Three generations live in one tattered tent. It is the home of Nguyen Ho, his elderly mother, his wife and 4 struggling children.

Ho’s wife with their children

Nguyen Ho suffered from health problems as well as poverty ever since he. He married to Nguyen Thi Hanh and now, his own family remains impoverished. The couple made a promise to each other that they would try their best to escape poverty and have enough money for their children to study.

After nearly 10 years living together, they have had four children. The first two children have stunted growth due to malnutrition but fortunately, they do not suffer from any disease. Their third child, Nguyen Dai Bao, born in 2004, was born without an anus. In order to have money to cover treatment costs for Bao, they had to borrow and beg.

Bao has undergone surgery 3 times relocate his anus successfully in the right position because they did not have money for timely treatment.

They thought that Bao could be back to a normal life after the operations but it was later discovered that he has Down syndrome.

Bao is over six years old now but cannot even speak a simple word. “I just want to cry when I see him like this. He suffers from so many diseases. In addition, he often wanders away from home. It can take us a whole day to find him sometimes,” said Hanh.

While Hanh was telling us about her family's situation, the youngest child, who is nearly 2, started crying profusely. “My poor daughter! She has swollen lymph nodes in her neck so it is difficult and painful for her to swallow. We do not have enough money to take her to see a doctor, we are helpless now. My husband’s disease started getting worse so his health is very weak now.”

Ho’s family is struggling each day to have enough food to eat. “We can bear the hunger but I cannot bear seeing my children in pain like this, I cannot eat nor sleep,” added Ho.

Rain can fall easily into Ho’s holed tent

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