Pity the two orphaned children

(Baonghean.vn) - A few months after the first anniversary of their mother's death, their father died in an accident. Two brothers, Luong Quang Dat (born 2006) and Luong Quang Giap (born 2014), became orphans and had to live with their grandmother.

In a level 4 house in block 13, Dong Vinh ward (Vinh city), incense smoke billows from the altar of Mr. Luong Cao Thanh (born in 1979). On October 5, 2017, on the way to visit his father-in-law in Nghi Thinh commune (Nghi Loc), Mr. Thanh avoided an obstacle and crashed into a tree, suffering a traumatic brain injury, a broken neck, and died on the spot. Next to it is the altar of his wife, Ms. Le Thi Huan (born in 1977), who died on June 20, 2016 due to kidney failure.

Brothers Dat and Giap at their father's altar. Photo: Dam Phuong

The two children's grandmother, Dinh Thi Hao (born in 1952), choked up: "Poor my two children. Giap (3 years old) doesn't know anything yet. When anyone comes to burn incense, he brags: his father went to visit his grandfather and crashed into a tree and died... but at night, when he doesn't see his father, he cries until he falls asleep. His older brother, Dat, cries a lot...".

Both Thanh and Huan did not have stable jobs when they were alive, they had to work for hire, doing whatever they were hired to do, from construction work, pumping pesticides to carrying goods, driving motorbike taxis... The family was so poor that Huan discovered her illness but silently endured it, knowing that she would have a hard time surviving, she discussed with her husband to borrow money to build an extra room in the house to keep it from leaking in the rain and to create a spacious space for the two brothers to have a place to study when they grew up.

She hoped that by the time she passed away, all her debts would be paid off, and her father, her children, and her mother-in-law would no longer have to gather buckets and basins to catch water when it rained; and that on hot days they would no longer have to go out into the street to seek shade under a tree. But the house had just been built when disaster struck.

Mrs. Dinh Thi Hao (born in 1952) had to raise two orphaned grandchildren alone. Photo: Dam Phuong

Mrs. Dinh Thi Hao has two sons, the eldest son died of a serious illness, leaving only Thanh. Now that Thanh has passed away, she has to take care of her two orphaned grandchildren. Her husband died in 2000, also from cancer. She has a monthly pension of 2,700,000 VND. The two children's grandmother also died of kidney failure. The grandfather is over 80 and very weak. The family has many children, but they work for hire and live in different places, all of them are poor.

Mr. Ho Minh Duong - Head of Block 13, Dong Vinh Ward said: Thanh's family situation is very difficult, so when the children's mother passed away, the block also called for support for the family with a little money. When Thanh passed away, the block's Executive Committee met and mobilized the whole block to support 15 million VND to have money for his funeral and to take care of the initial living expenses for the three of them.

Mr. Tran Thanh Hai - Secretary of Dong Vinh Ward shared: The government has assigned policy officers to guide Ms. Hao to complete paperwork to apply for orphan status for the children. However, the amount of social protection allowance compared to the children's living and studying life is nothing. Therefore, the joint support of the community is needed to help the three grandmothers and grandchildren to ease their difficulties and the two orphans to continue going to school.

Ha Linh