Sharing the joy of Spring

(Baonghean) - During the Lunar New Year celebrations of 2015, we had the opportunity to visit families facing special circumstances, such as old age, disability, or misfortune, who are experiencing many difficulties in life... With a spirit of mutual support and compassion, they received sharing from friends, comrades, and the entire community to celebrate a truly joyful and warm Tet holiday...

Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc and his teammates (second from the right) happily celebrate Tet in their new home.

Heartwarming memories of martyrs from Truong Sa.

Following the comrades from the Liaison Committee of Brigade 126 (Navy) and officials from Hung Dung Ward (Vinh City), we witnessed the joy of Mr. Le Ba Nghi (79 years old) and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhi (74 years old). They are relatives of martyr Le Ba Giang (1968) - one of the 64 soldiers of the Vietnam People's Navy who sacrificed their lives in the Battle of Truong Sa on March 14, 1988, to protect the sacred sovereignty of the Fatherland. In their small house in Van Trung Hamlet, they recounted many stories about their son who fell in the vast ocean...

Nearly 28 years ago, Le Ba Giang enlisted in the Navy and was assigned to the Truong Sa (Spratly) Islands for training before being deployed. During Tet (Lunar New Year) in 1988, Giang was on duty at his unit and sent a letter home to his extended family. He confided that although he couldn't enjoy the warmth of family, he was happy at the unit, with plenty of sticky rice cakes, Tet sweets, fish, and meat. He hoped that the following Tet he would be reunited with his parents and siblings, and enjoy a sticky rice cake made and cooked by his mother. A few weeks later, Giang messaged his parents that he would be marching south with his unit in a few days, passing through Vinh, but he probably wouldn't be able to visit home. Mrs. Nhi immediately gathered banana leaves, wrapped and boiled several sticky rice cakes, and waited on National Highway 1A for the convoy to pass so she could give them to her son. However, due to the urgent situation, the convoy departed several hours earlier than planned, and the couple had to return home. Not long after, the couple received news that their son had been killed in action in the Spratly Islands along with 63 other officers and soldiers in a naval battle against invading Chinese forces.

Since then, every Lunar New Year, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Nhi has personally wrapped beautiful banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes), expressing her heartfelt feelings as a mother, to place on the altar of martyr Le Ba Giang. This year, before Tet, she unfortunately sprained her hand, so Mr. Nghi took over wrapping the cakes to place on the altar of their beloved son. Mrs. Nhi shared: “On New Year's Eve, I dreamed that Giang returned in his Navy uniform, knocking on the door and calling for his mother. He said, 'Parents, rest assured, I will stay here to guard the seas and skies. As long as you are healthy and have many people around to help, I feel warm inside.'" Mr. Nghi's family always receives special attention from the government and organizations, especially during Tet, when they always receive meaningful gifts, expressing gratitude to the fallen.

Representatives from the Liaison Committee of Brigade 126 of the Navy handed over 5 million VND from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' Trade Union as a gift to Mr. Nghi's family on the occasion of the Lunar New Year of the Goat. And even more encouraging, this year, the Navy will cooperate with the People's Committee of Hung Dung Ward to build a house of gratitude for Mr. and Mrs. Nghi, worthy of the sacrifice of martyr Le Ba Giang. Surely, next year they will be able to celebrate Tet in a spacious and warm new home, bringing comfort to martyr Le Ba Giang.

Joy at the seaside

After saying goodbye to Mr. Le Ba Nghi's family, we went to Thanh Vinh 2 hamlet, Nghi Quang commune (Nghi Loc district) to share the joy of Tet with the family of war invalid Nguyen Minh Duc. The breezes blowing from the Cua Lo sea carried the warm scent of the New Year. In front of his spacious new house, Mr. Duc happily shook hands with everyone, his face beaming with a smile. Mr. Duc couldn't hide his joy: "This year, my family is celebrating Tet in our dream house..."

Like many soldiers who have experienced the battlefield, Mr. Duc recounts the fierce years of war, when he was a commando in the Rung Sac area. His memories are of infiltrating enemy naval ports to carry out missions to blow up ships carrying weapons and war equipment. He was wounded countless times, and the line between life and death was incredibly thin, but with the strength of his courage, bravery, and unwavering character, soldier Nguyen Minh Duc persevered. His most precious possession today is a commemorative photograph of him and three comrades rowing back to base after completing a mission to blow up an enemy weapons ship at Rach Dua port. Mr. Duc cherishes this photograph like a treasure, turning to it whenever he feels sad or disappointed, seeking solace, encouragement, and renewed strength to overcome adversity.

