Heartbreaking scene of mentally ill mother and mentally disabled child

Mrs. Nen and her children next to the dilapidated house

In the cramped, run-down, moldy house, Mrs. Nen sat on the bed, wandering alone, sometimes looking up with a blank look and laughing lifelessly. Mrs. Nen's son, Mr. Dang Van Muoi, is 23 years old but is as naive as a 4-5 year old child.

Ms. Tran Thi Tham, Ms. Nen's sister-in-law, said that Ms. Nen had suffered from mental illness 8 years ago, when Mr. Dang Van Nit (Ms. Nen's husband) was still alive. When she had an attack, she often wandered to the base of a tree near her house to lie down. Mr. Nit also took her to Hai Duong Mental Hospital for treatment many times, but after a short time, the illness relapsed. In 2016, Mr. Nit passed away, and Ms. Nen's illness became more and more severe. Since then, Ms. Nen has only been sitting in one place, unable to take care of herself, and has had to rely on her siblings to help her with everything.

Looking at Mr. Muoi, Mrs. Tham was moved to tears: “Her husband died early, she herself is sick, her only son is also mentally disabled, I don’t know who she will depend on in the future. The more I think about it, the sadder I feel and the more I feel sorry for her and her grandchild.”

Mrs. Nen gave birth to two children, a boy and a girl. The eldest daughter Dang Thi Nhung (born in 1995) got married in Thanh Ha district. Nhung's family situation was also difficult so she could not help her mother and younger siblings much.

Since Mr. Nit passed away, Mrs. Nen became seriously ill, and Mrs. Tham and her husband brought Mr. Muoi home to take care of him. In order for him to have more contact and become more confident, Mrs. Tham and her husband and their children contacted many places to find work for Mr. Muoi. Currently, Mr. Muoi has also received a suitable job - picking up seasonal threads in a garment factory with a monthly salary of only a few hundred thousand to more than one million VND. That amount of money was saved by Mrs. Tham and her husband so that later Mr. Muoi would have a source of capital to take care of himself when needed and the bigger goal is to repair the house he is living in. "We don't know what the future will be like for him, but for now we just try to encourage and teach him so that he can do work, even if it's small, it's valuable," Mrs. Tham said.

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Thu, Chairman of the Red Cross Society of Van To Commune (Tu Ky), Mrs. Nen and her children are poor households, with many years of special difficulties. In addition to giving gifts on holidays and Tet, and providing protection for people with disabilities, the locality also regularly creates favorable conditions and care, but still cannot alleviate the difficulties that Mrs. Nen and her children are facing. "We hope that individuals and charitable organizations will open their arms to help Mrs. Nen and her children so that the family can have a better life," Mr. Thu called.

Any help please transfer to Tu Ky District Red Cross Society via account number: 2312201001930, Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (clearly state support for Ms. Nguyen Thi Nen, Van To commune).

NGUYEN HOANG