(VOV) With this project, Donxa has brought hopes to more than 10 poor households in Hoa Binh.
“We only hope he can go to school”
For 15 years, Bui Van Chon and his wife from Quang My commune, Tan Lac district, Hoa Binh province wished for a miracle that would help their son Bui Van Xuyen walk like other children. Xuyen was born with bent legs and arms. Bui’s family is one of the poorest in the commune and cannot afford to take Xuyen to the hospital for treatment.
Mr Bui said, “Yesterday we were told that there was an international humanity organization and doctors offering free check-ups for disable children. We were very glad. Today we got up early to go over 10 kilometers here. It has been really hard to rear our child and our only wish is for him to be medically treated so he can walk, play and, go to school like any other children.”
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Bùi Văn Chơn and his son |
Ms Dinh Thi Hien, a 35-year-old widower from Quy Hau commune, Tan Lac is also a wretch. Her husband died of cancer before her son Bui Duc Duy was born and she has no relatives. Duy was born healthy but as he grew up, his legs contracted, curled up, and now cannot walk. No matter how much she wants him to be normal again, she does not have enough money to pay for her son’s medical care. Her only properties are a perch of fiel and a dilapidated tiled house; therefore, she has to see her son growing up disabled. Ms Dinh was very moved when her son received free medical attention. She stated, “My son was carefully tested. Also, we were partially paid for the traveling expense. The doctor said he would inform me in half a month and my son would be given a free operation in Hanoi. In the straitened circumstances, we cannot lean on anybody but the doctor and Donxa.”
Xuyen and Duy are two of fifty-three disabled children from poor households in Hoa Binh province given free medical tests by doctors from Institute of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, Ministry of Labour, War Invalids and Social Welfare on March 13. Donxa, a Belgium humanitarian organization, sponsored this project.
This was the first time Donxa has ever helped the disabled children in Hoa Binh. According to Mr Bui Van Nho, Chief Clerk of Tan Lac Labour, War Invalids and Social Welfare Office, the local authority coordinated with Donxa by visiting each family to encourage them to take their children to be tested for eligibility of the project. He also added that this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the disabled children living in the mountainous areas to be given medical care, especially in terms of orthopedics and rehabilitation; therefore, the local authority as well as these families has a lot of hopes for this project.
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Waiting for health-checking |
“I love and feel attached to Vietnam.”
Donxa is an independent non-governmental organization established in 2001 by its president, Roby Bauweraerts, a Belge expert in personnel management. Donxa is run based on humanitarian aid in provinces in the North of Vietnam, and the main target is to help those poor disabled children. Interestingly, Donxa was named after a village called Don Xa in Ha Nam, where Roby conducted his first project on aiding disabled children.
For the past ten years, Donxa has been running a number of charity projects on education, medical care, public health, economic development, and life quality improvement. For example: building a disabled children’s home and a library in Co Loa commune, Dong Anh (Hanoi); developing Sind, a stock of cow; funding the operations for children with movement disorder in Lap Thach (Vinh Phuc), programmes on purified drinking water for schools and grants for poor school children, all of which have been highly appreciated and praised.
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Donxa library school for poor children in Dong Anh |
When asked about why poor disabled children were chosen to be the principal beneficiary of Donxa, Roby said, “We all grow up from children and I love them. I want them to have equal chance to be happy. Poor disabled children are Donxa’s priority, especially those in remote areas and Donxa hopes for their future when they can integrate well into the society like any other children. Seeing disabled children whose parents cannot afford their operations saddens me and my partners.”
“And why did I pick Vietnam? I have been to many parts of the world, I have met the poor in Africa, but…those in Vietnam are different. They don’t passively wait for aid, they all have strong will to overcome difficulty, poverty, and diseases. I admire them and Donxa was set up in order to realize their dreams. I feel even more attached to Vietnam since I am married to a woman from Hoai Duc and we now have two children. That is why Donxa is situated in Thu Y Street, Thuong Duc commune, Hoai Duc, Hanoi.”
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Roby Bauweraertsn was born in 1969 in Deel town, Antwerpen city, Belgium. He studied Personnel Management in Belgium and first visited Vietnam in 2000. In 2004, he got married to Nguyễn Quý Quỳnh Hoa and they now have 2 children.Donxa was established in 2001. . |
Social help needed
Mr Nguyen Quang Trung, Director of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation Institute, visited disabled children in Hoa Binh to examine and sort them, said, “Donxa has cooperated with the Institute and funded medical examinations and operation for poor children with congenital malformation, movement disorder, bone injuries resulted from accidents or burns. Even after operations and medical treatments, the chance for them to be fully recovered is little, especially those suffering from cerebral palsy, but thanks to these humanitarian programmes, we can help improve their physical movement and help them integrate easier into the society.”
Doctor Trung emphasized that for the best result, cooperation between the Institute, Donxa, local authorities and especially families must be tight. It normally takes a child 1 -3 months to recover from the operation. Therefore, parents should be very patient following doctors’ instructions to help them practice and do exercises.
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“When can I walk, doctor?” |
Mrs Nguyen Thi Thao, the chief clerk of Care and Protection for Children agency, Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, Hoa Binh, was very pleased with this medical examination trip. She said that some international organizations had visited and gave free medical treatments to children there before but the number of children examined under the support of Donxa that time was the highest, at 53 children. If the collaborators had worked more effectively, Donxa would have had chance to light up hope for more than 53 poor families in Hoa Binh.
Mrs Nguyen also confirmed that authorities from province to locality welcome charity groups to Hoa Binh to help children there. Obviously, free medical treatments guarantee a better future for poor disabled children.
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Roby and a disabled child in Hoa Binh |
When being asked if he was satisfied with the first stage of the project, Roby said, “”I would like to do more for poor children in Vietnam, and sadly a lot of children in remote areas weren’t visited this time. Next time we will go from home to home to avoid missing any child out.”
Roby added that Donxa needs support and donation from organizations, businesses, foster parents, and individuals from Vietnam and overseas so that they can work together for a better future of poor disabled children in Vietnam.
Lại Thìn-VOV