Heartbroken mother nearly 70 years old raising son with down syndrome and 2 grandchildren

Her family's meals rarely have meat or eggs, they mostly eat rice with pickled vegetables. Photo: Phan Hien

Mrs. Pham Thi Ha is 67 years old this year, living in village 5, Hoa Son commune (Anh Son). Her husband died early due to a terminal illness, raising her children alone, now every day she still has to worry about food and money for her son with Down syndrome and two grandchildren.

In 2009, her daughter, Ms. Le Thi Tan (born in 1982), met a man named Mai The Anh, who she only knew was from Thanh Hoa province, and then the two moved here to live without registering their marriage. In 2010, Ms. Tan gave birth to Le Ngoc Chau, and in 2012, she gave birth to Le Ngoc Chi. After the birth of the second child, the unfaithful man also abandoned the mother and her three children and has not had any contact since then.

In 2015, due to the difficult life, Ms. Tan asked her mother to take care of her children so she could go to Arabia to work. For the first 3 months, she was still able to contact her grandmother, but for more than 2 years now, she has been completely silent, not sending money for her children's education nor calling her grandmother. Since then, Chau and Chi have been living with their grandmother, with a life lacking both materially and emotionally.

Her eyes blurred, tears welling up in the wrinkles on her haggard face, Mrs. Ha choked up and said: I never expected that at this age, life would be so unfair to me. Not only worrying about her two helpless grandchildren, for the past 30 years she has had to take care of her son, Le Thanh Hiep (born in 1988), who has Down syndrome and cannot speak or do anything.

Currently, Ms. Ha's family is living in a seriously degraded level 4 house. Photo: Thai Hien

Currently, the four of them live in a seriously degraded house. There is nothing valuable in the house except for a bed. The accommodation is very cramped and hot. During the rainy season, there are many leaks, so Mrs. Ha has to use basins and basins to catch them all over the house. One day, when it rained, she fell asleep and the water dripped all over the bed, only then did she wake up.

Currently, the four of them only depend on Mr. Hiep's monthly allowance of 405,000 VND. They receive daily rice allowance, but it is not enough to buy more nutritious food for their children and grandchildren. Most meals consist of only fermented bean curd. There are days when the family has nothing to eat, and because they do not have money, the grandmother has to go out and buy instant noodles on credit to mix into soup to make it easier to eat.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phu, head of village 5, Hoa Son commune, said: “Mrs. Ha’s family is the most difficult in the locality. At this age, she should be being taken care of by her children and grandchildren, but she is having to endure many difficulties with her sick child and two young grandchildren. The four of them only wait for Mr. Hiep’s monthly allowance, which is really difficult. Everyone in the village sympathizes and shares with her, but they cannot help much. The locality also prioritizes supporting rice, clothes, gifts, etc. on holidays and Tet for the family. Now, thanks to the attention of the whole society, charitable organizations and benefactors, she can ease some of the difficulties in her old age.”

Any help please send to Ms. Pham Thi Ha in village 5, Hoa Son commune, Anh Son district, Nghe An province or the Department of Distribution - Advertising and Social Activities, Nghe An Newspaper, No. 3, Lenin Street, Vinh City, Nghe An.