A variety of care activities to help blind people stabilize their lives

Throughout 15 years of implementing the Action Program on Sustainable Employment and Poverty Reduction for the period 2008-2023, the Standing Committee of the Provincial Association for the Blind has not only done a good job in vocational training and job creation for the blind in the province, but also supported loan sources, helping them stabilize their lives. In addition, programs to care for health insurance, scholarships for children, and build houses for families in difficult circumstances have been implemented continuously.

Massage services at the Association of the Blind in districts, towns and cities have provided jobs and stable income for many skilled blind people.

Create stable income

The province currently has 649 blind people, including 574 members of the Blind Association. Over the past 15 years, the Provincial Blind Association has sought jobs suitable to the blind people's abilities and created jobs through family economic models and concentrated production. The Association has established production teams and establishments producing and trading brooms, bamboo toothpicks and massage services to solve jobs for the blind people in the province... Thereby, the models have solved regular jobs for 105 people, with an average salary of 3,360,000 VND/person/month. Particularly at Rang Dong massage facility, due to the preference for highly skilled workers, the income of the blind people has reached 8 million VND/person/month. The Association also sends people to provide vocational training for members in provinces and cities in the region.

To help blind people have capital for production and small household businesses, the Provincial Blind Association is managing and lending more than 2.5 billion VND to blind people. Of which, the original capital allocated by the Central Association from the National Employment Fund is more than 1 billion VND, the capital allocated by the Provincial People's Committee is 550 million VND, and local channels lend through savings groups with an amount of 872 million VND. Over the past 15 years, the Provincial Blind Association at all levels has established 287 projects, coordinated with the Social Policy Bank to lend 2,173 blind people with a total revolving capital of nearly 22 billion VND, helping blind people and their families invest in developing the family economy, creating jobs, increasing income, and improving living standards. The Association also mobilizes funds from organizations and individuals to support capital for blind people to raise cows with an increasingly large herd.

In addition, the Provincial Blind Association also implemented many programs to help members such as coordinating with the Provincial Red Cross Association to mobilize the construction of 80 houses and repair 23 charity houses with a total amount of 2.5 billion VND. The Association also coordinated to donate 83 savings books to the blind. 100% of the blind (qualified) received community subsidies, health insurance, and tuition exemptions for their children.

Happiness under "common roof"

Thanks to the variety of activities to care for the lives of members, as well as many blind families with difficult circumstances, they have gradually stabilized. They have found the light of life, joy, and happiness of their own. Mr. Bui Van Canh, Association of the Blind in Bau Bang District, shared that after finishing primary school at the Provincial Association, he was given the opportunity to continue studying integrated with sighted students through secondary and high school. With the help of friends, teachers and his own efforts and diligence, he completed the program through the school years and graduated from high school in 2015. In parallel with his studies, he has always actively participated in movements in and outside the province for the blind. He won a medal at the 3rd "Singing from the Heart" contest in Hanoi organized by the Vietnam Association of the Blind.

In the coming time, the association strives to have 100% of blind people of working age who want to work find jobs in various forms; 100% of members who have learned a trade are arranged jobs at service establishments established and managed by the association. The association also strives to have 100% of members and blind people of working age who want to learn a trade sent to school.

(Mr. Tran Van Em, Chairman of the Provincial Association of the Blind)

“Thanks to the support and help of friends, teachers, and all levels of the association, and my own constant efforts, I was honored to receive a certificate of merit from the Central Youth Union in the program “Shining Vietnamese Willpower” in 2022 held in Hanoi... Not only me, but also thanks to the thoughtful care of the Provincial Association, all members gradually have a better life,” Mr. Canh confided.

Without seeing the light, life is full of difficulties that seem impossible to overcome, but when they set foot in the Provincial Association for the Blind to learn a trade, many people not only create income to support themselves but also find personal happiness. A typical example of this is the couple Nguyen Thi Kim Ngoc and Nguyen Van Phong. 20 years ago, they both came to the Provincial Association for the Blind to learn a trade, then fell in love and became husband and wife. Now their children are adults and have stable jobs. Every year, Phong and Ngoc are supported by the Provincial Association for the Blind with capital to do business, not only do they have a stable house but also a rubber garden in Dau Tieng district. “The income of the couple at Rang Dong massage facility is about 10 million VND/month. My husband and I do not spend much, so we have the conditions to take care of our children and develop the family economy. Many other brothers and sisters working at the facility also have stable lives,” Ngoc shared.

Although we know that the lives of members of the Blind Association are still full of difficulties, especially when they cannot see the light. However, with the care of all sectors and levels in the province in all aspects, they gradually improve both materially and spiritually, build personal happiness and have more faith in life.

QUANG TAM

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