A painful life like a movie, the 'main character' was accepted into 3 universities today

During conversations with me, despite her resilience, Le Thao Duyen cried uncontrollably many times.

Neighbors said that Duyen had been orphaned four times and had been lonely her entire youth, but she had never stopped trying. Whenever an incident came, Duyen faced it and overcame it.

Le Thao Duyen (19 years old, Tinh Minh commune, Son Tinh district, Quang Ngai) is about to enter university, without any parents or relatives to encourage her. Duyen is also the mother of Gao - a child that to her is a gift from heaven so that she will no longer live alone in this world.

Turn into the end of the small alley in Minh Khanh village, Tinh Minh commune, and you will see an abandoned house. Continue to turn along the small path beside the abandoned house and you will reach Duyen's house. It is hard to imagine that Duyen has lived in that small, dilapidated, damaged house, with all the doors patched together, for almost her entire life.

Duyen had just returned from teaching calligraphy, and she quickly turned on her computer to write an essay to send to a TV station. Duyen boasted that writing essays, along with many other jobs, had helped her survive. In Duyen’s house, there were altars for her grandmother, father, mother, and her child’s father.

Duyen does many jobs to earn money to raise her children, from washing dishes, serving coffee, writing essays...

Duyen's father is from Thai Binh. In 2003, he went to Quang Ngai to work and then married Duyen's mother.

The marriage was not a smooth one. In 2005, Duyen was born in Thai Binh. During Tet 2006, her mother took her back to Quang Ngai. Life was difficult, so her mother left Duyen with her grandmother and went to the South to work.

In 2008, Duyen's father took her back to Thai Binh. In 2010, she was returned to Quang Ngai for her grandmother to take care of.

With her father in one place and her mother in another, in 2013, when Duyen was 8 years old, her grandmother's health was poor, so Duyen once again took a bus to Thai Binh to live with her father. In 2016, when Duyen was 11 years old, she was brought back to Quang Ngai and has lived there ever since.

"My life is like a ball, my parents passed it back and forth. I couldn't adapt to one place and was moved to another. Sad childhood memories," Duyen confided.

The reason Duyen entered the charity house in 2016 and has stayed there until now is because her grandmother was weak and needed someone to take care of her. The time she spent with her grandmother was the happiest time for Duyen, because she received love. Grandma told her stories about the village, told Duyen to go to bed early, asked about her when she had a cold... - things she had never received before.

Grandma passed away, leaving her behind. In 2017, grandma passed away. Duyen was alone in that house, living off the kindness of her aunt and uncle who lived nearby.

Mom returned and then passed away. At the end of 2018, Mom's diabetes became serious, so she left the South to live with Duyen.

"When my mother returned, her diabetes had developed into kidney edema and she was almost paralyzed. With no money, I searched for and picked any plant that could cure diabetes to cook for my mother. There were times when I saw my mother getting better and I was very hopeful. But in 2020, my mother left me," Duyen said tearfully.

She said that when her mother was sick and in the days after her mother passed away, she was lucky to have a companion - Kien, who was 3 grades above her. When her mother passed away, Duyen had just entered 10th grade.

Her boyfriend died in an accident. During the most difficult time of her life, Kien was always by her side.

"Kien is very good to me. He encourages me to go to school. When it's stormy and thundering and I'm scared, Kien is always there. I'm most grateful when my mother can't stand up anymore. Kien wipes her body and takes care of her with every spoonful of porridge," Duyen confided.

With those first emotions, she had baby Gao in 2021. Not long after that, Kien went to peel acacia bark, was hit by an acacia tree and died. When Duyen heard the news, she cried, she did not believe it even though it was true.

And my father also passed away. The pain had not yet subsided when, in 2022, Duyen received the news again and took her child to Thai Binh to mourn her father. "My father also had diabetes and complications like my mother," Duyen said.

Only the baby remains

Hearing about Duyen's life, I thought maybe I didn't understand what Duyen thought, because her life was so tragic and lonely.

When Duyen came back from picking up her child from kindergarten, seeing Duyen and Gao happy, she understood why Duyen said Gao was a gift from God so she wouldn’t have to live a lonely life. Duyen also affirmed that having Gao was a mistake of her adolescence and advised everyone not to be like her. At Duyen’s age, she should only focus on studying, not suitable for having children.

"I know I'm not really a mother. I'm like Gao's older sister. Gao is at a disadvantage compared to her friends, also because I'm a young mother," Duyen confided.

Duyen and baby Gao in the house with patchwork doors

Life is too stormy, but Duyen always smiles during most of the conversation. Gao is 3 years old, and Duyen doesn't have to work as hard to take care of him as before. Duyen can't remember all the things she did to earn money, but can only list: sewing, writing essays, tutoring, serving in restaurants, washing dishes, serving coffee, and being a land broker...

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Tinh Son Commune, Son Tinh District, who has worked for the Quang Ngai Provincial Youth Union for many years, said that Duyen used to beg for milk and diapers for her child. What impressed Ms. Hang the most was that wherever Duyen went, she took Gao with her. "Although she was still young, Duyen never neglected her child. We love Duyen because she is very diligent and responsible," Ms. Hang said.

And Mrs. Be (neighbor) spoke of Duyen with admiration. In her eyes, Duyen was still a child who suffered many disadvantages, but lived a life of sharing and affection. Once, people gave Gao a lot of milk, Duyen even brought it to Mrs. Be's grandchild.

"Duyen was orphaned four times, but she studied very well. She received many certificates, awards, scholarships... Honestly, if I were in her situation, I would have dropped out of school to work as a factory worker. Now that I hear she is going to college, I am both happy and worried. The other day I asked her who she left Gao with after she went to school, she said she would take Gao to school with her, if it was too hard, she would send her to a friend who would take care of her," said Mrs. Be.

Duyen remembers the reason she took a year off school and then continued to go to school because at that time she was working as a seamstress. Seeing her friend walking past her, she wondered, "Why do I have to take a year off school? If I don't study, how will I support my child in the future?" Then another time, she heard Mr. Tinh, the homeroom teacher of grade 10, say to her friend, "Duyen is a good student but she dropped out. It's really a pity." So Duyen returned to school. The teachers loved her, offered her a scholarship, and helped her a lot.

The day Duyen said she would write an application to go back to school, Mr. Tinh (a teacher at Ba Gia High School) was moved to tears. He went to the principal's house to help Duyen. In the 2022-2023 school year, Duyen repeated grade 11 under scrutiny, because everyone thought that with that situation, Duyen would have a hard time staying.

But no, Duyen proved the opposite, she studied well and tried her best. Teachers, parents, and friends were surprised, then gradually admired and loved her. Teacher Tinh said: "My house is about 1km from Duyen's house. Many days Duyen called and said "Teacher, cook rice, I'll come home to eat". So I called my wife to cook, and Duyen and her mother came home to eat, I felt very sorry for her".

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