Grandparents struggle to raise grandchildren

A couple in Kien Giang Province is facing various difficulties in raising their grandchildren and treating ill daughter.

Phan Van Dieu, 55, in Nguyen Van Thoi Hamlet said, "Our only possession is this dilapidated house. We have three children but because of poverty, they had to drop out of school to find work early."

Dieu is taking care of two grandchildren, as his oldest daughter and her husband work in Binh Duong Province. The situation of Dieu's second daughter, Phan Hong Cam, is even more difficult.

Dieu's daughter weak after the surgery

Over a month ago, Cam's husband abandoned her and their child after she was diagnosed with fibroid. "For years, we worked hard for our child. But after knowing about my illness, I don't know even know what he thought, he just left," she said.

Dieu's house has already lost parts of the walls, so he uses canvas to patch it up. Dieu said thanks to kind people who had donated for school supplies, his grandchildren still have books and good clothes to go to school. Dieu and his wife can support their own daily meals but can't raise three grandchildren without help from the neighbours.

The family lives in a dilapidated house

Tuong Van Dung, head of Nguyen Van Thoi Hamlet said Dieu was the most difficult case in the area. He said, "Since 2014, one after another family member have been admitted to hospital. In 2014, his youngest son had leg surgery. Dieu has rheumatoid arthritis and went under an abdominal surgery last year. Then his daughter has just been operated on to remove fibroid. Each time he borrowed tens of millions of VND and the debt is rising. They have nothing valuable anymore."

Dieu is able to catch 2 to 3 kilos of frog each day for daily meals and some medicines. But even the number of frogs and fish is dwindling. Sometimes, they don’t have meat to eat for days so the children ask him to catch snails or crabs for dinner too.

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