First Interview with Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuong
Caretaker at Cam Nghia Commune Rehabilitation Center, Quang Tri Province

Ms. Thuong: The families of these children are mostly farmers and live very hard lives. They only earn about 200 thousand dong a day. The mothers usually stay home to care for the children, while the fathers go to work to support both mother and child. Families that have both parents together manage a bit better. But some families have mothers with cancer, some have divorced parents, and many face hardships. The center doesn’t have the resources to care for everyone in the commune, where there are a hundred people with disabilities. I can only prioritize taking care of the children who are most in need.

The center lacks many things: not enough rooms, not enough money, and skimpy meals. We have to ask for donations for food. Good Samaritans occasionally run support projects. When there’s a project, the center can maintain operations for that year. When charity groups visit us and provide funding, we can operate normally. Without money, we can only care for 3 to 5 children.

I personally sometimes receive support of 300 or 500 thousand dong. More is better, but even a little helps, as long as we can keep the center running to care for the children.

Operation Orange: What does the center need most?

Ms. Thuong: We’re lacking so much because the children break everything. They break bicycles, bend them, push them over. They also damage the refrigerator and washing machine that donors have given us.

Honestly, I don’t know how it’s possible for one person to care for 15 children. It’s exhausting. Five of them can go to school and integrate with other students. But 10 stay at the center regularly, with various severe disabilities: hyperactivity, developmental disorders, mobility difficulties.

It’s incredibly challenging. We have donors’ goodwill, but support projects are very rare. From what I understand, across Vietnam, people do prioritize supporting children with disabilities due to Agent Orange. However, this is a remote rural area, so very few charity groups come by. The District Education Department occasionally provides milk for the children. Some years they give one can of milk per child. Other years they don’t because there is no budget.

I’ve been working here since 2008; that’s 16, 17 years now. I’ve seen many people come to work, but after a while they would find it too difficult and quit. They come here and realize the salary isn’t enough to make ends meet, so they all leave. My current salary is 4 million dong per month, which works out to 180,000 dong per day. If they went to work as day laborers, they could make at least 200–250,000 dong per day. Also, they say there are too many restrictions: you have to be here at 7 a.m. and can't leave until 4:30–5 p.m.

Operation Orange: After working here for 17 years, how do you feel about it?

Ms. Thuong: Happy. I do enjoy coming to work, but sometimes it’s hard because the children depend on me so much. They can be destructive, breaking and hitting things. Usually, at home, if there’s a child with cerebral palsy or hyperactivity, the family will assign one person to care for just that one child. But here, one person has to care for 10–15 children, so it’s very difficult. We have two staff members, but during mealtime one person has to cook while the other watches all the children, which is exhausting.

Operation Orange: What do the children usually eat during the day?

Ms. Thuong: Due to insufficient funding, each child gets 15 thousand dong for food per day. The center only provides lunch. For breakfast and dinner, the children’s families take them home. I also get 15 thousand dong’s worth of food. But I have to pay for mine out of pocket, while the children’s meals are subsidized.

Operation Orange: How have the effects of Agent Orange affected the children’s health?

Ms. Thuong: There are many different types of disabilities: cerebral palsy, visual impairments, speech impairments, autism, mobility disabilities, Down syndrome, hyperactivity, developmental delays, and other congenital conditions.

Operation Orange: What about the children’s healthcare needs?

Ms. Thuong: The center can’t provide much support with healthcare. We need to have funding before we can help. Medicine costs money, and that money comes from the state budget. The children have health insurance, but they’re only covered for what’s included in their insurance plans. I don't know if their mothers get priority treatment or discounts when they take them to the hospital.

Since I am responsible for caring for the children, when a child gets scraped or bleeds, I carry them to the health station to get bandaged up. We’re located close to the health station so if the children get sick or have seizures, we can take them there right away. Many of the children here have epilepsy. The health station staff are helpful with day-to-day care. But when children go home and get sick and need to go to the hospital, their families understand the situation better than I do.