It is difficult for a sighted person to make a broom, but it is even more difficult for a blind person to make a broom. Through hard work and determination to overcome adversity, for more than 20 years, the blind family of Ms. Hoang Thi Ly and Mr. Do Thanh Tam in Di An Ward (Di An City) have been working hard to make a living and created additional jobs for 3 to 5 workers.
Ly and Tam make brooms.
Trying to make brooms, raising dreams of happiness
Nestled in burial mounds in Binh Minh 2 quarter of Di An ward is the loving house of blind couple Hoang Thi Ly and Do Thanh Tam. In this small house, a blind couple is busy making brooms to make a living every day, building a family home with two school-aged children (one in 12th grade, one in 10th grade). Tam is from Di An, and Ms. Ly is from Binh Phuoc. They met each other when they were both studying at Vocational Training Center for People with Disabilities in Binh Duong province. Overcoming many difficulties, they became husband and wife for the sole reason of wanting to rely on each other with everything that was left in their bodies to go through the rest of their lives.
Tam has been blind since childhood, after a bout with polio. Loving their child, his parents gathered all their savings and borrowed more from their siblings and neighbors to treat their child, but all was in vain. Doctors were helpless as there was no way to restore light in his eyes. Tam said: “When I was a child, I cried every time I thought about being blind for the rest of my life. Sometimes I cry all day. But then I realized that crying couldn't solve it and decided to overcome my fate." As for Ly, she is blind due to a sequel from her mother, who was a victim of Agent Orange. Her eyesight is about 20%. “When I was young, I felt ashamed, had low self-esteem, lost all faith in life, lived a closed life, and withdrew into a shell. When I grew up, I never dared to think that someone would accept a blind person like me as his wife," Ly confided.
Every day, this blind couple still tries to make brooms to make a living. The husband with strong hands cuts the handle and ties the broom, while the skillful and meticulous wife weaves broom strings and shapes the broom to make the product beautiful and sturdy. A few years ago, when he was still strong, Tam hawked brooms on streets, but now his health is weaker and they have many orders, so he stays at home to focus on production to make timely deliveries. Just like that, this blind couple is still woven together like rattan strings, supporting themselves with what are still intact.
Escape poverty by extraordinary strength
Thanks to being diligent in making brooms and meticulous in every detail, the brooms made by Ly and Tam are not only beautiful but also sturdy. Customers like to buy their brooms, so their broom is much in demand. The good news about their brooms spread far and wide, then some companies came to them to sign a cooperation agreement of product supply. The biggest difficulty for this blind couple in the early stages was not having capital to buy raw materials. Understanding the family's difficulties, Women's Union of Di An ward acted as a bridge helping the family access social policy capital.
The day Ly received 50 million VND disbursed from the bank, she was emotional, her eyes filled with tears and she hurriedly called her customers and partners to buy raw materials. In just a few days, the couple's small house was filled with bamboo branches, rattan strings, and plastic strings. She and her husband diligently worked day and night to keep up with orders. Ly also hires additional workers who are temporarily unemployed in their neighborhood. Then their family's broom cooperative was born with the support of Women's Union of Di An ward. Currently, the cooperative group creates part-time jobs for 3 to 5 workers (depending on the time) with stable income.
Talking about her plans and dreams, Ly shared while winding the broom: “My husband and I just want to be healthy, and if we can do our job, we feel happy. Happiness for my husband and I is feeling our two children grow every day by touching them from feet to head with our hands. A few years ago, they were still short, this year they have grown much taller."
For Tam and Ly, happiness is having something to do and feeling their children grow day by day; The door to success for them does not come naturally but is a continuous effort to improve their lives. Wishing Tam and Ly more success with their family business.
Reported by Kim Ha - Translated by Ngoc Huynh
