Case story of Dang Van Hiep, a full inclusion into social life

Dang Van Hiep, aged 9, was first referred by Terre des hommes (a non-governmental organisation) in 1974 for a bilateral trans-tibial prosthetic fitting at the (then) National Rehabilitation Institute in Saigon, which became after 1975 the HCM Rehabilitation Centre. Hiep has always lived with his grand-aunt since his early childhood as his father had been reported missing in hostilities and his mother remarried. Hiep was amputated below the knees in 1973 at the age of 8. His grand-aunt told him it was a war accident, but he himself cannot remember the circumstances.

In 1993, he got registered with the ICRC Project because he did not get anymore free fitting now that he was an adult and could not afford paying his devices. Since then, he has benefitted three times being fitted with ICRC and SFD assistance respectively in 1994, 2002 and 2014. All devices and food and transport allowances that were paid for by the Red Cross – for him, both ICRC and SFD are Red Cross alike – have allowed him to walk comfortably and this result – he explained – was possible thanks to the exercise and the control that took place at the workshop. Seeing him pulling the bags of coffee grains and spreading them out for drying on the ground, one could hardly imagine he was walking and working on artificial legs.

Mr Hiep, though dy­namic, is not the main worker in the family. He is now in a stable socio-economic situation and he owes it to his wife, a caring woman he married in 1987. After 27 years of hard labour, the couple have emerged from the cultivation of coffee-trees to exploit now a 2 hectares plantation. They could get rid of their old wooden hut, build up a strong brick house in 2007 and offer their three children (two girls aged 25 and 18, and a boy 16) a de­cent living and a standard education. This is not meaningless in a locality that was still con­sidered 15 years ago a remote area without power grid.  During the conversation with his neighbours, it is clear Mr Hiep has won the respect of the surrounding community and he himself is proud of his achievements.

This is a typical case of full inclusion into social life thanks to the ICRC-SFD physical rehabilitation programme.

Source: ICRC-SFD