A father and son in Quang Ngai Province, who lived in the forest for 40 years, slowly reintegrating into society and get used to a new life after leaving the forest three years ago.
In 2013, police found the two men living in a tree house in the forest of Tra Phong Commune, Tay Tra District. A village head, said the older man had seen his wife and two children killed during the American War. Suffering from the trauma, he took his one year-old son and ran into the forest. Since then, no one had seen them.
Neither of the men know how to speak Vietnamese, and only know a few words of the Cor ethnic minority people's language and use body language to express themselves. Now Ho Van Thanh, 85, and his son Ho Van Lang, 44, are living with relatives in a village of Cor ethnic group in Tra Phong Commune.
Ho Van Lang in his new house
Ho Van Tri, Lang's brother, said even though Lang was happy to see his family again, he missed the forest. "He was used to live in the trees so everything here is new and strange to him. Sometimes, he'll go to the forest from morning to sunset no matter if it's raining or not," Tri said.
Lang started to get used to the new life two years later but he still didn't know what to do during the days. Thinking that he had become a burden, Lang decided to go into the forest and find a place for farming. Sometimes, when the rice runs out, he will return home for a while.
This makes him happier because he can bring home his potatoes or cassava. Since Lang follows nomadic farming, he recently moved the farms closer to home. Lang looked ecstatic when he had guests. It has been a long time since he met so many people. Lang is still sourcing his own meals like going out at night to find frogs or eels.
Ho Van Thanh suffers from mental illness
Lang said he also wanted to have a family of his own but worried that "I'm too old now, no woman wants me."
Lang's father, Ho Van Thanh, only sits in one place because of mental illness. When he was rescued, the family brought him to hospital immediately but doctors said not only did he have mental illness but also lots of age-related health problems. He lost one eye in the forest and has kidney failure which can't be treated anymore. He is provided with VND600,000 (VND27,000) a month pension.
