The miserable lives need help

Young mother lying on hospital bed crying for her child

On the afternoon of June 25, after nearly 20 days of being taken to the emergency room due to an unexpected accident, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, born in 1998, living in Block 4, Nghi Tan Ward, was brought home. Seeing her children again after a series of days of fighting “death”, Ms. Huong burst into tears.

Huong's family said that during the days in the hospital, suppressing the pain, Huong always thought of her four children, then cried because she felt sorry for them, who were still young but had to suffer so much.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong during treatment at the hospital. Photo: HT

Previously, on June 2, 2022, when the sun was at its zenith, on the way home after selling the rest of the fish, Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong felt dizzy and then drove her old motorbike into a traffic sign on the side of the road.

As a result, Ms. Huong suffered a broken pelvis, broken ribs, pleural effusion and a brain hemorrhage. Luckily, a passerby discovered her and took her to the emergency room. After nearly a month in the hospital, the brain hemorrhage and pleural effusion improved, so her family asked to take her home for treatment because they had no more money to cover the cost of treatment and travel for the patient.

Nguyen Thi Huong and her husband have 4 children (3 girls, 1 boy). The two oldest children were twins in 2015 and the youngest son is not yet 1 year old. Both husband and wife have unstable jobs, so life is often poor and miserable, and her children suffer many disadvantages.

The children of Nguyen Thi Huong and her husband wait at home for their parents to return. Photo: HT

With the Association's staffNghi Tan Ward Women's Union visited the family, everyone was sad when looking at the image of the low, shabby house with peeling lime walls. In the house, everything was old, there was nothing of great value.

The three children play together while their father is in the hospital taking care of their mother, the youngest child has to be sent to their elderly grandparents. The income of the family of five depends on the daily baskets of fish that Ms. Huong buys from people who catch fish near the shore, then brings them to Nghi Phu market to sell. Her husband, Mr. Hoang Anh Duc, sells flowers at Nghi Tan market, but has stopped selling for the past two months because of poor sales. With an unstable income, and his wife's accident, the family is gradually becoming destitute because they have no reserve funds for times of illness.

“Faced with the difficult and unfortunate situation of Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, the Women's Union of the town and Nghi Tan ward coordinated with associations, unions, and local authorities tocall, mobilized to support Ms. Huong's treatment and buy some milk and food for the children during the days when both their parents were in the hospital. Although the amount of money was not much, it was still partly to help Ms. Huong's family have more motivation to overcome this difficult period. Hopefully, there will be more benefactors joining hands to help her reduce difficulties, helping the children to study properly" - Ms. Tran Thi Thu - President of the Women's Union of Nghi Tan Ward said.

Old grandparents raise orphaned grandchildren

Also in Nghi Tan ward, Cua Lo town, members of the Women's Union of the town and ward are regularly concerned and are calling on benefactors to extend a helping hand to another difficult situation, that of Mr. Tran Cong Hoang's household in block 5.

Mr. Tran Cong Hoang worked as a hired fisherman for local fishing boats, but for the past 3 years he has not gone to sea because of poor health, and no one has hired him anymore. Currently, Mr. Hoang stays at home to help with housework and take care of the children so his wife can go to the market to sell fish. His wife buys fish from boats every day, catches them near the shore, and then brings them to the market near their house to sell, earning a few tens of thousands of dong a day to support her family.

A simple meal of Mr. Hoang's family and his grandchildren. Photo: HT

Mr. Hoang and his wife are currently raising 3 grandchildren, the oldest is in 10th grade this year, the youngest is only 3 years old. Among Mr. Hoang's grandchildren, there are two sisters, Tran The Trung and Tran Thi Uyen Trang. Uyen Trang is in 10th grade this year, Trung's younger brother is in 8th grade. Their father passed away nearly 10 years ago, and after 1 year of their father's death, their mother disappeared and has not been contacted since. Uyen Trang and The Trung live with their grandparents in a cramped, old house.

“Because of poverty, Trung’s older sister, who is in 10th grade, has been dropping out of school for two days to work as a cleaner and dishwasher for restaurants along the coast. Her grandparents have been trying to encourage her to return to class. Her third child is also her grandson. Since her parents divorced, her mother has been gone for several years without contact, her father often wanders around looking for extra work, and also drinks a lot, so she mainly lives with her grandparents. We have to worry about her daily meals, and we don’t know how long my wife and I can take care of her children’s education, because her grandmother’s frugal fish selling income is only enough to cover her daily expenses,” Mr. Hoang said worriedly.

Ms. Phung Thi Hanh - President of the Women's Union of Cua Lo town said that many times directly encouraged Mr. Hoang and his children to try their best, the women's union cadres gave books, some school supplies and clothes to the children; at the same time, the union at all levels is also actively calling for and connecting with benefactors to support Mr. Hoang and his wife to have more expenses to take care of the children, helping them to continue going to school./.

Hoai Thu