Lighting hope for tomorrow

Going back to 2012 in Lại An village, Gio My commune, Gio Linh district, Quang Tri province, Nguyen Thi Hue (born in1968) with limb disability had low self-esteem living without economic security. Now, my family has a stable income and I, myself, am confident to share my story with the community. What is the reason behind this?

“I was born without disability. However, when I turned to 3 years old, once I ran away from enemy during war time, I got a cold.  After I received acupuncture I was unable to use my left leg as a result of the accident during the acupuncture. This made me feel sad and ashamed until 2012. I hardly went out and talked to others when I was at the market.” Mrs Hue said in tears.

     (Picture: Hue after project participation )

Now, I am different. Do you know the reason? Because I have a new family, a close and cozy home that is the PwD (People with Disabilities) Club in Gio My district. The club is supported by the project “Supporting People with Disabilities” which is funded by Caritas Organization (Australia) through SRD. The club has been restructured until now. I participated in the club and its activities. It is the first time I have known of the PwD’s day in Vietnam (April, 18^th) and learned techniques related to animal husbandry and cultivation. I luckily got an opportunity to go to Da Nang and Hue to learn livelihood models for PwD. Therefore, I can put these models into practice and change my mindset, I am now more optimistic and confident.

( Picture: Hue and his son) 

I will remember that day, April 18^th 2014,in Gio Hai district, getting out of daily roles: a mother, a tailor or a pig farmer, I became a community actress with my team acted a play to celebrate PwD day which is held amongst Gio Hai, Gio My communes and Gio Linh district. I am very proud of myself, with significant changes different from the past and hope rekindled and sparkled in the contest. 

The project supported me to implement a new livelihood model and with the knowledge I have learned from the training class, I borrowed money from Livelihood Fund of PwDs club to refurbish my pigsty and built one more compartment. I started breeding sows in 2013. From then, I gradually gained a small capital after selling piglets. My life is more stable now. My greatest joy is that my son is hard working and helps me much in doing chores. I just hope my son and I will be healthy to work and study well. In the future I can see him entering university. 

     (Picture: Hue's happiness)

After three years of implementation, the process is not really long, although the project has not support all PwD under the same situation as me in Gio My district in specific and in Gio Linh in general, I still believe the project has not only increased my livelihood but also lifted my spirits, which is far more important to me than my increased income as I am much happier now. PwD club is a solid collective of people who are still poor but now share opportunities. People with less disabilities help people with more disabilities. To hope and belief are lit and spread, that is the humane values of the project.

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