A female pupil drops out of school due to serious illness

Vo Thi Thu Han (born in 2009) was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome while taking her second semester exam of grade 9, school year 2023 - 2024 at Nguyen Trung Truc Junior School (Van Ninh District). Han has had to drop out of school to be hospitalized for long-term treatment.

Han suffers from swelling due to nephrotic syndrome

Han is the third of four children born to Vo Dang Khoa (born in 1978) and Nguyen Thi Kim Sang (born in 1981) living in Tien Ninh Hamlet (Van Khanh Commune, Van Ninh District). Han has been sickly since childhood; she has suffered from childhood asthma, which often make her feel faint during attacks. Not having stable jobs in their homeland, in 2012, Sang and Khoa took their children to Ho Chi Minh City, renting a house and working as ceiling panel installers for a private company. Han was diagnosed with nephrotic syndrome, a health condition requiring urgent treatment to sustain her life, when she was taken to Children's Hospital 1 with a swollen face.

Years of medical expenses at many hospitals exhausted the family’s savings. In 2017, they returned to their hometown and worked as construction workers to make a living.
After many years of treating their child in many hospitals, the savings of Sang and his wife gradually ran out. In 2017, Sang and Khoa took their children back to their hometown and worked as construction workers to make a living. “Since Lunar New Year, my husband and I hadn’t had any job offers, so we have caught clams and snails at sea to earn some money to pay school fees and medical cost for our children,” said Sang.

Sang and Khoa have to borrow money from their relatives and friends to afford Han's frequent medical check-ups in Ho Chi Minh City. They have also mortgaged their small house, their most valuable asset, to afford Han’s treatment cost and pay their debts. Han's two older sisters have dropped out of school and taken jobs as garment factory workers in Ho Chi Minh City to ease their parents' burden. Han's youngest sister is in kindergarten. 
The family was still grappling with over VND300 million in unpaid debts as Han's condition worsened as she prepared for her ninth-grade final exam. Han had to drop out of school since then. Due to prolonged treatment with medication for nephrotic syndrome, Han has suffered from memory loss. Despite this, Han possesses a talent for drawing. Sang hopes that she and her husband can find stable jobs to pay off their debts and afford Han's medical treatment cost.

According to Nguyen Quoc Cuong, chairman of Van Khanh Commune Red Cross, the unit has called for donations from local officials, civil servants and other people to support the family of Han. The commune allocated VND2 million from the Fund for the poor and assisted the family in completing the necessary paperwork to determine Han's disability level so that Han can be eligible for social welfare benefits for those with severe disabilities.

People who want to help Vo Thi Thu Han can contact Nguyen Thi Kim Sang (tel: 0385057647) or Khanh Hoa Newspaper office (tel: 0258.3822019) at 77 Yersin St., Nha Trang City. Support can also be sent to Khanh Hoa Newspaper’s bank account at Vietcombank Nha Trang (account number 0581000765262).

Thuy Duong 
Translated by H.N