Due to geographic challenges and a lack of arable land, many families dependent on traditional agriculture struggle to make ends meet. Most impoverished households include members suffering from illness or disability. Many have lived in severely dilapidated homes for years but lack the resources to repair or rebuild them.
1. A grieving mother burdened by loss
La Thi Mai at her makeshift shelter
La Thi Mai, aged 74, is one of the district’s most disadvantaged residents. According to local welfare officials, her husband, a war veteran, passed away in 2015 after years of poor health. Her second son, who was born with a disability, died in 2014, and her eldest son unexpectedly passed away in 2023.
Her youngest son, born in 1988, suffers from intellectual impairment and is unable to work. After her eldest son's death, Mai gave the family’s small home to her widowed daughter-in-law and five grandchildren, who now rely heavily on welfare support.
Mai moved into a makeshift shelter of about 16 square metres with her youngest son. The structure, built with fibreglass roofing, bamboo walls and wooden poles, offers little protection from the elements. Despite her old age and fragile health, Mai still forages in the forest for wild vegetables and roots to sell in order to support her son.
2. “A new roof is a distant dream”
Be Ich Thuan's house has badly deteriorated
Be Ich Thuan, 61, lives with his family in a crumbling house built by his parents before 1930. The walls are peeling, the roof leaks, and the structure is dangerously unstable. With no savings, they are unable to afford repairs.
Thuan lives with his wife, their son and daughter-in-law, and two young grandchildren. He and his wife are in poor health and unable to work. Their son, the main breadwinner, earns an unstable income doing electrical and plumbing work, while his wife tends to the children and farms a small plot of land.
“This house is falling apart. Every rainy season, we scramble to stop the leaks. We worry it might collapse one day, but the hope of building a new home feels so far away,” Thuan said quietly.
3. A mother’s 40-year struggle to care for her disabled son
Be Thi Loan at her house
Be Thi Loan, 64, has spent four decades raising a disabled son alone. Her husband died suddenly in 1988, leaving her to raise two boys while working as a subsistence farmer.
Her eldest son was born with multiple disabilities, including a hunchback, speech and hearing impairments, and chronic illness. Her younger son, though healthy, has a family of his own and cannot offer financial support.
They now live in a 100-year-old wooden house with cracked clay walls and a leaking tiled roof. “The house is falling apart, but I’m old and weak, and my disabled son can’t help. We barely have enough for food,” Loan said with a sigh.
She hopes local authorities and donors can help her rebuild a safe home for her and her son.
4. From provider to dependent after a tragic accident
Nong Van No and his wife at their house
Nong Van No, 61, once the primary provider for his family, now lives with a permanent disability after a motorbike accident in 2012 shattered his pelvis and left leg. He now moves around on handmade wooden crutches and cannot do manual labour.
His family relies on a small maize field and occasional odd jobs. They have been classified as a poor household for many years.
Their current home, built years ago, has a dirt floor, a fibre-cement roof, and termite-ridden wooden beams. The walls are deteriorating, and the structure is unsafe during storms.
5. A tarp-covered shack for a family of eight
Vuong Van Sang lives with his pregnant wife and their six children in a 30-square-metre shack
Vuong Van Sang, 42, lives in a remote mountainous area with limited access and scarce farmland. His household, considered chronically poor, includes his wife and six children under the age of 16. His wife is currently six months pregnant with their seventh child.
The family lives in a 30-square-metre shack with a dirt floor, rotting timber frame, tarpaulin walls, and a severely worn fibre-cement roof. It offers little protection from the weather.
Sang and his wife dream of a safe, solid home for their growing family, but their current income makes that impossible.
According to Luan Chien Cong, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Hoa An District, many families in our area live in temporary or damaged homes.
"Despite working hard, they lack access to land, education and healthcare. Some are elderly, disabled, or live alone," he said. "We urgently call for support from Dantri readers and philanthropists to help these families secure safe housing.”
In response, the organising committee of Dantri’s 20th Anniversary Pickleball Tournament has announced that all registration fees, VND 500,000 per player, will be used to build five new houses for the five families in Hoa An.
Players can register for the tournament at: https://dantri.com.vn/pickleball20nam/dangky
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