Three children struggle in winter

Three children in the mountainous Yen Bai Province are in need of support after their father died and their mother abandoned them.

Thu and her brothers 

The oldest sister, 12- year-old Ho Thi Thu, now has to take care of her siblings.

In 2007, Thu's father was shot dead during a hunting accident. Last year, the children’s mother went to the market but never returned.

The dilapidated house 

In order to have some income, Thu and her brothers often tend their neighbours' buffaloes. However, Thu said that when it's cold, they couldn't do the job as often as in the summer, so sometimes, they had to starve.

The siblings live with their grandparents but they are too old and weak for hard work. They can only go to the forest to pick some vegetables when the weather is warm. Their meals are mostly just rice and bamboo shoots. Their relatives are also too poor to help them much.

Their meals consist of rice and bamboo shoots 

They live in a dilapidated house with sparse furniture that cannot protect them from the cold of the mountainous area.

7 year-old Ho A Than, the youngest of the siblings, said, "I miss my mum, I wish she would come back."

Mobile phone number of Thu's aunt: 096.112.6085