Many people in Phu Loc District, Thua Thien Hue Province keep talking about a woman taking care of two children and an ill elderly woman with whom she has no relation. It’s said that it only could happen in the movies or a fairytale book.

One year ago, Cao Van Don’s wife died due to meningococcal disease when she was only 35. It is not so easy for a mason to keep a family with two sons and an elderly mother with a serious illness.

After his wife’s death, he wanted a woman who could share difficulties and happiness in life. Then he found Le Thi Anh and wanted to marry her. But unfortunately, her family did not want her to marry him because he is Buddhist while she is Catholic, and he is also quite poor. Despite this, they decided to go ahead and get married.

For Thanh, Anh is not only the person who takes care of his current life
but also makes up for his loss

The couple had prepared everything for their wedding when Don unexpectedly had an accident and died just days before they were to tie the knot.

The two little boys cried because they missed their parents and they did not have anything to eat. The elderly grandmother was too sick and weak to nurse them. The unlucky woman felt she could not possibly leave them in such a bad situation. She comes daily to supply them with food and prepare meals for them. But she still has elderly parents of her own to look after and she too is poor.

The two boys kept crying because of missing her, did not go to school instead trying to find their “mother”, the way they often call Anh. Since that day, she decided to stay with them. “It’s poor, the little boy. He is afraid that I would leave him so he runs home right after he finished at school.” said Anh.

It’s very difficult for her to take care of the family with a very modest income of VND200,000 ($11) per month. Her two little boys are very good at studies. However, the elder boy, 11, had decided to leave school earlier this year because they do not have money to cover study fees and he wants to work for a coffee growing garden in the Highlands to support his family.

Thanh, the younger brother wishes that he could continue his studies and become a doctor in order to cure poor patients and save their lives so they would not die as his mother did. But Anh is worried that she may not be able to afford his studying expenditure.

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