Care work helps country people earn a crust

Tran Van Thanh, who works as a care-taker, is employed by the son of a 90-year-old man in Viet Duc Hospital. Other patients living with the old man praise Thanh for his enthusiasm and sensitivity towards the elderly gentleman assuming at first that Thanh was his son.

"I am not his son, I just help out at the hospital and at the family’s home. I am simply thankful to have a job and get paid," said Thanh.

Thanh had to leave his home in Phu Tho Province for Ha Noi seeking gainful employment. He has three sons, o­ne in grade 8, o­ne in grade 10 and o­ne studying at the University in Thai Nguyen Province. What worries him most is providing for his sons’ education.

"My eldest son himself spends VND1 million a month," said Thanh.

Six months ago, Thanh worked as a care-taker for an old man in Ly Thuong Kiet Street. When his employer passed away, he met Thieng, who was looking for someone to take care of his father.

"I am lucky to have work since old men who are sick would often rather have a male figure around. Thieng’s father is 90 years old and has heart disease. Sometimes, because of the pain and old age, he gets angry and surly with his children and me as well. But he reminds me of my father, so I try to take good care of him," Thanh said.

Thanh earns VND1.5 million (US$93) a month for his work, saying he feels thankful to Thieng’s family for treating him with respect and as if he were a part of the family.

"The work is not hard. But when I think of my father-in-law, who has been sick for three years, I feel sad because I cannot take care of him. And I always worry about whether my wife can manage things at home alone," said Thanh.

Le Thi Trang works as a baby-sitter for a family in Thanh Xuan District, Ha Noi. She takes good care of the mother and her newly born twins, getting up early and staying up late to feed the babies.

"Sometimes I cried alone, thinking of my own twins at home. When they were o­nly a year old I had to ask my mother and my mother-in-law to take care of them while I moved to Ha Noi with the hope of earning more money," said Trang.

But Trang was lucky to work for a family whose members were kind and considerate.

Nguyen Thi Yen, from Thanh Hoa Province, whose mother is old and father has bad health, was a housemaid who was not so fortunate.

"I could o­nly have meals after the family had finished and left the remains for me," said Yen.

People in poor areas are seeking ways to earn their livings in the densely populated, more prosperous cities. Working to provide for their families, they exert great efforts and overcome adversity in a vastly different environment.