Sharing with families in special difficulty

Sick couple rents a house to raise 4 children

That is the family situation of Le Van Giap in Phan Boi Chau block, Nam Dan town. Giap is the eldest son of Le Van Thanh and Nguyen Thi Lien. He is an excellent student, in grade 12 he won second prize at the provincial level in Physics and passed the entrance exam to the University of Information Technology in Ho Chi Minh City with 26.7 points.

Representatives of the Faith Volunteer Group presented gifts to support Le Van Thanh's family in Nam Dan town. Photo: HT

On the afternoon of October 1, the Faith volunteer group went to Nam Dan town togive gifts20 million VND to encourage Le Van Giap and his family to try to overcome difficulties, to encourage the new student to study hard. Currently, Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien is taking Giap to Ho Chi Minh City to enroll in the University of Information Technology, so the group gave the gift to Le Van Thanh and 3 children.

Giap's three younger siblings were born between 2014 and 2016. Giap's mother works as a tailor, sewing for a tailor shop near the boarding house. Every month, she works hard day and night, but only earns about 5 to 6 million VND to support a family of 6, and pay 2 million VND/month in rent. Her husband, Le Van Thanh, has a kidney tumor and osteoarthritis and has to take medicine all year round, so he is almost unable to work. He can only help his wife take their 3 children to school. Lien herself also has a cyst, thyroid tumor, breast tumor and liver tumor and has had surgery twice, so her life and that of her family often falls into poverty and deadlock. Previously, she and her husband had some capital thanks to a small amount of money from selling their grandparents' land, but they had to save it for medical treatment, so they had to rent a house.

Le Van Giap and his family before enrolling at the University of Information Technology in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo: Family provided

Over the phone, Ms. Lien said that Giap is currently being fed and housed by a relative whose house is 4km away from the school. “I am just worried that I won’t have enough money to pay my son’s tuition. When he entered school, I collected all the money, from the Vallet scholarship, Giap’s bonuses to the school’s support, to only 15 million VND to pay the first semester’s tuition. When Giap was at school, I asked a relative to introduce me to a job to earn more money. I feel so sorry for him, my son entered school with an uneasy feeling, but I don’t know what to do. I am very grateful for the support of the volunteer group, this is an unexpected sharing like in a dream. When I heard this news, my son’s smile returned. He rarely smiles because he always loves his parents, loves his siblings and is also worried about having to drop out of school halfway,” Ms. Lien said.

70 year old husband takes care of wife with stroke and son with kidney failure

Through the sharing of local organizations, the Faith Volunteer Group learned about the situation of Mr. Nguyen The Hung in Hamlet 3, Hung Phuc Commune (Hung Nguyen). Mr. Hung is the economic pillar of the family but suffers from chronic kidney failure, his eyes are almost blind and he has to go to the hospital in Vinh City for dialysis 3 times a week.

Mr. Tien alone has to take care of his stroke-stricken wife and bedridden son. Photo: HT

On the afternoon of October 1, the Faith Volunteer Group visited, encouraged and supported Mr. Hung with 30 million VND. As soon as we stepped onto the steps of the house, the image of a woman with white hair sitting motionless on a plastic chair, her hands trembling as she tightly gripped the window bars attracted everyone's attention. Mr. Nguyen Van Tien (Mr. Nguyen The Hung's father) came out to welcome us, while Mr. Hung lay flat on the old bed, breathing heavily, his voice broken.

Asked about the old woman sitting near the window, Mr. Tien said that it was Mrs. Nhung, his wife over 70 years old, who has worked hard all her life to raise 3 children. “She suffered a stroke, along with heart and joint disease, so she has had to sit and eat and sleep on a chair for 5 years. Since 2017, she has not been able to lie down. Every time I help her lie down, even for less than 1 minute, she has to sit up because the pain is unbearable. So even when she sleeps, my wife has to sit on the chair like that,” Mr. Tien confided.

In the small, shabby house, all the furniture and household items were old. Before Mrs. Nhung fell ill, Mr. Nguyen The Hung and his wife went to work as factory workers in Binh Duong. The couple worked hard to raise two children, a boy and a girl, and sent money back to help their parents in the countryside. In 2017, Mrs. Nhung suffered a stroke, so he and his son returned to the countryside to help their father take care of his mother. He worked all kinds of jobs, from construction worker to porter. Every year, he tried to bring his son to the South to visit his wife and little daughter. He had severe back pain many times, but he thought it was due to hard labor, so he bought medicine himself. Three months ago, after coming home from work, his eyes suddenly ached and he almost lost his vision. He rushed to the hospital and the doctor concluded that he had end-stage kidney failure and needed dialysis three times a week to stay alive. In addition to kidney failure, he also had a heart attack and, as he said, many other diseases.

The Faith Volunteer Group visited and encouraged Mr. Tien's family. Photo: HT

His son fell ill, all the burden fell on Mr. Tien's shoulders, from taking care of food, hygiene to medicine, medical examinations for both his wife and son. Confiding with the members of the volunteer group, Mr. Tien said that he and his wife had also participated in the resistance war. Then his eldest brother also went to defend the Fatherland and sacrificed at the Quang Tri front in 1968. Currently, he and his wife have no other income besides the support for families in difficulty... Mr. Tien himself also has many illnesses, but he still tries to endure, leaving the treatment to his wife and children. According to his confidences, his eyes were also red, but he still held back from crying. It seemed that for a long time he had gotten used to holding back like that, to carry on his shoulders the worries both mentally and physically, sometimes even despair...

After the gifts were given, there was joy left for both the giver and the receiver. Hopefully, the sharing, no matter how small, will be a meaningful spiritual gift to help them feel more confident to continue on the path ahead, as Ms. Nguyen Thi Lien confided, "the sharing of the aunts and uncles brought back the smile to her son - a new student in Information Technology".