Heartbreaking story of an 82-year-old woman living alone in poverty.

(Baonghean.vn) - Despite being in her seventies, Mrs. Hoang Thi Thin (82 years old) in Hamlet 1, Cat Van Commune (Thanh Chuong District) lives a precarious and lonely life in a dilapidated house next to Highway 533. Weak and ill, Mrs. Thin has no relatives to care for her; all her daily activities, including meals, depend on her neighbors and relatives...

It is known that Mrs. Thin's house used to be very lively, but now she lives alone in her dilapidated house. Her husband passed away more than 10 years ago, and her two sons have also left her one after another.

The youngest son, Nguyen Van Hung (born in 1968), was a fallen soldier who enlisted in the 3rd Army Corps and died in an accident in 1989. Out of grief for his son, Mr. Nguyen Van Dieu (born in 1936), the husband, also fell ill and passed away eight years later. The eldest son, Nguyen Van Huong (born in 1962), had a family and two children living next door. He also passed away in 2004, leaving behind his wife and two sick children, a daughter and a son.

Of the old woman's three daughters, one has passed away, the other two are living in poverty and hardship; and one married a man in Con Cuong and therefore cannot help her much.

Out of pity for her elderly mother, who had to live in loneliness and sadness without anyone to care for her, her daughter, who had recently married a man in the same village, took her in to care for her. However, due to extremely difficult family circumstances, after only a year, the daughter had to bring her back home, where she continued to live out her final days in solitude.

The impoverished circumstances of Mrs. Hoang Thi Thin (Hamlet 1, Cat Van Commune, Thanh Chuong District).

Now over 80, she lives alone in her dilapidated old house, most of her belongings old and broken; only her bed remains her most valuable possession. She relies entirely on the help of neighbors and social welfare support for all her personal needs.

Due to numerous misfortunes, Mrs. Thin's health has deteriorated significantly over the past 20 years, leaving her confined to a wheelchair. While her hearing remains, her voice is weak and broken, barely audible. She confided, "Heaven has shown no mercy, forcing my family to live like this. My children died, my husband died, and I'm confined to this chair. Every day I live is a day of suffering..." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes, her wrinkled face etched with the marks of countless hardships.

Mr. Dang Dinh Lam, a village official in Hamlet 1, Cat Van Commune, said that previously, Mr. Dieu – Mrs. Thin's husband – was the Party Branch Secretary, team leader, and secretary of the production team. He was an energetic and enthusiastic person dedicated to collective work, respected by the villagers. The couple's family also lived peacefully and affectionately during the years of poverty in their village. Only after the death of their youngest son and the successive passing of the male breadwinners in the family did Mrs. Thin's family become devastated as it is now. The dilapidated house he currently lives in was repaired two years ago by the village's Fatherland Front and mass organizations, with villagers mobilizing to fix leaks and provide shelter during rain and sun.

Huy Thu