• Standing alongside and sharing with people with disabilities.
  • Connecting to bring "Love and Touch" to more child patients.
  • 250 free meals for poor patients

Her husband, Pham Thanh Nhan (born in 1968), has suffered from severe degenerative spinal disease for many years. His hands, once the family's breadwinners , are no longer strong enough for heavy labor. Since his illness, Ms. Danh has become the sole breadwinner, providing for the family while also caring for her four grandchildren who are at school age.

Ms. Tran Thi Danh has been raising her four grandchildren since they were just over five months old, in place of her daughter.

Speaking about her situation, Ms. Danh choked up: "My family is so poor, I have to do all kinds of jobs. When there's work, there's money; when there isn't, I struggle to make ends meet. I just hope I have enough strength to raise my grandchildren and send them to school, because seeing them like this breaks my heart."

The couple has five children, but life is so difficult that their daughters have had to leave their hometown to work far away, leaving their parents with four young grandchildren. The oldest is currently in 5th grade, and the youngest in 2nd grade, at an age where they need protection and care. Among Ms. Danh's children, one son has a leg disability, making their already impoverished situation even more challenging.

My maternal grandparents were poor, their house was dilapidated, and the children's study area was just a small space next to a thatched wall, which would leak on rainy days.

Without a stable livelihood, the family's greatest asset is a mere three acres of land and a small, dilapidated house. Every rainy season, the roof leaks and rickety, posing a constant threat of collapse. During storms, the entire family has to take shelter in the kitchen shed, waiting for the rain to stop before daring to return inside.

To make ends meet, Ms. Danh doesn't shy away from any job, from weeding and planting melaleuca trees to strenuous work like throwing firewood and doing construction work; she takes on any job. On days when she has work, she earns about 200,000 dong, but there are also many days when she is unemployed and earns nothing.

The house was empty, with no valuable possessions inside.

At home, Mr. Nhan is preoccupied with cooking, taking care of the children, and dropping them off at school. When the weather changes, the pain in his joints torments him, and he helplessly watches his wife shoulder all the burdens: “I’m always sick and can’t do anything heavy. Sometimes I see my wife come home from work exhausted and it breaks my heart. As a man, I can’t help her; I just stay home taking care of the kids, and I feel so powerless.”

Amidst the hardships, what worries Ms. Danh most is still the meals and education of her grandchildren. Despite the difficult life, she still tries to save every penny, hoping that her grandchildren can attend school regularly, so that their future will not repeat the hardships she has experienced.

The family of six quietly relied on each other, weathering the hardships together with familial love and hope for a brighter tomorrow.

"No matter how hard it is, I'll try my best, I just hope the children can get a proper education, so that they can have an education and suffer less than I did," Ms. Danh shared.

Ms. Danh's family desperately needs the care and support of the community so that their small house is no longer dilapidated, so that their meals are warmer and more comforting, and so that the innocent dreams of the four children can continue to grow in hope.

Trinh Hong Nhi

Source: https://baocamau.vn/nang-ganh-muu-sinh-a124686.html