For the poor, health insurance—though seemingly small—is a beacon of hope. Thiện Chí Center recently visited and provided health insurance support to two families facing extremely difficult circumstances—lives burdened by hardship and ongoing battles with illness amid severe financial strain.
Ms. Hà’s Family consists of five members living in a rural area. Since 2020, her husband has suffered from a heart attack, severe heart failure, and type 2 diabetes. The sudden onset of illness forced her to sell land and borrow money from many sources to pay for his treatment. With no capital left, she opened a small tailoring shop and does clothing repairs to earn a meager income.
Her son takes on irregular, low-paying manual jobs whenever available. Her daughter, Nhật Anh, is the family’s hope—currently a first-year student in Early Childhood Education at a private school where tuition is high and there’s no financial aid like in public institutions. Due to the family’s financial struggles, Ms. Hà cannot afford health insurance for herself—even though she also has health issues that require regular check-ups and treatment.
Ms. Lành’s Family is another story of resilience. Over 60 years old, she lives with her daughter born in 1985, who suffers from severe mental illness. For safety, she has to lock her daughter in the house daily while she tends to three breeding pigs, four meat pigs, and cultivates two plots of vegetables to make a living.
She has no husband and no one to help her. Every month, she must take her daughter to the city hospital for treatment and medication. Despite her own aging body and painful joints, she endures. Even after going through six rounds of microloans, her life hasn’t improved much. Her only wish is to have a health insurance card—to ease the burden of medical costs for both her daughter and herself.
Moved by these situations, Thiện Chí Center offered each family a health insurance card—perhaps small in value, but meaningful, timely, and practical. We believe that just a little support at the right time can provide struggling lives with renewed strength to keep moving forward through the hardships ahead.
