Heartbroken at the sight of her husband's early death, the young wife struggles to raise three young children.

Her husband died early, leaving behind a young wife and three young children. Photo: TP

Born in 1991, in 2013, at the age of 22, Pham Thi Hong (Hamlet 1, Hung Nhan, Hung Nguyen) got married to a man from the same commune, Nguyen Van Tri (born in 1986). Although both families were poor, the young couple still firmly believed that "when husband and wife are in harmony, the East Sea can dry up", as long as husband and wife are of one mind and work together to build a home, they will overcome everything. Happiness bore fruit with the sweet fruit of the birth of their first healthy daughter. Then, consecutively, another boy and a girl were born. Although difficult and arduous, life with obedient, healthy children, a husband who is patient and hard-working is the motivation to help Hong overcome all difficulties in life, considering it a "blessing from heaven" for her. However, life is unpredictable. Disaster befell Hong's family. In the middle of a cold winter night at the end of 2017, Mr. Tri, Hong's husband, had a traffic accident and died on the spot.

The current life of Hong and her four children is extremely difficult. Photo: TP

Her husband passed away, leaving the young wife with the burden of three young children (the oldest was just over three years old and the youngest was only six months old). The loss was so great, the pain of losing her husband, losing her spiritual and financial support, Hong felt like she was completely broken. “The day I took care of his funeral, I still couldn’t believe that my husband had gone forever. Every night, facing four walls, with three young children without him by my side, I felt the pain. Thinking about the long days ahead with so many difficulties, I cried until my tears ran dry.

The three children are still too young to feel the pain. Sometimes, the eldest child asks, “Why doesn’t Dad come home?”, the two-year-old cries every night, calling his name incoherently… At those times, I can’t help but hug my child and comfort him, tears streaming down my face. Having just given birth to a child 6 months ago, my health has not yet recovered, plus the pain of losing my husband, and losing sleep because of taking care of my baby, I feel exhausted.”

Her health after giving birth was still weak, and her children were small and helpless, so she could not find a job. Hong and her four children could only live on the support of both families and neighbors. But both her paternal and maternal grandparents were old and poor, so they could not help much. The life of the four mother and children depended on one sao of rice field. During the days when she could send her children, Hong went to catch crabs, collect fish, collect nets to exchange for rice and improve meals for her children.

Looking at the children huddled together around a basket of raw peanuts, biting and chewing deliciously, anyone who saw them couldn’t help but feel sad. Their meal consisted of nothing but a bowl of peanut water, a few blackened water spinach stalks, a bowl of watery vegetable soup and a few dried anchovies.

“People at this age need special care with nutritious milk, shrimp, crab, fish, fruits, etc. As for me, I just hope my child has some meat, fish, enough rice to cook for him. Preparing for the new school year, the first child is 4 years old, the second is over 2 years old, I also want my child to go to school, to attend kindergarten so that I have time to work, but now, to have money for my child to pay for school is too difficult for me. This child has severe hepatitis A, he coughs and has a fever at the first sign of a sudden illness, but I don't dare take him to the hospital, sister,” Hong choked, wiping away the tears rolling down her cheeks with her sleeve.

The house is both a residence, a warehouse for farming tools, and a pantry for storing animal feed for the Hong family. Photo: TP

In the dilapidated house that is both a granary and a storage room for farm tools, with a straw cupboard above to feed the cows, the property of Hong and her four children is worthless. “It has been raining for several days, the house is leaking, I seem to stay up all night holding a basin to catch rainwater. Even the place where I sleep is not dry. I just hope to have a stable job, to have an income to raise my three children. I can endure any hardship…”, Hong said, putting into it a legitimate wish.

Please send any help to: Pham Thi Hong, Hamlet 1, Hung Nhan, Hung Nguyen. Phone number: 01645 215. 530.

Or: Publishing and Social Activities Department - Nghe An Newspaper, No. 3, Le Nin Avenue, Hung Phuc Ward - Vinh City - Nghe An. Contact phone number: (023)83.588138; (023)88600006.