Dedicated: Dương Hữu Phúc at class in the Hà Nội University of Business and Technology. Photo coutersy of Dương Hữu Phúc Viet Nam News By Bùi Quỳnh Hoa Dương Hữu Phúc, a third-year student at the Hà Nội University of Business and Technology’s Department of Architecture, carefully draws his homework on a computer in a slum along Nguyễn Khoái Street in Hà Nội’s Hai Bà Trưng District. He is able to use the remains of his amputated arms to move the mouse and type with dexterity. “It’s much easier for me now we are allowed to do the technical drawings on a computer rather than by hand. I can work as fast as my classmates,” Phúc said. An explosion at a workshop in his native village in Lạng Sơn Province four years ago forced doctors to amputate both his hands, just 12 days before his high school examination. … [Read more...] about Overcoming difficulties with determination
Fees you pay when selling your house
For kidney patients in Vietnam, it is either hemodialysis or organ black market
One morning in April, an organ donor was brought into an operating room in Hanoi, all alone. Not long after, the recipient was brought in, with a whole family waiting outside, and a man in suit. By the afternoon, the kidney had been successfully transfered from the donor to the recipient. The man in the suit received a load of cash from the recipient’s family, and off he went. For doctors and nurses, the long hours just meant another to hundreds of operations they perform, but for the poor family waiting outside, they had just spent every penny they had on a kidney for their son. The son, Binh*, is a 24-year-old engineer. On the verge of losing a bright future at such a young age due to chronic kidney disease, Binh made the call himself to buy a healthy kidney from the black market. He wanted to leave the chapter of hemodialysis behind. Days of needles For the past five months, Binh had been on hemodialysis every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Two large needles were laid out … [Read more...] about For kidney patients in Vietnam, it is either hemodialysis or organ black market
One melody in memory of father
Viet Nam News by Lê Hoài Nam To meet Diễm, his ex-wife, Đổng went to a refreshment stall on the side of a street. A few minutes later, she turned up in a black Camry. Getting out, at first glance she seemed greatly displeased with his casual clothes. “You’ve come by bus, haven’t you?” she asked him in a contemptuous voice. “Pawned your motorbike?” she went on. Blushing with shame he replied, “I needed the money to wire a building for lighting and high-tech gadgets. I’ll get it back soon.” “Hmm, at the age of fifty, with a degree in electrical engineering, you should be ashamed of yourself for having pawned your terrible motorbike,” she mocked him. “It’s not a big deal, I’ll be sorted soon.” “Really? What did you want to see me for then? Not for money, eh?” “Certainly not! Have I ever borrowed anything from you?” … [Read more...] about One melody in memory of father
In daytime discos, South Korea’s elderly find escape from anxiety
A discotheque hidden among the back alleys of eastern Seoul is packed with hundreds of grey-haired couples on a Monday afternoon, dancing to local hits from the 1960s in a basketball court-sized hall. Kim Sa-gyu, 85, calls it his “playground.” “What else would I do all day? My family is busy with work. I hate going to senior centers cause all they do there is smoking,” said Kim, wearing a beret as he sat on a bench at the edge of a dance floor decorated with fairy lights and mirror balls. Seven days a week, he gets up at 5 a.m., has breakfast with his son and two grandchildren, gets an hour of massage therapy to relieve knee pain, then hops on a bus. His destination is the daytime disco for the elderly in New Hyundai Core. Kim, who has been jobless since retiring as a hospital administer 20 years ago, is among about 1,000 customers each weekday at the disco, called a colatec. It is one of nearly 1,000 such facilities around the country. Almost 2,000 people visit … [Read more...] about In daytime discos, South Korea’s elderly find escape from anxiety