Pity the home with an 85-year-old mother raising three children infected with Agent Orange

(Baonghean.vn) - Although she is 85 years old, her eyes are dim, her ears are deaf, her steps are shaky and slow, Ms. Vuong Thi Ly in Hamlet 9, Thanh Ha Commune (Thanh Chuong) still has to take care of and serve her 3 children infected with Agent Orange...

In 1956, Ms. Ly married Mr. Tran Dinh Trong (born in 1927), a retired anti-French soldier. After giving birth to two daughters, in 1961, Mr. Trong volunteered to serve as a civilian laborer on the front line stationed in Southern Laos and to supplement troops in Upper Laos (Lao PDR).

During his 11 years of military service in the key area, he was exposed to Agent Orange and left behind consequences for his five children. Their only son (born in 1962) also had a wife and children, but after falling ill, he often wandered away and rarely returned home. The twin sisters Tran Thi Lien and Tran Thi Vinh (born in 1967) and Tran Thi Thang (born in 1971) were born with weak legs, unable to walk, and had to move with their hands.

Ms. Ly and her three children infected with Agent Orange (right) cannot walk and have to sit on a low bed and move around by hand.

The second sister, Tran Thi Chau (born 1959), is the prettiest and healthiest in the family. When she was of marriageable age, many people came to propose to her, but seeing her younger siblings crawling on a torn mat in the corner of the house, she couldn't bear it, so she refused every single one.

Then in 1995, she died of heart disease. In 1996, after 3 years of fighting lung disease and asthma, Mr. Trong also died, leaving Mrs. Ly with sick children and a dilapidated house. Only the youngest sister, Tran Thi Thuy (born in 1974), although her legs were also weak, did not accept her fate. Thuy practiced every day, so she could walk and help Mrs. Ly take care of her sisters...

Although they have many children, all of them suffer from Agent Orange. The family is poor and has no money for treatment, so they have no choice but to live together. When Mr. Trong was alive, the family had enough to eat one meal a day, but since his death, the family has fallen into extremely difficult circumstances.

All the children are sick, there is no main laborer in the family, the old house is in danger of collapsing... In 2003, the International Cross Society surveyed and supported the construction of a charity house for Mrs. Ha's family. Since then, the mother and daughter have had a place to shelter from the sun and rain, but the only food for the whole family is a few fields of rice, so while working in the fields, Mrs. Ly also had to be a pair of replacement legs for her three children. Difficulties and poverty always lurk around the mother and daughter, the three daughters occasionally faint, once Ms. Tran Thi Thang fainted, fell and broke her leg...

Thanh Ha commune government also gave priority to granting her family a piece of land right on the inter-commune road. Relatives, neighbors and the government helped build a small shop on the side of the road so that the saleswomen could earn extra money to live. They could move around with the help of a chair and a wheelchair to sell dried goods, beer, soft drinks, etc.

Ms. Tran Thi Lien has to use a moving chair to sell goods to customers.

Up to now, the three sisters have also enjoyed a monthly allowance of over one million VND, and Mrs. Ly has received 300,000 VND to take care of her three children infected with Agent Orange. As for Tran Thi Thuy, her family and friends encouraged and helped her, so after graduating from high school, Thuy went to college to study preschool education and was able to teach at the commune preschool, less than 1km from her home. As a teacher devoted to her students, Thuy is trusted by the school leaders and loved by her colleagues...

Mr. Hoang Cao Phon, Chairman of Thanh Ha Commune People's Committee, said: Mr. Trong's family is a family that has contributed to the revolution, and their circumstances are also very pitiful, so the government has given them many priorities. Despite their illnesses, the whole family always strives to rise up, making the community and the people respect them. We only hope that there will be a better treatment solution to help their family reduce their difficulties...

Ha Linh