Affected by Agent Orange, only one thumb of Nguyen's can move. Refusing to accept his fate, Nguyen taught himself, and with that one thumb he has produced hundreds of poems ready for publication.
That is the story of the resilience, love of learning and passion for writing of the young man affected by Agent Orange, Vu Duc Nguyen (born in 1990), living in Van Loi street, Quang Tien ward, Sam Son town, Thanh Hoa province.
Although his whole body is paralysed and only one finger can move, Nguyen has taught himself and composed hundreds of poems that are being prepared for publication.
Although he carries a cruel illness, Nguyen remains optimistic about life.
When he was born, Nguyen was chubby and cute, just like any other child, but when he was eight months old his body began to show signs of muscle atrophy and he could not move. His family took him to hospital, where they learned that he had been exposed to Agent Orange.
Although no one in his family served in the army, Nguyen still carries the after-effects of Agent Orange, and his whole family believes that in 1988 the family moved to Dong Nai to live. After two years in Dong Nai, his mother, Ms Vu Thi Hue, gave birth to Nguyen. Because they lived in an area contaminated with Agent Orange, its effects were passed on to Nguyen.
Out of love for their son, unable to bear seeing him lying in bed all day, Nguyen's parents sold everything of value in the family to take him for treatment. When there was nothing left in the family, they took one another to Binh Phuoc to start a new life. Nguyen's mother was a teacher, but seeing her son lying paralysed alone, she gave up her job to stay at home and look after him.
Seeing his friends come to the house to learn to read and write, Nguyen also asked his mother to teach him. Ms Hue taught her son the 29 letters of the alphabet, and he picked them up very quickly. But busy earning money for food, clothing and medicine for her son, Ms Hue had little time to tutor him.
Every 15 minutes Ms Hue has to turn Nguyen over.
Nguyen said: “My mother only taught me the 29 letters of the alphabet; putting syllables together was something I worked out myself, looking at books, and gradually I could join the letters together. At that time my mother often brought home picture books for my sister to read, and I asked my sister to read them to me, so gradually I could read fluently. When I learned to read, I was only six years old. Everyone in the family was amazed, because no one had taught me and yet I could read.”
Ms Hue shared: “When I realised my son could read, I was very surprised, and I was even more surprised when he wrote poems for the whole family in the evenings; in one evening he could write four or five luc bat poems, while a duong luat poem took him a whole evening to finish.”
Because he could not go out and play with his friends and spent all day lying in one place, most of his time was spent reading books. In particular, the poetry of Han Mac Tu had a magical pull on Nguyen. From then on, the “poetry bug” seemed to seep into him, and he began writing poems for his family, and his collection grew a little more each day.
“In the past, I used to read my poems aloud and my mother wrote them down for me. Then my parents saved up money and bought me a computer. At first, with no one to show me how, I did not know how to use it, but gradually I worked it out myself.
Only one thumb of mine can move, so I use the on-screen keyboard to type. I have now written more than 300 poems and am selecting about 100 of them for publication in a collection entitled “The Poem I Wrote for You”, Nguyen said.
Nguyen uses one thumb to use the computer, write poems and read newspapers.
Nguyen expressed his wish: “After the poets in Hanoi have finished editing my collection, and thanks to a number of benefactors who know about my situation and have supported me by sponsoring the publication of my first collection, this edition will print more than 1,000 copies. I am very happy now. I only hope to train well so that I can join the Hanoi Writers' Association, and learn from the poets in the Association.”
Although his body is impaired, the soul and spirit of the young man affected by Agent Orange are full of resilience and great ambitions. In Nguyen's mind, negative thoughts never appear. For Nguyen, to be alive, to write, and to be loved and cared for by his family is a boundless happiness.
Duc Van – http://dantri.com.vn