The children of soldiers who day and night safeguard the country’s islands and seas, of families of veterans and wounded and sick soldiers who unfortunately have disabilities, are in great need of the community joining hands to support them.
| The VTEKT Fund presents gifts to the children of Truong Sa soldiers with disabilities |
Vietnam has more than 6 million people with disabilities, more than half of whom are victims of war. Many children are born exposed to Agent Orange, with cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, congenital heart disease and other serious illnesses at very high rates; the after-effects of Agent Orange affect not only the children but also the grandchildren and subsequent generations.
Among these difficult circumstances are many cases in families where the husband, father or son is a soldier day and night safeguarding the country’s islands and seas.
The “Walking Together with Love for Children with Disabilities” programme, especially for children with disabilities of soldiers protecting the islands and seas, organised by the VTEKT Fund (Fund for Children with Disabilities) and Vietopia, is calling for support from the mainland to join naval soldiers in keeping the country’s seas peaceful.
Navy soldier Phan Van Hoang, serving on Truong Sa Lon Island, married very young, in his twenties. After many years without children, the couple borrowed 200 million VND for in vitro fertilisation and gave birth to a lovely baby girl, Phan Thi Thu Hoai. The soldier was happy at the front line amid the islands and seas of the Fatherland, sharing the joy of having a child with his wife. Sadly, just as they had finished paying off the debt, they discovered that their child had leukaemia, caused by after-effects from her grandfather, a veteran.
Ngo Thi Thu Hang, wife of soldier Phan Van Hoang, said that when she first saw her child fall ill (the blood in her body dropping sharply and her body turning purple) and took her to hospital, neighbours took turns going to the hospital hoping to find someone with the same blood type to donate blood to her. Now, every month the child has to have a blood transfusion; usually, in the first week after a transfusion, she is rosy-cheeked and can play normally, but gradually her health declines until she turns completely purple from lack of blood, sometimes after only 25 days she has to go for another transfusion. Now, blood transfusions cost 3 million VND a month. Phan Van Hoang’s salary, sent from his unit once a quarter, is all spent on rent and the child’s treatment. The doctor said that only in about 5–6 years will a bone marrow transplant be possible, and then the family will really need money to carry it out.
At present, Hang and her child are living in a house lent by a comrade in the unit. Soon they will marry off their child and take the house back, and mother and child do not know what will happen. The couple have sold their house, their motorbike and many belongings to treat their child; the house has only an old bicycle left, and all the furniture was given by neighbours and relatives.
Hang emotionally shared that the couple are still determined to prolong their child’s life and hold on to the fragile hope that she will soon recover.
The case of Truong Thi Trang, 23 years old – daughter of soldier Truong Van Chung (Khanh Hoa), serving on Truong Sa Lon Island – who has congenital blindness and a serious illness, polycystic kidney disease.
Nguyen Thi Oanh, Trang’s mother, said the family tried to treat her eyes, but for “polycystic kidney disease” no doctor in Vietnam has yet been able to perform surgery; now they must wait until complications arise and then call a foreign doctor, with surgery costs expected to be high, and the family is very worried. Trang has also reached the age to start a family and hopes to have a good life, so she very much hopes for help to have a foreign doctor perform the surgery and help with the surgery costs.
Another case is in the family of a navy soldier whose wife at home is a teacher and whose child has cerebral palsy. Besides teaching, she perseveres in caring for, teaching and guiding her child with cerebral palsy. The mother’s joy overflowed when she saw her child’s face learn to smile lovingly; she had thought her child would live a vegetative life, but the child has gradually developed normal actions like other children.
Every day, the mother looks at her child and reminds herself to be determined to turn the life of a child with cerebral palsy into that of an ordinary child. But recently, she has been tormented by a heartbreaking decision… to send her child back to her parents’ home. Her husband, the soldier, died two months ago of a heart attack. She herself has a serious illness and does not know when she will have to leave her children.
And there are hundreds and thousands of other stories that, when heard, weigh heavily on the mind, and make one deeply feel the difficult lives of many families of soldiers, veterans and wounded and sick soldiers from both sides of the war, whose children and siblings have disabilities and serious illnesses and are in great need of help.
In addition to financial support, the VTEKT Fund gives wheelchairs to children who do not yet have one. In addition, Project Vietnam – representative of the American Academy of Pediatrics – the Fund’s strategic partner – also gives three children with cerebral palsy three wheelchairs and three feeding chairs for children with cerebral palsy, along with care guidance documents. American medical experts with the volunteer delegation organised by the Fund on a regular annual basis will continue to help families care for and treat the children.
Linh Lan – Infonet