Ms. Vo Thi Dang (far left) cares for her elderly mother and younger brother who suffers from the effects of Agent Orange. Photo: Phuong Lan
We arrived at Vinh Thanh hamlet, Vinh Trach commune, on a drizzly afternoon. The chill of the weather only intensified the melancholic atmosphere of this rural corner. Welcoming us into her old, dilapidated house was Mrs. Vo Thi Dang (55 years old). Her face was weathered, etched with the wrinkles of worry, but her eyes shone with kindness. Mrs. Dang's family has five siblings. Her late father was a brave soldier. After the war, he returned with the scars of war, the joy of family reunion, and the hope for a brighter future. However, Agent Orange had silently taken root and ravaged his children's bodies from the moment they were born.
Ms. Dang shared that, among her five siblings, her eldest sister and she were both partially affected by Agent Orange, with vision reduced by 50-70%. Her three younger brothers all bear the physical and emotional scars of Agent Orange. Some are disabled, with deformed and atrophied legs, while others, despite being 36 years old, have the mental capacity of immature children. “I am the ‘luckiest’ because I can still walk and manage the household, even though my eyesight is not as good as normal,” Ms. Dang shared. The main source of income for her family is primarily the monthly allowance. When asked about her greatest wish at the moment, Ms. Dang sighed softly and said, “I only wish to have good health to take care of my elderly mother and my sick siblings!”
Leaving Vinh Thanh hamlet, we followed a small road to Vinh Thang hamlet, Vinh Trach commune. Welcoming us in a charity house built with local government support since 2014 was Mrs. Mai Thi Ngoc Lan (51 years old). With a somber voice, Mrs. Lan recounted that her father had participated in the resistance war since 1954. The only relic he left behind for his descendants was a war diary, yellowed with age. It was thanks to this diary, steeped in bomb and bullet experiences, along with the enthusiastic support of the commune's Red Cross officials, that her family was able to prove the origin of their illness and be approved for a charity house worth 50 million VND. Many other family members, due to deteriorating health caused by the effects of Agent Orange, passed away at a very young age.
Currently, Mrs. Lan's burden falls on her older brother, Mai Duc Chau (53 years old). Although he's in his fifties, with the physical appearance of a man whose hair is streaked with gray, Mr. Chau's mental capacity remains that of a five-year-old child. "He's very naive and simple-minded. He's weak and unsteady on his feet. All day long he just wants to lie down and doesn't know how to work," Mrs. Lan said sadly. Mrs. Lan herself suffered from polio at the age of two, leaving her limbs weak and making movement extremely difficult. Her daily livelihood depends entirely on the social welfare allowance for people with disabilities. Every day, Mrs. Lan takes in cashew nuts to shell to earn extra income, making over 1 million dong a month.
Mrs. Lan is fortunate to have a loving and understanding husband. They married in 2000, and despite their poverty, her husband has always been a strong support for her. However, the trauma of Agent Orange is so profound that Mrs. Lan and her husband are afraid to have children. She said that she was pregnant once when she was younger, but the doctor said the fetus had no skull. Their joy of becoming parents vanished. Fearing that another child would suffer from the same deformity, Mrs. Lan and her husband decided against having more children.
Mr. Huynh Cong Tan, Chairman of the Red Cross Society of Vinh Trach commune, said: “In recent times, the care for victims of Agent Orange/dioxin in the commune has received attention from the Party Committee and the local government. In addition to ensuring that the allowances are provided correctly and fully according to State regulations, the society also mobilizes benefactors to provide regular and emergency assistance to affected families. At the same time, priority is given to supporting the construction and repair of houses so that these households have stable housing.”
Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/noi-dau-da-cam-qua-nhieu-the-he-a487523.html
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