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Born into a poor family in Xa Phien commune (Long My, Hau Giang), Huynh Thi Sam (35) suffered misfortunes from an early age. Sam’s hands are curled up and her legs are withered, so she can only drag herself along when she moves. But, with extraordinary determination, she now not only looks after the library at the Vocational Training Centre for People with Disabilities, but also uses her feet to paint hundreds of pictures and pursues her dream of going to university. |
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The woman artist who paints with her feet Many-coloured patches Led by Dinh Thi Hoi, Deputy Director of the Vocational Training Centre for People with Disabilities in Hoc Mon (Xuan Thoi Son, Hoc Mon, Ho Chi Minh City), to the painting room where Sam was hard at work with paint powder and an easel, we were amazed. On the blue tiled floor, Sam sat intently, holding a paintbrush between the toes of her right foot and carefully making each stroke. To be honest, for a non-disabled person to hold a brush and paint a picture is already difficult, let alone for someone who holds the brush with a foot. It really is a task of unimaginable difficulty. Pausing, Sam said: “I have been living at the centre for nearly ten years now. Before, when I was still in my home village, my family was very poor. My parents were farmers, and there were seven of us children, so the family was always short of food and clothing. What is more, when I was just over ten years old, my father fell seriously ill, making the family even more desperate. After my father died, my mother seemed to collapse, as her strength alone was not enough to raise all her small children. So, even though both my legs were withered and paralysed and my hands too, I still dragged myself around the countryside with my mother to earn a living and feed my younger siblings. In the end, happiness opened up when some acquaintances introduced me to the teachers at the Thanh Dat Shelter (the predecessor of the Vocational Training Centre for People with Disabilities in Hoc Mon) to learn a trade”. There, thanks to the devoted guidance of the teachers, Sam began to learn the basic skills of using a computer. On 17 April 2005, she received a certificate of merit from the Association for the Protection of Disabled People and Orphans of Ho Chi Minh City. Eight months later, she received confirmation from the Vietnam Book of Records for the title “The woman who moved the heart of Viet Nam” for her feat of using a computer with her feet. She also received a certificate commending her as a person with a disability who rose above fate, awarded by the Southern Women’s Museum in 2007. Talking about the pictures she has painted, Sam said: At first, I was taught to paint by some artists invited by the centre. The teachers were all very good and taught me devotedly. Then, after years of hard practice and perseverance, I could finally complete my own works. Moreover, after several years with painting, I have sold quite a few pictures to customers who are benefactors, people who have visited this vocational training centre or seen them at exhibitions and introductions by the centre to the art-loving public. More than a year ago, at a social event with people with disabilities, Sam went on stage to paint, and a Vietnamese overseas visitor at the event bought one of her pictures for 5 million VND. A university degree within reach… of her feet According to Dinh Thi Hoi, Deputy Director of the centre, Sam was one of the first students of the Centre when it opened in 2006. And, unlike many other students who, after studying here, had a trade to support themselves and went out into the world to earn a living, Sam asked the teachers at the centre to let her stay. Seeing that Sam was hard-working and full of determination, the board of directors decided to take Sam on as a librarian, looking after the library at the centre, and at the same time encouraged Sam to continue studying at university, something that seemed like a dream but has become reality for her. Looking at her picture of her homeland, with rows of green coconut palms, ripe rice fields and children playing beside a peaceful river, she suddenly sighed and remembered. As a child, Sam suffered greatly because she had no money to go to school. It was not until she was 15 that her mother could send her to school, but she did not hope for much, because Sam was paralysed in both her hands and legs. At the time, her mother only thought that since she wanted to go to school, she would let her go for a while, as she could hardly learn like her friends. But what her mother and the teachers never expected was that she could learn. She could read and write with her feet and wanted to continue to higher education. In her first days at school, her teacher was Sau Nghiep, an old village teacher who had retired and took her on. For the first few months, her younger sister spent time rowing her to the teacher’s house, but later, as her sister was busy with her studies, Sam had to row the boat to the teacher’s house herself every morning. On sunny days it was easier, but on rainy days, with the tide rising, the boat bobbed about. Everyone who saw her rowing was afraid, because if anything happened, a person with withered hands and legs like her would not know how to cope. Then she finished lower secondary school and was about to enter upper secondary school when she failed the exam. That day, when she learnt the result, she was so sad she just lay and cried, because the road to education seemed to end there for her. Afterwards, with encouragement from her teachers, relatives and commune leaders, Sam put aside her inferiority complex and continued her studies in the supplementary system of the district centre. Then Sam had to leave home and her mother to live away at school, but thinking of the future, she was determined to put those feelings aside. In the end, Sam succeeded and obtained her upper secondary school diploma before applying to learn a trade at this centre. As for her life now, besides looking after the library, Sam has spent time studying for a university degree in Sociology at Ho Chi Minh City Open University. By April 2014, Sam will sit the English certificate exam and then be able to receive her degree. Although there are still two months to go, Sam always feels full of happiness when she thinks of that day. She said it really is an important milestone in her life that she is striving to reach. Looking into the eyes of a woman who has suffered so much misfortune in life, shining with joy, we could not help feeling happy too. According to Doan Xa – Dai Doan Ket Newspaper |