Amidst the hustle and bustle of life, there are still lives silently struggling in illness and deprivation. That is the situation of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Huong (born in 1977) residing in Hoa Binh hamlet, Hoa Thuan commune, An Giang province.
In a rented room located deep in an alley in Thanh Dong commune, An Giang province, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Liem (51 years old, Ms. Huong's husband) lay motionless on the bed. After two severe strokes, leaving sequelae of hemiplegia and memory loss for him.
Ms. Huong is by her husband's side taking care of him, thin, haggard, with heavy eyes full of thoughts. She herself is also suffering from terminal lymphoma, diagnosed by doctors at Kien Giang Oncology Hospital in October 2024.
No longer able to work, no money for treatment, Ms. Huong only drank traditional medicine for a while, trying to get up to take care of rice, porridge, medicine for her husband and two young grandchildren in the house.
Already in difficult circumstances, Ms. Huong also has to shoulder the burden of taking care of 2 younger grandchildren. The grandson (25 years old) has sequelae of Japanese encephalitis since childhood, his intelligence is just like a child, his mother also left him for his and his wife to raise. His granddaughter (7 years old, currently in 1st grade) because of difficult circumstances, his mother went to work far away and sent him back to his grandmother to take care of.
The family's current livelihood is about 3 million VND per month sent back by their daughter working as a worker in Ho Chi Minh City. The meager amount of money both to pay rent and to buy medicine, food and living expenses is insignificant.
For many years, the whole family has left their hometown in Hoa Thuan to go to Ho Chi Minh City to find a job to earn a living. After a period of Mr. Liem's serious illness, the whole family moved to Thanh Dong commune to reside, hoping to both find a doctor to treat his husband and be able to find a job to earn a living and take care of life.
In the rented room, she and her husband work as workers to take care of the livelihood for the whole family. But since her husband became seriously ill, she has been busy taking care of her husband and grandchildren, so she can only take part-time jobs when someone hires her.
Currently, she herself is also seriously ill, and many difficulties in life are piled up.
I just hope to have a little money for medicine to prolong my life, and try to take care of my husband and two young children that day. I know I'm sick, sometimes my health is not normal, but I try, I'm just afraid what I have, what can the two young children do," Mrs. Huong said sadly.
Mr. Nguyen Van Con - Secretary of the Party cell, Head of Hoa Binh hamlet, Hoa Thuan commune - said: "Ms. Huong's family is in difficult circumstances but is determined to do business. Because of making a living, they left their hometown to work as hired laborers in a foreign land. Recently, when they heard that Mrs. Huong's husband was seriously ill, the local authorities also provided support in terms of procedures to receive monthly social protection allowances. However, in the current situation of the family, I hope for the help of the community so that the family has a way out, and the young child can be assured to continue studying.
In a cramped rented room, that woman still struggled every day, nurturing in her heart the belief that some miracle would come to save her family from adversity.
With thin hands suppressing the pain of illness, she still has to do everything from taking care of her husband to coaxing her naive grandchild to eat every bite of rice.
Please send any help to LD26013 to: Golden Heart Charity Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. Account number (STK) 113000000758 at Vietinbank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Contact number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Contact number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.
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