Heartbreaking scene of incomplete meals of a family

(Baonghean.vn) - In that rickety house, there were 6 people, 3 of them were small children, and the rest were 3 women, but none of them were sane or normal.

Led by Nghi Van Commune Youth Union Secretary Le Viet Hoan (Nghi Loc, Nghe An), we arrived at the family of Mrs. Thai Thi Hien (born in 1954, residing in Hamlet 15, Nghi Van Commune). Mrs. Hien's dilapidated level 4 house is hidden deep in a small alley in the countryside.

This rickety house is home to six people, including three mentally ill women and three small children. Photo: Xuan Hoa

To get to the path leading to the house, we had to walk over stepping stones because when it rained, the path became like a swamp. Before our eyes, the roof tiles had fallen off because the rafters were rotten, and the surrounding walls, built with handmade bricks from the 80s, were also peeling off in patches.

As soon as Mr. Hoan called his family, three dirty children playing in the yard saw the stranger and ran into the house. Then came the sharp scolding of the children from a woman.

At this time, Mr. Hoan calmed us down: “There! You see, the family has 3 women, all of whom have mental problems. The youngest daughter is mentally ill and wanders around the neighborhood, the mother is paralyzed and sometimes has a mental attack and throws things around. The remaining daughter also smashes things and curses loudly when she has an attack. It is only the three children in the family who suffer…”.

Inside the house there was nothing of value except a wardrobe and two old beds with broken corners. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Mrs. Hien's house was in ruins on the outside, but the inside was even more miserable. Furniture was scattered everywhere, and a foul smell was emanating from it. Looking around the house, there was nothing of value except for two beds and a wardrobe that was crooked at many corners, as if it was about to fall down. The brick walls inside the house, which had been soaked with water for years, were also peeling off. Inside the house, it felt like outside, as the sunlight shone directly through the broken tiles and onto the roof.

When we entered, fortunately the only woman in the house who had the mildest mental illness among the three was still conscious. She was Nguyen Thi Tuyet (born in 1987, Mrs. Hien's fourth daughter). She said that her younger sister had had a seizure and had wandered off somewhere since early morning. When we approached Mrs. Hien's bedside to ask, she tried to use the weak voice of a sick person to curse and chase us away.

For over a year now, Mrs. Hien has been paralyzed in one place and has a long-standing neurological disease, but no one in the family is sober enough to take her for treatment. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Mrs. Hien's tragic situation is beyond description. She married Mr. Nguyen Van Long from a neighboring commune. Then he moved in with her, and they had five children. After giving birth to her youngest child, Mrs. Hien began to show signs of mental illness, cursing all day long in the house. Mr. Long took care of everything in the house by himself, using the more than acre of land he was given and his small war invalid salary. But that was not the poorest time for her family. In 1998, after a relapse of his injury, Mr. Long passed away, leaving behind a mentally unstable wife and five children.

The three sons left home early to seek a living. They did not earn enough to eat, so for many years none of them had enough money to take the bus home. At that time, only the two daughters stayed home to take care of their mother and do the housework.

Apart from the more intact bed for Ms. Hien, who is paralyzed, to lie on, this bed with a collapsed corner is where the remaining 5 people in the family sleep. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Then, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet was lucky enough to be married to a young man from Hue who was a construction worker. Her husband's situation was no better, as he was also poor and had to work hard to make a living in other places, so he had to stay here as a son-in-law. All the neighbors were happy when the couple gave birth to three healthy and handsome sons.

But the great joy was short-lived, after giving birth to her third child, Ms. Tuyet began to show signs of mental abnormalities. At the same time, her youngest sister, Ms. Nguyen Thi Toan, also showed the same symptoms as her. So, not only Ms. Hien had mental abnormalities, but all three women in the house took turns having fits, cursing and throwing things. Unable to bear the situation, Ms. Tuyet's husband had to abandon her and her children and go abroad. From then on, in the dilapidated house, there were only three women and three small children.

In the rare moments when she was sober, Ms. Tuyet still knew how to feed Ms. Hien, but most of the time the house was filled with the sounds of breaking things and cursing. Photo: Xuan Hoa

The hardships did not stop there for Mrs. Hien's family. More than a year ago, Mrs. Hien suddenly became paralyzed on one side and was bedridden. At that time, the youngest daughter's mental illness was also evident, so she spent all day tearing clothes, destroying furniture and wandering around the neighborhood.

Her illness was less severe than her mother and younger siblings. Sister Tuyet was sometimes alert enough to work on the family's rice fields and catch crabs to sell to earn money to feed all six mouths. But every time she had an attack, Sister Tuyet destroyed everything in the house without exception. So, even though there were six people in the house, there were not enough bowls of rice.

When we left, the image would have made anyone shed tears. Ms. Tuyet's three children, Phan Cong Nhat Anh (4th grade); Phan Cong Hai (2nd grade) and Phan Cong Hung (born in 2014) were fighting over a bowl of cold rice and some pickled eggplants, eating deliciously on the porch of the dilapidated house.

Ms. Tuyet's three children shared a bowl of cold rice and some salted fish because many times they had to go hungry when their mother had a seizure. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Seeing that, Mr. Hoan shared: “On days when Tuyet does not have an abnormal nervous attack, she still takes the three children to school. But today, when she has an attack, all three children stay home. That is why this family never has a complete meal. The youngest daughter is taken home by the villagers whenever they see her. Mrs. Hien is bedridden, and Tuyet is sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy, so many meals have been cooked, but when she has an attack, she throws the whole tray of food everywhere. Feeling sorry for the children, on the days when their mother has an attack and there is no rice, the neighbors call over to scoop up rice to feed them so that they do not go hungry.

The local government also tried to help, calling on people to support her family. But the people here are also struggling, so they only provided a little rice and food temporarily. The biggest worry now is that her house is about to collapse and there is no money to repair it for her. Otherwise, she will be paralyzed and bedridden in the house, and her three young children will be in danger if the house collapses.

Xuan Hoa