Standing before me is a woman who is already 33 years old, but only 88cm tall. Setting aside the losses that life has unfairly pushed her into, becoming a person with a disability, she is always confident that she is a happy woman…
Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Hien
She is Nguyen Thi Thu Hien (born 1981), from Doi Cung Street, Dong Tho Ward (Thanh Hoa City). She surprises others when they learn that, although she weighs only 22kg and is 88cm tall, she has earned two university degrees. And she is now the director of a company with total revenue in 2013 of up to 3 billion VND.
Longing to… be as tall as everyone else
Born with a healthy body, when she reached the age of learning to walk, the little girl Nguyen Thi Thu Hien did not develop normally like other children. At that time her family learned that Hien had a congenital mobility disability.
Hien begins her story, “The day I was born crying was a day of joy for the whole family and clan. But the joy did not last long before it gave way to worry, because I was slow to walk. I only took my first faltering steps at the age of 2. At three, my steps were still no firmer. It was then that the family discovered I had weak bones”. In 1984, her parents took her for examination and treatment at many hospitals from the north to the south, meeting many leading professors and specialist doctors in orthopaedics and rehabilitation… But wherever they went, they received the same conclusion: “In Vietnam and around the world, there is still no way to correct this”, because Hien's pituitary gland had been affected, her joints had all contracted and her skeletal system could not develop. After many years of treatment at the Swedish Children's Hospital, 108 Military Central Hospital (Hanoi) and many other hospitals, the “little doll girl” returned to a simple life in her home town. But neither she nor her family ever stopped hoping that one day, with the remarkable advances of science, she would grow tall like her friends…
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Hien always reminds herself, and reminds other people with disabilities, that, “Forget that you are a person with a disability and think of yourself as an ordinary person. Whatever others can do, we can do too. If others run, we walk; if others walk, we crawl; in the end we will still reach our destination”. Indeed, just hearing those words conveys so much strength of will and determination to see things through. |
Longing to go to school
That year, when she returned from hospital, Hien was already 7 years old. She had a younger sister one year her junior, who was just starting grade 1. Hien confided: “Every time I saw my younger sister going to school and coming home to tell stories about friends and school, I felt a longing and a dream to go to school with my schoolbag. And night after night tears kept rolling down my cheeks out of sadness. I could not understand why something so simple for everyone else was so far out of reach for me”. From that longing, she turned it into motivation to seek opportunities for herself. Every day she found books and practised writing letters and the numbers from 1 to 100. She practised again and again, using up countless sheets of paper and ink. Her hands were very small and weak, so holding a pen to write was difficult. “I do not remember exactly how many notebooks I had to practise in before I could write those letters fluently. Gradually, through persistent practice, my handwriting became even more beautiful than my younger sister's”, Hien shared. It would have been nothing remarkable if she had only written simple, clumsy words; on the contrary, she wrote even more beautifully than her younger sister, who went to school normally. Sometimes her younger sister, fond of playing, would ask her to write homework for her. Those pieces of writing were surprisingly always given high marks by the teacher.
When the new school year came again, the poor little doll girl cried and insisted that her mother let her go to school like her younger sister and the other children in the street. Faced with their daughter's eagerness to learn, Hien's parents agreed to let her go to school, although they knew many difficulties and obstacles lay ahead of her. Her school days were at times a nightmare for Hien. Yet she tried to overcome everything to live like an ordinary person. She said: “From grade 1 onwards, pupils from other classes, every time they saw me, would gather around to tease me, which made me feel very sorry for myself. During break times, or between lessons, I never dared to leave the classroom. My homeroom teacher had to lock the classroom door so that I could sit inside where the others could not see me. Sometimes the homeroom teacher did not dare leave my side for a moment, because as soon as she was gone, pupils from other classes would crowd around to tease me or pull at me and make me fall. For a long time, break times became a nightmare for me”. They teased her because her hands were tiny and soft, and her legs could only walk unsteadily like a three-year-old child. Her bones were also very weak and her joints often ached, so she could not walk far on her own like everyone else, but always depended on her family to take her to and from school. On days when school finished, she had to sit in a quiet corner of the school counting every minute and second until a family member came to collect her. On rainy days, when her mother was busy and could not take her to school, she would spend the whole morning sitting at home crying… Those were also the times when she had to face the reality that she was a person with a disability.
