A family in need of help

At this time of the year, HSCV team members are very busy revisiting the families involved in our various programs. This is done to see how the families have improved after receiving help from HSCV. All of us feel the day we visit these families is too short and there are so many families to visit, but, we are always happy to make contact with them. When we return at the end of the day, we always have many stories to tell. I would share with you one story of a family who has been given the code name VQ_0045.

It is the sad story of a woman, Hoa and her two children, a daughter, Hien and an emotionally and mentally disturbed son, Hao. The husband wanted more children, another son, because the first-born son has severe mental issues. But having another child was against the health and the wishes of the wife. Because of this, the wife was forced to get a divorce from her abusive husband. After getting divorced, the wife and her two children were physically kicked-out of the house by the husband. They had nowhere to stay and no money to start their lives over again. At this stage, the wife and children were in a pretty desperate situation.

The local People’s Committee felt sorry for them and gave them a room which had once been used as the village morgue. The room is only 8m² (approx. 9ft by 9ft). In this one small room, there is no kitchen, no toilet, no windows and no furniture. It is near a local market which causes pollution when the area floods during the rainy seasons. For these reasons, the children have acquired a serious skin disease. As you can see from the photo, there are red spots on the daughter Hien’s arms and even more so on Hao’s entire body. What’s worse, it is not known how much longer they will be permitted to live in this tiny room under these horrific conditions.

This poor, abandoned, single mother has to cope with a lot of difficulties in supporting herself and her two children. Hoa is busy everyday selling fruits at the gate of a local hospital. Her income varies, at best; it is about $50 per month. It is not enough to pay for her daughter’s school fees and daily food for the family. The daughter is very quiet and emotionally sad; she doesn’t have many friends because the other children don’t like to play with a poor playmate that has scabies. The other child of Hoa, her first-born son, has a severe mental handicap. Because of his mental condition, he’s been locked-up in the house all day to avoid the scorn of people. Recently, he was diagnosed with many ulcers in his body. His mother, Hoa, doesn’t have the money to take him to the hospital for treatment. He suffers daily.

The first time HSCV met the mother and her two children was in September 2005. We worked very hard to find a sponsor for this family. They have since received a monthly rice donation and Hien, the daughter, is happy to be in school with both a bicycle and scholarship sponsorship.

Since this interview HSCV has returned to help this family with their immediate needs. We asked the mother to send her two children to the Dermatology and Venerology Hospital in Hanoi. The doctors there said that they have to spend a long time for the treatment. The check up fee and the medicine cost about $25. We also asked them to change their sleeping mats and pillow. The mother has thrown any the old pillows, blankets and sleeping mats. They just have one sleeping mat to use. HSCV plans on donating 1 new sleeping mat, 3 pillows and two summer blankets to the family. This will cost about $20 - $25.

Their house is very small, dark and smelly. They always keep the house's door close and there is no window for ventilation. We have asked them to have the door open during the day to allow fresh air and sunlight. This will help air out their house.

The biggest problem facing them is that they don’t have access to clean water to a toilet. Because the house belongs to the local Government they don’t have permission to build a toilet. They are only able to use a small amount of their neighbor’s water, so this makes it very difficult for them to stay clean. HSCV is now hoping to generate enough funding to build a well for this family. In order to do this we will need to raise $200.

In addition, HSCV is using general funding to sponsor this family’s monthly allotment of rice. If a sponsor is not located they may be removed from this important program. The Rice Distribution Program goes hand-in-hand with our Educational Scholarship Program.

Even with an educational scholarship, families struggle to make ends meet. They really need your help! Please contact us, if you are interested in sponsoring Hien’s family with a donation of rice donation or money to build a new well.

Donations can be made at https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=7123409

Thank you.

Blogged by Tran N. Lien