and study. The commune government also asked the family to agree to send the children to the SOS Children's Village so that they can have a stable life... But the paternal family and the children all want the children to stay at home to burn incense for their parents and siblings to gather together.

To make the dream of going to school of three Thai ethnic sisters in Nhoi village come true, we hope to receive support from the community.

Ha Linh