His two children both have disabilities, and he himself suddenly went blind, but he did not lose heart; he studied and learned on his own, then founded a club and a cooperative to help people in the same situation as himself
In 1989, after graduating from high school, Ngo Van Bieu – from Quang Loc Commune, Hau Loc District, Thanh Hoa Province – packed his bags for the capital, Hanoi, to learn electronics repair. Two years later, once he had mastered the trade, he returned to his home village and opened an electronics repair shop.
Misfortunes strike one after another
With his skilful hands and his diligence and hard work, Bieu became a professional repairer of televisions, electric fans, speakers and radios, trusted by people in and outside his commune. When his economic life improved, in 1993 he married Mai Thi Dao – a worker at the Ha Trung Forestry Farm, Thanh Hoa Province. Both husband and wife had jobs and a stable income, so they lived very happily.
Their joy multiplied when, in 1994, their first son, Ngo Van Duy, was born. In 2000, Bieu and his wife had a daughter, Ngo Thi Dien. Everyone in the village rejoiced for the couple, because the family “had both a son and a daughter”.
Ngo Van Bieu shows workers of the 18-4 Cooperative how to make sedge mats
But misfortune struck the small family one after another. As he grew older, Ngo Van Duy became more and more intellectually impaired, while little Ngo Thi Dien’s eyesight was only 4/10. This year, Duy turns 20, but he looks like a primary school boy. At first glance, Duy looks very healthy and chubby, yet he understands nothing; his mind and behaviour are like those of a child.
“Both my children having disabilities was truly too great a pain for my family. And yet heaven would not let me stay with my electronics repair trade, looking after my wife and children and caring for my two children with disabilities” – Bieu recalled.
In 2000, when the trend of making small handmade stoves spread through residential areas, Bieu used mosquito spray cans and mini gas canisters, cut them up into fan blades and welded them for sale to local people to earn some money. “I had not seen any profit yet when disaster struck. Iron filings shot into my eye while I was making the stoves” – he said.
After many rounds of treatment at Quang Loc Commune Health Station, Hau Loc District General Hospital, Thanh Hoa Eye Hospital and then the National Eye Hospital, Bieu’s eyes still did not recover. In the end, doctors at the National Eye Hospital concluded: patient Ngo Van Bieu’s eyes are damaged and he will never see light again; the hospital could only try to preserve their appearance.
“As our elders often say, ‘rich in two eyes, poor in two hands’ – and it is so true. From an ordinary person, I suddenly became a blind person, unable to see anything in life. From being a husband and father, the pillar of the family, I became a person who could do nothing – how painful that was! A family of 4 with as many as 3 people with disabilities – what could be sadder?” – Bieu said bitterly.
Founding a club and opening a cooperative
Despite very difficult circumstances – one child intellectually impaired, the other with a visual impairment, and himself a person with a visual impairment – Bieu rose above it all to live a truly meaningful life.
Overcoming the pain of his situation, Bieu applied to join the Hau Loc District Association of Blind People. Taking part in the association, he gained more faith and love for life and for a bright future ahead. From then on, he drew up a project to teach trades to blind people and people with disabilities, to help unfortunate people like himself find work, support themselves, and not become a burden on their families and society.
Bieu with his wife and their 2 children with disabilities
When the project was submitted, many people above him thought Bieu was “delusional”, that a blind man like him could do nothing for his family and society, so why was he “putting on airs”!
Undiscouraged, Bieu travelled to Trieu Son and into Tinh Gia to visit successful business models run by people with disabilities. From that, he accumulated much useful practical knowledge. In 2004, Bieu was sent by the Hau Loc District Association of Blind People to learn handicrafts in Da Loc Commune. There, Ngo Thi Hong Van, former director of a private charitable vocational training centre, sent him to learn a trade in Hanoi.
For three years in the capital, Bieu learned handicrafts and massage and acupressure. Once his skills were proficient, in 2007 he returned home hoping to help the private centre run by Van develop further. But just as Bieu returned home, the charitable vocational training centre run by Van was dissolved.
Faced with that situation, in 2008 Bieu founded the For a Green Future Club, to give people with disabilities like himself a useful, healthy place to meet. At first, the club had only 20 members. After 4 years of activity, it has now attracted more than 200 members from many places inside and outside the province, such as Bac Ninh, Lao Cai and Yen Bai…
Each person has a different situation, but they have found a common voice in love and sharing. The For a Green Future Club has truly become a place where each member can entrust their thoughts and wishes, support one another in learning trades and finding work, and enjoy cultural, physical education and sporting exchanges… Each passing day is a memorable one for the club’s members.
Alongside the For a Green Future Club, Bieu also founded the 18-4 Vocational Training and Functional Rehabilitation Cooperative for People with Disabilities in Quang Loc Commune. At present, the cooperative, with Bieu as its head, is creating jobs for nearly 200 local workers, including more than 150 people with disabilities of the legs and arms, and people with hearing and visual impairments…
Rising above fate and conquering himself, Ngo Van Bieu is regarded by local people as a model of great determination, who lives not only for his family but also for the community.
“Bieu’s eyes cannot see the sunlight or anything else, but he has a heart and a truly bright and warm, loving soul. The flame of love for life is always warm in his heart” – an official of the Quang Loc Commune People’s Committee said.
Valuable achievements
At the 18-4 Cooperative, people with disabilities learn and practise many trades: mats, bamboo mats, toothpicks, chopsticks, broom-grass brooms… Workers’ incomes at the cooperative are always kept stable.
From the start of this year, the 18-4 Cooperative has made more than 1,000 bamboo mats, 60,000 fine-art sedge mats, more than 2,000 baskets and flower vases, more than 2,200 broom-grass brooms and more than 400 kg of toothpicks and chopsticks of all kinds. This is truly a very noteworthy achievement for a cooperative run by a person with a disability.
Workers at the 18-4 Cooperative
Partner organisation
Article and photos: Le Tuong Van -http://nld.com.vn