(VOVworld) – Aiming to provide a “safety net” to people with disabilities, Dang Huu Tien, Director of the Viet Tam Fine Art Training Center for Disadvantaged Children, has trained hundreds of disabled and disadvantaged children on paper folding. They have been able to earn a living to support themselves.

Paper followers made by people with disabilities

Tien has been producing fine art products for more than 20 years. He realizes that this work is suitable for people with disabilities. Thanh Oai district has hundreds of people with disabilities age from 14 to 25, who are children of poor families and war invalids. Understanding their difficulties, Tien opened the Viet Tam Fine Art Training Center for Disadvantaged Children. "Producing fine art products and souvenirs is a suitable job for people with sharp eyes and skillful hands. We pay according to their abilities. I always think of new products to generate more work for both able and disabled people and homeless children."

Tien cares for the less fortunate children as if they were his own. He understands their capacity and gives them suitable work such as marketing, improving products’ patterns, and managing the production.

When we visited Viet Tam Center, we met people with disabilities working dexterously. Nguyen Thuy Van has a difficulty with walking but her hands are clever. She was carefully folding papers to make a lovely picture of animals. Van is a senior craftswoman and she is in charge of making sample products for marketing. Van said she was born with mobility disability and she always felt inferior for being a burden of the family. But after learning the craft, she can earn 2.5 million Dong per month to support herself. Van says: "Uncle Tien’s center is good for many people. Even disadvantaged children can do this work during the summer holiday. The center has helped us earn a living and assist our families."

Tien has inspired people with disabilities to live independently and love their work. Tien’s good reputation has spread to other provinces. Many families from Thai Nguyen, Bac Ninh, and Bac Giang bring their children to the center to learn the craft. In addition to paper folding, Tien helps improve their general knowledge, behavior, emotion, and lifestyle. Tien said: "If I didn’t feel happy when helping others, I couldn’t open this center. I’m glad to see the disadvantaged children working to earn money. It’s a pride for themselves and their families. I always want to do good deeds."

With his sentiment for people with disabilities and social responsibility, Tien has exerted efforts to assist young disadvantaged people to have a stable job and inspire people to transcend their disabilities.

Huong Lan-Quang Dung