62-year-old Phui Tac Ming from Nam Duong Ward in Da Nang’s Hai Chau District lost his legs in a mine explosion when he was 19 years old.  With his positive outlook and strong belief in the power in his hands, the man whose face is wreathed in smiles has overcome his difficulties and now enjoys a happy life.

Mr Ming recalled that after his accident, he fell into deep despair and permanently locked himself in his house.  At that time, his father reminded him of the meaningful existence of his hands and gave him useful advice.  Several years later, Mr Ming’s parents passed away, leaving him with 3 younger brothers and sisters to support and take care of.  Bearing his father’s encouragements in mind, Mr Ming diligently made “banh tieu” (Chinese hollow doughnuts) for sale in order to earn money to feed his siblings.  He sold over 500 pieces per day at peak times.

Mr Ming and his happy smile

Mr Ming’s wife, Mrs Tran Thi Nhung, said that she got married to the amputee, regardless of her parents’ forbiddance.  She added that she fell in love with Mr Ming because he was very optimistic about his life despite his hardships and misfortunes.  After his wife gave birth to a baby girl, the couple were busily involved in making bottle caps for sale to local bottled fish sauce providers to earn a living.

After 1975, Mr Ming’s family settled down in a new economic zone in Hoa Vang District’s Hoa Ninh Commune.  Day after day, the couple were busy cutting firewood for sale.  Not once did he think of refusing to give up in spite of his difficulties.  As his family’s living conditions gradually improved, Mr Ming decided to plant forest trees and breed goats.  With his strong persistence, he took the trouble to learn effective goat farming techniques.  Thanks to this, his farm now has over 40 goats, of which 15 are female.  In addition, he has so far reclaimed 10 ha of virgin soil in the mountainous commune for planting trees.  Every day, he went to his seedling garden on his disability vehicle, a distance of 30 km from his home.  Currently, the energetic man owns 6 ha of acacia trees, 4 ha of eucalyptus, along with numerous orchards of guava, mango, durian and other kinds of fruit.  He said that his family usually earns about 500 million VND in profit after 3 harvest crops from his seedling garden.  His family now enjoys a better-off life, and his children have achieved success in their jobs and lives, which is a meaningful reward for his great efforts.  However, this diligent man never thinks of retiring because he has pledged to work until he is exhausted.