Tuesday, November 01, 2005
SUCH A FAMILY!
(Photo from www.photo.nl Copyright Jan Banning)Tran Dinh Ca (boy, centre) is 6 years old. His mother: "Ca can't understand, speak, hear nor walk or stand. He can't eat by himself. He just lies in bed all the time. Ca has no feeling of pain, or cold and heat. He just shales his head and grinds his teeth all the time. He doesn't react to noise, and his hands and legs are always in slight convulsions."
To Vietnamese people, children is the most important treasure of parents. Most parents consider the growing and success of their children to be their life-long achievement. They rank each other by the health, intelligence, and good behaviours of their children, they envy with eachothers because of their children. The parents of the agent orange children therefore, have a low social status because many people still maintain backward thinking that only "unblessed" people give birth to the deformed children.
In this photo, the most miserable are the parents, who have to bear the pain of their children the most.
As you look around in the photo, you will find nothing of value, except for a wheelchair donated by a certain charity group. The house is unsafe with tiled roof, unpainted wall. All the family are on one bed. Taking care of the sicked children takes away all the money and the time for the parents to do business. Thus the family is desperately drowned in the quagmire of poverty.
