Vinh was studying online when this shot was taken. The used phone and clock were the last gifts his father gave him before passing away because of Vinh is my first foster child from Can Tho in the Mekong Delta. (Photo from Dan Tri Sep 2021) B Vinh đang học online khi phng vin bo Dn Tr chụp bức ảnh ny. Chiếc điện thoại cũ v đồng hồ l hai mn qu cuối cng m cha đ tặng cho con trước khi qua đời v Covid. Vinh l con đỡ đầu đầu tin của ti. Con đến từ Cần Thơ. (Ảnh trn bo Dn Tr thng 9/2021)
The pandemic swept over Ho Chi Minh city during July and August 2021 and thousands of children lost their parents. In late September 2021 I, by chance, saw an article on Dan Tri with the title The last gift from a father for his son before passing away due to Covid. It touched my heart and I couldnt stop thinking about the pain that Vinh, an school boy from Can Tho in the Mekong Delta and his brother Bao, who was only 3 years old at that time, had gone through. The sadness in Vinhs eyes, the very poor house where they lived, and the simple gifts from his father captured my heart.
Before lockdown, Vinhs father was a worker and his mother was a cleaner in Ho Chi Minh city. The last time Vinh saw his parents was in late April 2021. His father passed away four months later at the age of 38 because of and his mother was also infected with this virus and it took her many months to recover. The final gifts from the father for Vinh were a used phone for studying online, and a wall clock. It was
Vinhs auntie and brother standing at the old house where they lived in Sep 2021. Thanks to the donors around Vietnam, a new brick house was built next to this. (Source: Dan Tri Sep 2021) D của Vinh v em trai Gia Bảo đứng trước cửa ngi nh cũ vo thng 9/2021. Nhờ c sự gip đỡ của rất nhiều người trn khắp Việt Nam, một ngi nh gạch mới đ được xy cạnh ngi nh ny. (Nguồn: Bo Dn Tr thng 9/2021)
a great loss for the family as the father was the main breadwinner. The children have been living with their auntie who is a disabled woman with vision loss. She cant work and receives no support from the government.
I decided to help Vinh change his future by providing him financial and emotional support as well as teaching him English. I really wanted to help him realise his education dreams. Teaching Vinh English was the most challenging experience to other children I had taught in Hanoi in the past. He was very slow and forgetful, and also struggled with pronunciation. When I look back at what we have done together over the last one year, I am very proud of Vinh as he has made progressive changes. Thanks to the support from many donors around Vietnam, a simple brick house was built next to the old house. Vinhs mother is now working in another province so he has to look after his younger brother. At least, he is a happier boy now.
In October 2022, one year after meeting Vinh, I thought about fostering a girl. One day I saw an article about two school boys
in Hai Phong (northern Vietnam). One of them (Duc) has a physical disability and his friend (Khang) has voluntarily pushed the wheelchair to take Duc to school for the last four years. It was an amazing story and I had so much admiration for both of them. Duc was born as a healthy child but after a serious fever at age 3, the left side of his body became paralysed. He has asthma as well and had to undergo a surgery on his leg. Despite his health conditions and being bullied, he has never given up going to school. His best friend Khang, who has been his classmate, helped him achieve this dream. Over the past four years, no matter what the weather condition was, Khang has always been there to push the wheelchair 2km a day, two or four rounds, to take Duc to school. He has also looked after Duc when they were in the class.
I wondered how Khang could do such an extraordinary thing even when he was only 8 years old. He must have had a very kind nature at heart and he deserves to be a hero in my eyes.
