For more than a month now, the two elderly people have not tasted fish or meat. Having a little salted roasted peanuts so as not to eat plain rice is already a great happiness for these two poor elderly people.
That is the pitiful situation of the brother and sister, Mr Nguyen Khoai (83 years old) and Mrs Nguyen Thi Mich (72 years old), in Vinh Quy Village, Tam Vinh Commune, Phu Ninh District, Quang Nam Province.
We went to visit Mr Khoai’s family on a day when Quang Nam was in the middle of a torrential thunderstorm, and the dirt road leading to Mr Khoai’s house had become so muddy and slippery that we had to push and pull our motorbike along a long stretch before we could reach his house…
Brother and sister Mr Nguyen Khoai and Mrs Nguyen Thi Mich are now in great need of help from the community
Ms Le Thi Hanh, who guided us, said: “The lives of brother and sister Mr Khoai have been very hard. Their parents died during the war, Mrs Mich has been blind since birth and cannot do anything at all. Because he loved his sister, Mr Khoai did not marry, but stayed single to look after his blind younger sister for several decades now…”.
The small house of brother and sister Mr Khoai lies deep down a small alley, surrounded by dense trees. Looking around that makeshift house, the most valuable possessions we could see were probably two bamboo beds with broken slats.
Stepping inside, the first sight that met our eyes was a frail, worn-out old woman with blind eyes trying carefully to scoop up each mouthful of rice to eat. From time to time, she used her thin hands to grope around to see if any grains of rice had fallen outside, so she could pick them up and eat them…
Holding back the pain and sorrow that threatened to burst out, Mr Khoai confided: “When she was three, my younger sister went blind, and our parents died early, so I had to work at all kinds of jobs to support her. But now I am old and weak too, and can no longer work. Now, we two old people can only live on the kindness and help of our neighbours”.
At present, the lives of brother and sister Mr Khoai depend only on the monthly allowance of 360 thousand dong and the kindness and help of neighbours. But because of old age and weakness, in recent years the two elderly people have often been tormented ceaselessly by the illnesses of old age…
Mr Do Tan Cong, head of Vinh Quy Village, also pleaded: “Mr Khoai’s family has long been one of the especially poor households in my village. At an age close to the end of life, people should be able to live leisurely and enjoy blessings with their children and grandchildren, but brother and sister Mr Khoai and Mrs Mich have no one to care for them. Neighbours here are very kind and now and then help with a meal of vegetables or gruel, but that is only temporary, to keep the two elderly people from hunger for the day; in the long term, we really do not have the means… I hope there will be many kind benefactors to help the two elderly people live leisurely in their final days, like other lonely elderly people”.
All donations, please send to:
1, Send directly: Mr Nguyen Khoai and Mrs Nguyen Thi Mich, residing in Vinh Quy Village, Tam Vinh Commune, Phu Ninh District, Quang Nam Province.
2. Via VietNamNet newspaper (Please state: supporting the family of Mr Nguyen Khoai in Quang Nam)
– Via Vietcombank account:
Bank transfer: VIETNAMNET NEWSPAPER
Account number: 0011002643148. Transaction Office of the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam – 198 Tran Quang Khai, Hanoi
– Bank transfer from abroad:
– Bank account: VIETNAMNET NEWSPAPER
– The currency of bank account: 0011002643148
-Bank:- BANK FOR FOREIGN TRADE OF VIETNAM
-Address: 198 Tran Quang Khai, Hanoi, Vietnam
-SWIFT code: BFTVVNVX
– Via Viettinbank account:
Bank transfer: VietNamnet newspaper
Account number: 1020.1000.158.2330
Vietinbank Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
– Money transfer from abroad:
Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade, Hoan Kiem Branch
– Address: 37 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi
– Swift code: ICBVVNVX122
3. Or directly to VietNamNet newspaper:
– In the North, address: 3rd floor, C’Land building, 156 Xa Dan 2, Nam Dong Ward, Dong Da District, Hanoi
– In the South: VietNamNet newspaper representative office in the South, No. 51 Truong Dinh, Ward 6, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City. Telephone: 08.39309882 – Fax: 08.39309881
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