Give trust, bring smiles.

(Baonghean)Currently, Nghe An province has 222,180 people with disabilities and orphans. With efforts to remove barriers preventing their integration into the community and instill self-confidence, the livelihood support program implemented throughout the province since 2011 has shown initial effectiveness.

Mr. Dang Tien Hung is finishing up his wooden products.

Nam Dan is one of the first localities to benefit from the program, with over 7,000 people with disabilities and orphans in the district. Clearly defining the purpose of providing people with disabilities with a "fishing rod"—meaning providing them with suitable livelihoods to proactively improve their lives—as the noble meaning of the livelihood support program, Nam Dan quickly implemented it with practical results.

We visited the family of Mr. Nguyen Canh Doan (Hamlet 2, Xuan Hoa Commune, Nam Dan District). Along with 11 other households in the commune receiving livelihood support, Mr. Doan's family received one breeding cow and some funding for renovating and repairing their barn. Now over 80 years old and with declining health, Mr. Doan's greatest worry is not his own well-being, but the deep anguish of a father and grandfather witnessing the physical and intellectual disabilities of his children and grandchildren. He and his wife have seven children, two of whom, two daughters, suffer from congenital motor disabilities, are frail, and afflicted with various serious illnesses. Their eldest son also died young, and his wife left home, leaving behind two frail granddaughters who suffer from the same tragic illnesses as their aunts. These two elderly people, nearing the end of their lives, now have to care for four disabled individuals, burdened with countless material and emotional worries. His voice choked as he confided, "My family is in a very difficult situation. Both my children and grandchildren have severe mobility disabilities, limiting their movement and interaction with the outside world. Because of this, they (Mr. Doan's two children and two granddaughters) feel very self-conscious and insecure, rarely meeting or talking to anyone. Then, in November 2013, our family received breeding cows from a livelihood support program. With the encouragement and support of society, they cheered up considerably, going out to the fields and pastures to cut grass and care for the cows. Since then, their health has improved somewhat!"

Small as a ten-year-old child, Nguyen Thi Kieu Trang, the fifth daughter of Mr. Doan, is now 44 years old. Ms. Trang estimates that by the end of 2014, the cows will have given birth to more calves, then two, and many more… She says innocently: “I wish one day we had a whole herd of cows, so my sisters and I would have more work. Before, no one believed that I, being disabled, could do anything, but now I see that I’m ‘disabled’ but not ‘useless’! I try to raise the cows to breed, then sell them to earn money for medicine, to help my elderly parents, and save a little capital for the future! It’s normal for able-bodied people to raise cows, but for disabled people like us to have this job is a great happiness!”

Ms. Trang's happiness was also evident on the faces of many other disabled people and orphans in Xuan Hoa commune that we had the opportunity to meet. Mr. Dang Tien Hung (born in 1970), who suffers from congenital muscular atrophy, with his will to overcome his fate and the help of the community, is now the owner of a civil carpentry workshop with 5 workers in Hamlet 1, Xuan Hoa commune. In 2013, he received 20 million VND in support from the livelihood support program to build and repair his house. When we visited, behind the cluttered woodworking workshop was a three-room house gradually taking shape. "Thanks to the support from the program, my wife and I were able to borrow more money from relatives to build a house. Now that we have a house, we can work and save to stabilize our lives. We have to believe that even with disabilities, we can rise above our challenges!" Mr. Hung shared.

Selected as a pilot commune for the livelihood support program, Thanh Linh commune in Thanh Chuong district has also achieved positive results. Mr. Nguyen The Nham, Chairman of the Association for the Support of Disabled People and Orphans in Thanh Linh Commune, happily stated: “Implemented since November 2013 with a total capital of over 400 million VND, including support from the Provincial Association, District Association, social welfare funds, district and commune budgets, and social contributions. To date, 13 families have received 8 million VND each to raise breeding cows, 8 million VND to 4 families to build wheelchair access ramps for disabled people, 7 families have received support to build bathrooms and toilets, and 3 families have received support to build houses, with a total support amount of 90 million VND. Along with many other support policies of the Party and the State, by this time, most beneficiaries of the program have stable lives, happy families, and disabled people and orphans have the confidence and motivation to strive to integrate into the community!”

Cattle provided through the livelihood support program bring jobs and joy to women. Ms. Nguyen Thi Kieu Trang.

The family of Nguyen Thi Thuy and Nguyen Thi Yen in Thuy village, Thanh Linh commune, is one of the beneficiaries of a livelihood support program for poor orphans. Having lost their father at a young age, the two sisters, Thuy and Yen, have always strived in their studies and helped their mother with household chores. However, they still harbor feelings of inadequacy due to the lack of a father's love, and a sense of shyness and hesitation compared to their peers. At the end of 2013, Thuy and Yen received news that the Association for the Protection of Disabled People and Orphans in the commune had donated 20 million VND to help repair their house. Their joy and astonishment overflowed in stories they told for days afterward. From then on, Thuy and Yen understood that, despite their current difficulties, society and the community were always there for them. In her new, sturdy house, Thuy softly confided, "Before, our house was so dilapidated that my mother and I were always worried and anxious, especially during the rainy season. Now we feel at ease. My sister and I are determined to focus on studying hard so we can get jobs soon to help our mother and have the means to give back to the community, especially to those who are less fortunate than our family!"

Thuy's belief in a better life and future is the greatest success of the livelihood support program for disabled people and poor orphans. However, according to Mr. Nguyen Hai Thanh, Chairman of the Association for the Protection of Disabled People and Orphans in Nghe An province, the program still faces some difficulties in its implementation. Some disabled individuals are passive and dependent in accessing and utilizing the support funds from the program, leading to limited effectiveness. Furthermore, in many cases, people still have a discriminatory attitude, looking down on the working abilities of disabled people, causing the disabled community to shrink and doubt their own capabilities.

In both cases, the various levels of the association emphasized the dissemination of the Law on Persons with Disabilities and linked the program's goals and tasks to the local criteria for building new rural areas. This fostered humanistic values ​​and affirmed the position and role of people with disabilities in social life. Regarding the achievements, Mr. Nguyen Hai Thanh happily stated: "The program has contributed to strengthening the self-confidence of disabled people and orphans, enabling them to become self-reliant in life, in line with the motto 'Believe in them, give them a smile, and create conditions for them to live as themselves'."

Phuong Chi