People with disabilities affirm themselves in life

Sharing and connecting

The person behind these activities is Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, a mathematics teacher at Thien Ho Duong Secondary and High School in Cao Lanh Ward, Dong Thap Province. In 2009, Tam was unfortunately involved in a traffic accident and lost one leg. After the incident, she spent three years persistently learning to walk with a prosthetic leg, overcoming pain to return to the classroom.

Having experienced such hardship herself, Tam deeply understands the feelings of self-consciousness and difficulties faced by people with disabilities. In 2022, she became Chairwoman of the Dong Thap Provincial Youth Club for People with Disabilities. Since then, she has devoted herself to connecting with and supporting people in similar circumstances, helping them gain better access to education, employment, and livelihoods.

The club now has more than 20 members. It is not only a place where people with similar circumstances can meet and share but has gradually become a bridge connecting young people with disabilities to opportunities in education, employment, livelihoods, and community activities.

For people with disabilities, the greatest difficulty is not physical limitations but feelings of inferiority, self-consciousness, and the belief that they are a burden on their families and society. Therefore, the club believes that support should go beyond immediate gifts and assistance. More importantly, it should create opportunities for each member to recognise that they can still work, contribute, and bring positive values to the community.

Phan Van Sanh, born in 1988 and residing in Hamlet 2, Thuong Phuoc Commune, Dong Thap Province, is one such member.

Sanh was formerly a football player for the Dong Thap team. After an accident caused him to lose his sight, he was left without a job or income. His life largely depended on the care, support, and generosity of others.

However, Sanh did not want his life to revolve solely around receiving help. With his love of football and support from the club, he became a community football coach, directly training children aged 11 to 15.

The club also helped Sanh access business loans and take part in social, charitable, and sporting activities. Although this support could not immediately resolve all his difficulties, it gave him something more important: the opportunity to participate, meet others, and be recognised for his own abilities.

“Taking part in the club’s activities makes me happier and more positive about life. I have the opportunity to meet people, do what I can, and feel that I can still contribute to society,” Sanh said.

The story of Le Thi Hoai, born in 2001 and residing in Phu Thanh B Hamlet, Long Phu Thuan Commune, Dong Thap Province, also demonstrates the changes brought about by the club’s practical support.

Hoai has a physical disability caused by exposure to Agent Orange. Her health limitations have created considerable obstacles in studying, travelling, finding employment, and integrating into the community. With support from the club, however, she has gained access to financial assistance, received scholarships, and presented a bicycle.

“These gifts are not only valuable materially but also encourage me to have greater confidence in myself. Thanks to the club’s support, I have become more confident and positive and now take part in more group activities,” Hoai said.

Sharing love with others

What gives the Dong Thap Provincial Youth Club for People with Disabilities its distinctive character is its spirit of both receiving and giving support. When members have better conditions, they in turn reach out to people facing greater difficulties.

Over the years, the club has organised cultural exchanges, performances, discussions, visits, and gift-giving programmes on Vietnamese Day of Persons with Disabilities, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, public holidays, and Lunar New Year (Tet). It has also organised the “Kind Tet in Border Areas” programme, bringing gifts to students with disabilities and orphaned children in disadvantaged areas.

Members of the Dong Thap Provincial Youth Club for People with Disabilities take part in charitable activities. (Photo: LY OANH)

Programmes such as “Meals of Solidarity”, “Love for People in Similar Circumstances” and “Wheelchair Station” have also been organised, providing support to people facing similar difficulties. The club also visits children at schools for people with disabilities and social protection centres, provides encouragement to 12th-grade students ahead of the high school graduation examination, and organises activities to honour Heroic Vietnamese Mothers and people who have made contributions to the Fatherland.

With the message “Sports Without Barriers”, the club creates opportunities for everyone to participate in sports, exchange experiences, and share with one another. Many members have taken part in the Dat Sen Hong Marathon and community football tournaments to raise funds for people in difficult circumstances, helping to improve their health and spread a message about the determination and abilities of people with disabilities.

Through these activities, five club members have received the national “Vietnamese Willpower Shining Award”, three members have been named “Outstanding Young Citizens of Dong Thap Province”, and one member regularly competes in Para Games and won a gold medal in the SL4 disability category at the 2024 National Para Games in Quang Nam. The club chairwoman was also honoured as “Miss Viet Nam Moonless” in 2025.

Nguyen Thi Minh Tam said the club hopes to build thematic talk programmes carried out by people with disabilities themselves, giving them a platform to share their stories, express their thoughts and aspirations, and help the community learn appropriate ways of communicating and interacting with people with different types of disabilities.

Inclusion is not about the community doing things on behalf of people with disabilities but about creating conditions for them to make their own decisions and contribute through their own abilities.

From this common home of more than 20 members, the stories continue to spread, reminding the community that behind human disabilities are dreams, determination, and the desire to live a meaningful life.