We came to the Great Solidarity house just built on the land a philanthropist gave us to live in in Hoi Xuan hamlet, Hoa Binh commune. In the small house still smelling of new lime, the image of two white-haired people sitting silently leaning against each other makes anyone who sees it feel heartbroken.
Mr. Mai Van Huong is over 80 years old this year, with a thin body and cloudy eyes due to age. The trembling steps of the old man have to cling to each edge of the wall to be able to walk in the small house that has just been completed.
According to Mr. Huong, for many years he has suffered from all kinds of diseases in his body, from pain, shortness of breath to severe hearing loss. Many red spots and long black spots appeared on his body, causing him to often have itching, insomnia and chronic fatigue.
“Some days it hurts so much that I can't get up, my body is hot but I don't have money to go for an examination. I'm old now, I'll live as long as I can,” Mr. Huong choked up and said, then turned his face to hide his red eyes.
Sitting next to her husband, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Het continuously reached out and hugged her head because of the pain that had lasted for many years. The woman over 70 years old also suffers from high blood pressure and physical weakness after a long life of working as a hired laborer to earn a living.
According to Mrs. Het, before, despite her old age, she still worked as a hired weeding worker, picked fruit for hire, and collected scraps around the neighborhood to earn money to buy rice and medicine. Now her health is gradually weakening, she only grows a few vegetables around the house to sell to make ends meet.
On days when it's sold, there are 10,000 - 30,000 VND, enough to buy a little rice or a bottle of fish sauce. On days when vegetables are withered and no one buys them, the couple has to cook soup and eat with cold rice to get through the meal," Ms. Het sadly added.
My husband and I have three children but they have all disappeared for more than ten years. "Every holiday and Tet, looking at people reuniting, I feel very sorry for myself," she said choked up. Speaking to this point, two streams of tears slowly rolled down her old face, deeply imprinted with traces of the hard days.
Living not far away, a neighbor named Sau Thao said that Mr. Huong and Mrs. Het's circumstances make everyone around the neighborhood feel sorry for them. Old and sick, but the two of them do not have children and grandchildren by their side to take care of and rely on when they are sick.
They are very miserable. They eat whatever meal they get, many days they are sick and lie in one place without anyone looking at them. Sometimes it rains for two or three days in a row and they only have white rice with boiled vegetables dipped in fish sauce," Mrs. Sau Thao choked up.
According to Ms. Ta Thi Nhuan - Standing Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Hoa Binh commune, Mr. Huong's family has been a near-poor household for many years. The locality has just supported the construction of a Great Solidarity house to help them settle down in their old age.
Ms. Nhuan added that the house was built on the land of a kind local resident for her and her husband to live on until the end of their lives. In addition, the commune also prioritizes supporting gifts and necessities for families during holidays and Tet.
In the late afternoon, small kitchen smoke slowly rises in the middle of the new house that still smells of bricks. In the fading sunset, the two old couples sit nestled next to each other, making anyone who witnesses it cannot help but feel choked up and heartbroken for a plightful fate.
All help for life situation LD26119 please send to Tam Long Vang Charity Social Fund - 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. Account number (STK) 113000000758 at Vietinbank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi; Account number: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank Hanoi Branch; Account number: 12410001122556 - at BIDV Hoan Kiem Branch.