What is surprising is that, throughout nearly 20 years at school, Nguyen Thi Thu Hien was always a good or excellent pupil, winning many titles in provincial and city competitions for excellent students. She did not give up, even though she was a person with a disability, even though she faced so many prying eyes and so many malicious teasing words from thoughtless people. In 2009, she graduated in Finance and Accounting from Vinh University and in intermediate accounting from the University of Labour and Social Affairs, Hanoi. When she graduated from university, knowing she could not get a job in a state administrative agency, she thought of a way to take on vouchers and account books from three private enterprises, doing their bookkeeping, financial reporting and monthly tax declarations for them at home. Now the little doll girl can stand firmly on her own two feet.
“Even if you are not tall, others must still look up to you”
Nguyen Thi Thu Hien is greatly admired by members of the Thanh Hoa provincial disability club. Some regard her as a “kite flying high”, writing about her and telling her story as an example of strong will for them to strive towards. Although she has weak bones and cannot do everyday tasks on her own, she is still a talented person who dares to pursue her dreams and stand up to express herself. She still has the pleasures of an ordinary person, loving singing and making herself beautiful. Though only 88cm tall, weighing 22kg, with small, soft hands and feet, she always smiles and shines before everyone. She forgot the imperfections of her body long ago… From the teachers who taught Hien at school, to fellow students of her age, to people with healthy limbs working alongside her every day, all find this strong-willed woman truly worthy of pride and emulation.
The company Ms. Hien runs now produces prefabricated goods such as traffic and irrigation culvert pipes, stone park and school benches and tables, and many other services. In 2013, despite many difficulties caused by the global economic crisis, the company still achieved revenue of nearly 3 billion VND. At present, the company provides jobs for 16 workers with an average income of 4 million VND per person per month.
Wherever there is a programme for people with disabilities, Ms. Hien takes part and calls on everyone to join in so that their spirits are lifted. She is a member of the Thanh Hoa Association for the Protection of Disabled People and Orphans, a Standing Committee member of the Thanh Hoa Association of People with Disabilities, and Chair of the Thanh Hoa Disabled Youth and Students Club… She has helped promote the development and integration of the Thanh Hoa disability movement and has received many commendations and outstanding achievements, such as the “Outstanding Individual” certificate awarded by the Tam Viet Center in 2013, a grassroots volunteer certificate, and a trainer certificate in “Advocacy and policy advocacy and communication” awarded by GTZ and DED (Federal Republic of Germany) and the Center for Research and Action for Inclusive Development (IDEA) in 2008… Most recently, Hien also took part in and won a special prize in the writing competition “My Little Story” organised by IDEA.
Ms. Hien confided: “I feel luckier than many other people with disabilities, because I have always lived in the loving arms of my family, relatives, friends, teachers and society as a whole. At school and at work, everywhere, people have given me the best of their affection. And that is what has given me the strength never to step back in the face of difficulties and obstacles in life”. She never thinks of herself as a person with a disability in order to live, contribute and strive with all her ability for her dreams and ambitions. That is why she has a good job that suits her health and her field of study. More than that, she sees that there are still many people with disabilities around her who have no jobs and live in difficult circumstances. They long for suitable work to support themselves and escape poverty, but they face many barriers in life. And she always thinks she needs to do something for the people with disabilities around her. She calls on them to show their abilities and to strive in life… Before she became deeply involved in social work, she too used to see people with disabilities as people lacking confidence, burdened with inferiority complexes, pitiable, in need of help and in need of a special environment to care for them… But after hearing the thoughts, feelings, wishes and very simple hopes of people with disabilities, she admired, respected and cherished them more than ever. “I think that people with disabilities like us still have the ability to work and can still contribute our small strength to society, if society removes the barriers, prejudices and wrong, outdated views”, her eyes shining with hope.
In the story she told, the “little doll girl” never once blamed fate, asking why she was born with an imperfect body. On the contrary, she never stops thanking fate for helping her become a happy person. “I feel truly happy to live in the love and trust of my family and society. Happy to do the work I love. Happy to see my grandmother's eyes light up like a child's whenever I do something good. And happy at the satisfied nod of those around me when I complete a task well. I am determined to stand firm to develop my own company, and to make the Thanh Hoa Disabled Youth and Students Club grow ever stronger, by the very height of willpower and determination”, Hien believes she will achieve what she hopes for.
Huyen Trang – Dai Doan Ket newspaper