Among the people receiving a wheelchair this day, I’m really touched about a boy, who is lying curled-up in the fetal position on an old wheelchair. He looks gaunt. His head is bent forward. He has to keep a pink handkerchief around his neck to hold it back in order to avoid drooling like a newborn baby.
I approached closer and wanted to talk with him. But he is unable to speak; he only can nod his head. Today his parents brought him to receive a wheelchair. His name is Tran Manh Tu.
I am surprised at his age. At the age of seventeen, people can do just about anything that they want - given health and ambition. A boy may enjoy a good time of playing with is friends or, helping his parents do housework. However, Tu can’t do any of this. It’s difficult for him to even do exercise or play like other children.
After talking with his mother, I understand thoroughly their difficulties. When Tu was born, Tu was weaker than other babies. Raising him was harder. In addition to the family’s difficult situation, both of his parents are former soldiers so that they only receive a pitiful retirement pension. However, they always tried to take care of him with the desire that Tu would grow up as healthy as his friends.
But Tu got weaker and weaker and then he became paralyzed little by little. Both his hands and feet have become atrophied over the years. Now Tu can’t do anything for himself. Because of his inability to perform even basic hygiene and daily functions, all his daily activities depend mostly on his parents. After telling me this, Tu’s mother burst into tears.
Look at the austere faces of Tu’s parents, their white hair because of striving to make a living, sorrow hidden in their eyes, I feel pity for them! Tu’s parents affection is reserved almost exclusively for their son, yet they can never receive any return of affection because of Tu’s condition.
She opens her heart to me and relates how both of them were soldiers in the war sprayed with dioxin – Agent Orange. Because of this exposure, Tu was born with this debilitating affliction. I feel her sorrow as tears stream down her cheek – these are the tears of many mothers and fathers in Viet Nam for their innocent children who are even still victims of a war that ended long before Tu was even born.
They had applied for the dioxin infected certificate from the local government in order to help Tu receive preferential treatment. But, at this point in time Tu and his family have not yet been received it.
This is the first time Tu has received a real wheelchair. His parents feel so happy. From this time on, it will become a lot easier to clean and feed him every day — instead of having to physically carry him in their arms.
I wished the both of them better fortune and to always keep a strong belief in nurturing Tu. Looking at Tu and listening to their story brings a deep sorrow to my heart. How will he be in the future? What will his parent’s life be like in one, two or more years from now? What if medicine can develop a cure to treat this disease? What if science can develop a drug to reverse the effects of dioxin? What if there are more donations to help his family…? I suddenly laugh at all my “What ifs”. There are still so many more people to help overcome their misfortune that there is no time for bitter feelings or “what ifs”!!
For only $500 you can sponsor HSCV's distribution of a container of 550 wheelchairs. This is less than $1 per wheelchair. HSCV receives our wheelchairs from Free Wheelchair Mission. They cover all expenses until the container reaches Vietnam. At that point HSCV works with a local partner to distribute the chairs. $500 will allow us to oversee the distribution of one container.
Follow this link to donate: https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=5191075
Blogged by Ngo Thuy Hanh
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