Lyrics from the 'last line' people

Everyone here is poor. Simply because this is the last resort. According to those who were patients at the Hematology Institute, "1. If we can cure it, we will run out of money. 2. If we can't cure it, we will run out of money and have to go to the hospital but still run out of money."

The journey of blood patients is a very long red journey. A journey to the end: the journey to the Institute of Hematology.

The Love Station has a group where the station's "coordinators" will connect with patients and their families to inform them of the schedule for distributing coupons as well as the content of the 0-VND meal donation sessions.

And… that group is a place that contains so many emotions…

Lời hát từ những người ‘tuyến cuối’ - Ảnh 1. — The program is for patients and caregivers in difficult circumstances at the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion ( Hanoi ).

We received images of children in the pediatric ward with their arms full of IV tubes, sitting crowded together on hospital beds (because they had to share beds), still happily looking at the lunch boxes their parents brought home from the station.

We received heartfelt thanks from patients who had to ask other patients' family members to get their meals because the IV was still in their arm.

And every day the station receives greetings.

Greetings: "My family is from Cao Bang, Ha Giang , Nghe An... My family has just been admitted to the hospital, I was introduced to the rice receiving station, I greet you and thank you for guiding my family."

Humanity in the hospital is something very simple but profound.

And then the station received all the goodbyes.

"After a long time fighting the disease, this morning my mother took her last breath. I no longer had the opportunity to go to the hospital to take care of my mother. During the process of taking care of my mother, I received support from the Love Station to help me have a hot meal. I sincerely thank you and I would like to leave the group to give my meal to those who are still fighting."

Those messages were short but filled with tears, containing the patient’s and their family’s journey of struggle and struggle… In moments like that, everyone fell silent and sent condolences as a sign of respect. And until now, we still haven’t forgotten the story of the meal ticket that a patient’s family member asked to keep as a souvenir because they no longer had the chance to go to the station to receive food, because they no longer had the chance to take care of their family member…

Lời hát từ những người ‘tuyến cuối’ - Ảnh 2.

Lời hát từ những người ‘tuyến cuối’ - Ảnh 3.

Lời hát từ những người ‘tuyến cuối’ - Ảnh 4.

Lời hát từ những người ‘tuyến cuối’ - Ảnh 5.

Image of a free meal giveaway at Love Station every Saturday

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

The Station’s meals were as hectic as usual, and the collaborators could not remember the faces of the recipients. Somewhere behind the tired eyes, the hairless heads from chemotherapy, and the hands still tangled with IV lines, there was a silent effort. Everyone seemed to be trying to overcome their fate step by step.

A small woman approached me and handed me a small box. She said very softly, "I'm just asking for some rice, I won't take anything else!". I was confused because I thought maybe she was disappointed because she had to wait in line for a long time, or because she didn't bring a box to put the food in, so she only dared to take the rice. When I enthusiastically asked, "The food is delicious today. How many people are you getting it for?", she naturally shook her head and said nothing. I asked again, "Don't you have anything to put it in? Please get me another box. Get more food to have enough nutrition."

She suddenly cried and ran out of the line… very quickly. All the collaborators were bewildered. Only I clearly felt… it seemed like we had “touched” some kind of pain, a very big one that she was trying to suppress… Maybe today her loved one got worse? Maybe she was facing a foretold separation? She was a person who was carrying the pain of the “last line”.

During the meal distribution events, we witnessed many patients coming to the hospital for the first time. They were in a hurry and did not have time to prepare, they were clumsily receiving meals in ugly, deformed boxes that they had picked up from somewhere...

And even though today there are many things that cannot be fulfilled, the things that we have given and are giving to each other are also fulfilled! Don’t hesitate or wonder too much whether this is right or not? Is this reasonable? Just nod your head gently. Because we will learn to love from those very moments.

The station was in the middle of the hot afternoon sun, and seeing more and more patients and their families arriving, we felt extremely worried. Even though we had arranged the seats, the food was still being prepared. The station’s collaborators were all busy preparing the food, while the cooks were trying to finish the dishes as quickly as possible.

The students tried to "buy time" with group songs. Then the atmosphere became calmer when the patients joined in the song Like having Uncle Ho in the great victory day and Joining hands together. Many hands were raised, many simply introduced themselves as which room number they were from? Which department? What ethnicity? And they all received very warm applause. The lyrics were sung very naturally, their hands still holding their lunch boxes, around their necks were their hospital access cards. Their stage was the empty space in front of the rows of tables, where the station had set up trays of freshly cooked, still-hot food.

… The countryside gradually appeared in a passionate, beautiful and gentle way. They sang very passionately. They sang because they missed home. Suddenly, behind their songs was a moment of peace, a blue sky... There they were no longer the people who had to worry about hospital bills day and night, they were not the people with endless days lying at the foot of the hospital bed. They sang as if they were no longer the sick, the people who took care of the weak and the small, hard-working...

The singing was passionate and between them - people in the same situation, there was no longer any distance. Between us, there was no longer any distance. There was no longer any distance between rich and poor. People from the capital or people from the mountains. Givers and receivers. Everyone listened to them sing passionately. The lyrics were so beautiful. Their eyes were so beautiful. Their optimism and simplicity were so beautiful. And they were giving us a chance to live so beautifully... Amidst the vastness of human love.

Today the station had a tray of gifts and some small, cute moon cakes, even though it wasn’t the full moon day yet. But for the children in the hospital, seeing a crowd of people singing and seeing colorful candies and cakes made them happy. That moment was like the world brightening up for them, even though the IV needle was still throbbing in their hands.

Looking at those innocent children, the collaborators of the station felt choked up. It is true that children always see joy and happiness everywhere. Something that we adults almost never see. Those children are only the same age as our grandchildren, they are so small but their eyes are so bewildered and sad. Hopefully, the small candies, the small milk cartons in those small hands will be exchanged for a smile... A moment of happiness.

The sky is blue outside. Be green leaves, baby!