After the victory in the war against the US, the soldiers completed their mission and returned to their hometowns to build families. Born and raised in a coastal village, having left the sea and now returning to make a living from it, this poor veteran has been plagued by hardship and struggle. Remarkably, while his children are all healthy, his grandchildren show signs of illness and cognitive decline. Doctors have concluded that these symptoms are the aftereffects of Agent Orange dioxin. Thus, during his years fighting in the jungle, he was exposed to this insidious poison dropped by the US military, and his grandchildren are now bearing the consequences. In fact, even before his grandchildren, 20 years ago, his skin suddenly became rough and peeled off in patches, and his health deteriorated. Tests confirmed he had skin cancer, also due to the aftereffects of Agent Orange dioxin exposure. Then, polyarthritis and pneumonia afflicted him, at times making him feel as if he could never recover. For many years, his family had to live in a small, dilapidated house, flooded by heavy rain and with strong winds tearing off the roof.

But the former Rung Sac special forces soldier was not alone; his comrades were always by his side in times of difficulty and hardship, sharing and supporting him. Given Mr. Nguyen Minh Duc's difficult circumstances, his former comrades proposed that the Command of Naval Region 1 provide 70 million VND to build a house of gratitude. Along with the money his family had saved and additional support from relatives and comrades, Mr. Duc was able to build a house worth 190 million VND with an area of ​​87 square meters (35 square meters of which is structurally sound), roofed with tiles and floored with decorative tiles. The house was completed just before the Lunar New Year so that Mr. Duc, his wife, and their youngest child could celebrate the new year filled with joy and hope.

Presenting Tet gifts from Ms. An Vinh (Nghe An Newspaper) to Ms. Vieng Thi Tham and her children.

"Gourd trellises" in the highlands

From Nghi Loc, we continued our journey along National Highway 7A, up to the remote district of Tuong Duong, where the villages were bustling with the sounds of gongs and drums celebrating the festival. The small house perched precariously at the end of Phong village (Thach Giam commune), belonging to Vieng Thi Tham (1982) and her mother, was quite crowded with visitors, occasionally punctuated by bursts of laughter. These were classmates who had come to wish them a Happy New Year – people who had unfortunately suffered misfortunes in life. As a child, after a severe illness, Tham's legs gradually atrophied and contracted. Because her family was poor and her parents couldn't afford treatment, she was left with a disability. Her legs were so atrophied that she couldn't stand, and she had to rely on her hands for movement. Her parents passed away early, and Vieng Thi Tham lived with her two older brothers, a life of extreme hardship and deprivation. Both brothers also fell ill and passed away, leaving her alone in her dilapidated house.

A young man from the same village came to court her and planned to start a family, but his parents absolutely refused to allow the wedding. The young man disappeared without a trace, and Thắm became pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy named Viêng Quốc Thắng. This year, Thắng is 8 years old and is attending the second grade at the village school. The lives of Thắm and her son are filled with hardship and deprivation. The disability allowance is insufficient to cover daily expenses, so Thắm has to crawl into the forest to collect firewood to sell and stay up all night embroidering dresses for hire to earn money to support her child. At times, Viêng Quốc Thắng had to skip breakfast to go to school, and without a bicycle, he had to walk several kilometers to get to school.

Fortunately, Ms. Vieng Thi Tham has many good friends, especially Ms. Luong May Huyen, who works at the district's radio and television station. Having been close friends since first grade, and witnessing her friend's misfortune and hardship, Ms. Huyen took to social media to call on the community to help Ms. Tham and her children. Within two weeks before the Lunar New Year, Ms. Huyen received and delivered many gifts to Ms. Tham, totaling around 5 million VND. Ms. Huyen and some other friends bought Vieng Quoc Thang a bicycle and donated money to buy warm clothes, blankets, mats, sticky rice, meat, sweets, and other necessities for Tet. Ms. Tham also received 20 kg of rice from the government, and villagers brought banh chung (traditional Vietnamese rice cakes) and gio (Vietnamese sausage) to her house. Thus, this year, Ms. Vieng Thi Tham and her children were able to celebrate a relatively comfortable and warm Tet surrounded by friends. Ms. Huyen wrote on her Facebook page: "Mom and baby pumpkins, keep going! The whole 'gourd vine' is joining hands to help make this spring warmer."

While celebrating Tet (Lunar New Year) in Phong village, we brought a gift from a colleague to Ms. Vieng Thi Tham and her children. It was a warm jacket and 200,000 dong from Ms. Le Thi An Vinh – Secretary of the Nghe An Newspaper. Having learned about Ms. Tham and her children's plight through social media, Ms. An Vinh set aside some of her own expenses to share with them. Receiving the gift from a stranger, Ms. Tham was deeply moved: “Thank you to everyone who shared the joy of Tet with my children and me…”

The earth and sky are bustling, vibrant, and filled with the fragrant scent and sounds of spring. People's faces are beaming with joy. For us, that joy is multiplied as we witness the happiness of those less fortunate in welcoming spring...

Cong Kien