From setting aside dreams because of self-doubt to embracing a life as a “flower grower”
Years ago, when he was surprised to be invited to attend an event marking Vietnam Disability Day (April 18). It was only after attending did he truly understand the realities faced by many people with disabilities: some are strong and confident, while others endure significant disadvantages and are vulnerable, and in dire need of understanding and compassion.
From a boy who loved drawing at the Children’s Cultural Palace, Mr. Tran Quoc Nam, Director of SAFE Vietnam Social Enterprise, , loved drawing as a boy at the Children’s Cultural Palace. Driven by his passion for art, together with his colleagues, he has created exquisitely handcrafted floral hats, providing livelihoods for people in similar circumstances. Each hat tells a story woven from perseverance, the result of hands that refuse to give up.
A woman who crossed the line between life and death twice to become a pillar of hope for children with cancer
At the age of 18, an age meant for lecture halls and dreams, Ms. Hoang Thi Dieu Thuan was struck by devastating news: she had been diagnosed with leukemia. Seven years of treatment followed, during which she studied while fighting her illness, until she finally received a stem cell transplant. But just when peace seemed within reach, she was diagnosed once again, this time with breast cancer.
These experiences helped her deeply understand the fear and loneliness faced by children with cancer. From that understanding, she chose to stand on the side of hope. Together with her colleagues, Ms. Thuan has persistently built the “Network for Children with Cancer”, implementing projects such as “Seed-Sowing Classes”, “Support for Students with Cancer”, and “Dream Hair Station”, and bringing renewed hope to thousands of children battling cancer.
A woman in her late eighties who devoted her life to raising 70 children with disabilities
In 1988, while returning to Cu Chi to revisit a former battlefield, Ms. Tran Thi Cam Giang (also known as Ma Muoi) learned that the people who once sheltered her had been killed, leaving behind children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities. . Moved by compassion, she decided to take the children home and care for them as her own.
Raising five children is challenging enough, let alone dozens more. Every day, she sold noodle soup, lottery tickets, rice paper, and made fermented soy sauce and chili salt to earn money for the children. At one point, she even sold her only street-front house to support them and make ends meet. In those early days, she would scrape the b burnt rice from the bottom of the pot for herself and save the good rice for the children. Yet she never once thought of giving up on caring for them.
Join us for “Kind Deeds in December: And the Flowers Will Bloom”, brought to you by THACO - Truong Hai Group Joint Stock Company, airing at 8:10 PM on December 13 on VTV1 and the VTVgo application.
