The will of a blind female student

TPO - Nguyen Thi Minh was born blind due to the effects of Agent Orange from her grandfather, but she still strived to learn to read and write and passed the university entrance exam. To earn money for living expenses, Minh works as a street singer, earning 250,000 VND per 7-hour session.

TPO - Nguyen Thi Minh was born blind due to the effects of Agent Orange from her grandfather, but she still strived to learn to read and write and passed the university entrance exam. To earn money for living expenses, Minh works as a street singer, earning 250,000 VND per 7-hour session.

Nguyen Thi Minh (born in 2003, from Quang Cat commune, Quang Xuong district, Thanh Hoa province) said she is the second of three siblings. However, right after birth, Minh was diagnosed with congenital blindness due to the effects of Agent Orange from her grandfather.

Nguyen Thi Minh listened to the sounds on the phone to gather information.

When Minh reached school age, he also longed to go to class like his peers. However, because Minh is blind, his family didn't know how to support him.

Upon learning of Minh's situation, the Thanh Hoa Provincial Association for the Blind took him in to their center for care. There, Minh was introduced to Braille.

Upon entering high school, Minh was accepted into the Nhat Hong Center for the Visually Impaired (in Ho Chi Minh City). During this time, the nuns provided Minh with Braille books and academic support. For three years, Minh was an outstanding student at the center.

Minh made his way up to his room on the second floor.

Due to family circumstances, Minh has mostly lived away from home and been self-reliant since elementary school. “The teachers could only help a little; I had to take care of myself the rest. But because I didn't know the way around, my mother had to stay with me for a while in each new place, up to three months, to guide me and help me get familiar with the area before we went home,” Minh confided.

In 2023, Minh graduated from high school with excellent results. She applied to three universities based on her academic transcript. Unexpectedly, all three universities sent her acceptance letters. After careful consideration, Minh decided to choose the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, majoring in Psychology.

Minh participated in an outdoor excursion.

Being far from home and family, Minh's educational journey has been fraught with difficulties. While tuition is free in Hanoi, living expenses and transportation costs still need to be covered. Meanwhile, back home, her family is classified as near-poor, and her father is seriously ill, leaving all the burden on her mother's shoulders. Because of this, Minh hopes to share the burden with her mother.

In October 2023, Minh was hired by a charity singing troupe in Hanoi. Her job was to sing at intersections and crossroads as arranged by the troupe.

According to the requirements, the work starts from 3 PM to 10 PM daily (7 hours), with one hour of singing followed by one hour of rest. If the full time is completed, they receive 250,000 VND per performance. If it rains during the performance and the troupe has to stop early, they are not paid. "For each performance, I just hope it doesn't rain. Because if it rains, it's all for nothing," Minh shared.

Nguyen Thi Minh is currently a second-year student majoring in Psychology.

The money earned from "street singing" helped ease her mother's burden, but it came at the cost of her health. Every day, Minh had to spend about seven hours out on the dusty streets. Furthermore, she was exhausted after each performance; by the time she finished showering, it was already past 11 PM. She would quickly eat a bowl of rice and go to bed to regain her strength. As a result, she had no time left for studying.

In early May 2024, Minh informed the theater troupe manager that she wanted to quit to focus on her studies. However, when Minh proposed leaving, the man named Hai (the troupe manager) refused to pay her salary, claiming she quit without notice. To this day, the troupe still owes her nearly 2 million VND, Minh said.

Minh said that her monthly living expenses are around 3 million VND. Therefore, she still wants to find a part-time job. "I hope to find a job that suits me, such as reading postcards, voice-over work, tutoring, hosting programs, beadwork, knitting, or writing media content," Minh shared.

Speaking to Tien Phong Newspaper on the afternoon of November 18th, Hai, the manager of the theater troupe, admitted that he had not yet paid Nguyen Thi Minh her wages. He stated that Minh still owed 1,250,000 VND for five performances. However, due to being busy returning home for a wedding, he "forgot" to pay Minh the full amount. At 5 PM on November 18th, Hai transferred 1,000,000 VND to Minh as payment.

Nguyen Thi Minh also confirmed that she received 1 million VND in payment via bank account.

Thanh Hieu

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nghi-luc-cua-nu-sinh-vien-mu-post1692589.tpo