Sharing love after Covid-19
The normal season, the happy season, has now come/ that spring of dreams…” – the Vietnamese famous song about spring makes the hearts flutter as Tet approaches.
The lyrics and the melody echo from the broad streets to small alleys across the city. However, for Le Truc Chi, who lives in Ward 5, Go Vap District, the song raises the sadness in her heart.
It has been three years since her last normal spring, where the wife, the husband, and the children gather in love. In August 2021, the peak of the Covid-19 outbreak, her husband, the father of their three children, passed away.
Representative of Tan Hiep Phat presented gifts and lucky money envelopes to Chi and Hai in Go Vap District, Ho Chi Minh City. |
Chung Nhat Hai, her youngest child, was born in 2019 and is now only 2 years old. He did not understand the pain when his father died. Even now, he still asks his mother: “Dad is always busy working far away, why hasn’t he come home?”
According to Chi, her husband was a chef and served in a hotel. When he learned he was infected with Covid-19, he had to stay in quarantine and did not come home since then.
In the cramped house of her grandparents, Chi and her four children struggle to rely on each other. Every day, she delivers and receives documents from her younger sister’s company.
Out of Chi’s four children, the eldest child is studying at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, the second child is about to graduate high school, the third child is in grade 4. Hai, the youngest, is is kindergarten.
Though she is glad that the children are attentive and studious, her income is not enough to support them.
In the past, her husband and children would be eager to decorate the house. Her house was filled with joy then. Since he left, her family has not had a real Tet.
In the past, every spring, father and son would chirp and decorate the house, it was very fun. Since he left, her family has not had Tet. During the three days of Tet, she only offers a few fruits and flowers to her ancestors and late husband.
Chi said that since Tan Hiep Phat agreed to sponsor her children until they reached adulthood, she was overjoyed.
“The gift and love that we receive during the spring days warm our hearts. I try to buy new clothes for my children so that they can enjoy spring and celebrate Tet with their friends,” said Chi.
Serving the community, extending the spring of love
In Trung My Tay ward (District 12), Mai Xuyen Chi’s mother passed away just over a week after giving birth. On August 6, 2021, her mother had a C-section one month before the due date. On August 15, Chi’s mother passed away because of Covid-19.
According to Mai Hong Thai, Xuyen Chi’s father, Chi was too young to understand the pain, yet his brother, Mai Hoang Quan, a third-grade student, still cries mourning for his mother.
The sentiments and gifts that Tan Hiep Phat Company sends to children in difficult circumstances help extend the spring of love. |
Thai works as a porter at Thu Duc Agricultural Wholesale Market. On weekdays, he is not as busy as during Tet, so his income is not stable. On days when he has no task at the market, he works as a bricklayer.
With that low income, he has to leave Hoang Quan and another child with his parents in Ben Tre.
In District 12, he and the youngest child, Xuyen Chi, and his mother-in-law, live with an acquaintance who allowed them to stay in the attic while helping him take care of his/ her food store.
Thai said that his family was fortunate to receive support from benefactors such as Tan Hiep Phat Company. On the last day before Tet, he will take Xuyen Chi to their hometown to celebrate Tet with her brothers.
“Everyone suffers the pain left by Covid-19. I just wish that I would have enough health and strength to continue raising my children. I also hope that other families suffering the same situation as me will try to overcome it,” Thai confided.
Representatives of Tan Hiep Phat Company visit, encourage, and give Tet gifts to each child and family member. |
In addition to Chi and Thai’s family, many of the families that Tan Hiep Phat Company sponsors in this program have 3-4 children who are going to school. There are also less fortunate children due to disabilities and developmental delays.
Pham Dang Khanh, born in 2016, is an example. Khanh’s father passed away early, he lived with his mother and twin sister in a rented house in Ward 10, Go Vap District. The family has a low income and is even less fortunate that Khanh is retarded and autistic. At five years old, he still can’t speak and has to go to the doctor every month.
Representatives of Tan Hiep Phat Company visited and gave gifts to families in difficult circumstances due to Covid-19 in Ho Chi Minh City. |
Vu Phuong Thanh, representative of Tan Hiep Phat Company, said that children always receive special attention from the company’s social activities. Therefore, when informed about the program “Helping Children Moving Forwards” in 2022, Tan Hiep Phat decided to accompany and sponsor 50 children orphaned by Covid-19 until the age of 18, with an estimated donation of more than VND 13 billion.
Everyone has family and loved ones to remember, especially during Tet. The pain of missing parents that the children of Mai Hong Thai and Le Truc Chi are going through is not easy to heal.
The company and all employees try to do their best to support the community, to help disadvantaged children enjoy a warm and friendly spring.
A representative of Tan Hiep Phat Company said that in addition to the monthly sponsorship to help the children live, study, and continue to grow up, the Company also organizes exchange activities and meetings with the children every year to bring warm feelings and encourage them to confidently continue on their life path.
“We think that regular attention and care is also a way to prolong the spring of love and heal the pain, at least until the children grow up,” Vu Phuong Thanh said. |