A New House and a Dilemma

The same day Orange Helpers dedicated the Tran family house, we also dedicated a house for Le Thi Dao, a mentally challenged 42 year old woman in La Hai, Dong Xuan district. Her father was exposed to Agent Orange in the war and died of cancer years ago. He left her only a dilapidated room attached to an old house occupied by her sister’s family.

The new house was built on a small plot of land donated by the commune near her old residence and a young nephew will live with her to help her cope. At the dedication, Dao was a little bewildered and unable to speak, but her sister gave a tearful word of gratitude.

Later that day we visited Nguyen Thi Thu, a 35 year old whose story is almost a direct parallel with Dao’s. Her father was also a participant in the war who died many years ago of Agent Orange related cancer. Thu is severely mentally challenged and occupies her day drawing water from a well and pouring it into a big filter jar. She too was unable to converse with us. Her home is one of the worst I have seen here. The mud walls are riddled with cracks and collapsing at the corners of the building. The thatched roof has large missing areas and is at all effective only because of plastic sheeting draped over it. The floor is dirt and the inside is dark but for the light streaming in through the holes in the roof and walls.

We inquired about building a new house for Thu but were told that the land her house stands on has been set aside by the state for future road widening. There are no plans to do this at this time, but new construction or even repairs of the existing house, are forbidden at this location. Further, Thu depends on the kindness and watchfulness of her immediate neighbors for her day to day survival. In order to have a new house, she would have to move away from her lifeline. This is not the first time that we have been stymied in trying to find a way to assist an AO family, but we will be keeping an eye on Thu’s situation as we pass by frequently.