Green sprouts in the warm sunlight

The weekend afternoon at the provincial General Social Protection Facility is quiet and different from the noisy life outside. In the area for big orphans, like their mates, two siblings, Doi and Gai, are rearranging things for a clean and tidy common house.

Two siblings Doi and Gai at the provincial General Social Protection Facility.

Nearly a decade ago, on November 1, 2012, Le Van Doi (born in 2005) and Le Thi Gai (born in 2010) and their mentally ill mother Le Thi Tam (born in 1973) were brought to the provincial Social Protection Centre (now the provincial General Social Protection Facility) by the authorities, ending the days of living wildly amidst the mountains and forests.

Nearly 10 years living in the common house is a long and arduous integration process of the two children. Like many other orphans here, they are treated by the aunts and uncles like their own children. The two kids were like green sprouts growing in the wild forest as they had lived as "forest people" for many years and never thought of a day they would escape from a dark life and step out to embrace the light of life.

When returning to this provincial General Social Protection Facility this time, we are delighted to see the changes of Le Van Doi. The stunted black boy now has grown up, being nearly 1.6m tall, bold and confident. And Gai has round black eyes, is always gentle with a charming smile, and politely greets adults when meeting them. The next school year, Doi will enter 9th grade, and Gai 6th grade, both studying at Dinh Ke Secondary School (Bac Giang city).

Sowing love in a big family

Duong Thi Loi, Chairwoman of the provincial Association for Protection of Children's Rights, said: "Bringing the two siblings Doi and Gai here was the "joint effort" of officials and employees involving in social work from the province to the district and commune together with their relatives. The story, after nearly 10 years, remains as new as it just happens today".

According to the local people, Tam was originally a good-natured woman and she became ill after getting married. Her family tried their best to treat her, but her condition did not improve. Born in a difficult circumstance, both Doi and Gai did not know who their father was. The crazy mother loved and protected her children in her own way: taking them into the forest to live away from relatives and neighbors. She was always afraid of strangers coming near to take her children away.

After being brought to the provincial General Social Protection Facility, it took several months for the staff here to put the severely mentally ill mother into the special care area and help Doi and Gai integrate into society.

Because they were used to living in the forest, whenever they saw someone, they got scared and ran away, hiding behind the door or under the bed or in the toilet; even they protested when officials approached. Then, day after day, month after month, the staff persisted in helping the two children gradually feel the love and integrate into a new life.

Nurturing the desire to rise up

As they get older, Doi and Gai show different personalities. From naive kids, Doi is now more mature, especially his hands are skillful. Loving to explore, he can sit for hours assembling and learning about technical equipment. He said that in the future, he will learn to repair electronic equipment and find a job with stable income to earn money to raise his younger sister and take care of his mother.

The cave in the forest - the residence of Le Thi Tam and her children nearly 10 years ago.

Over the past time, Dinh Ke Primary and Secondary School has always created favorable conditions for Doi and Gai to study and exchange with friends. They are also exempted from many tuition fees and are given many gifts at the beginning of the school year or holidays...

"In this life there is no impasse, but the most important thing is to turn difficulties into motivation to overcome adversity". The message delivered by teachers at the school and uncles and aunts in the common house has been warming the souls of the two siblings, Doi and Gai.

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