When we returned to Chieng hamlet, Yen The commune, Bac Ninh province on a quiet January afternoon in 2026, Ms. Luyen was still pedaling her old bicycle along the village road, collecting scrap metal, just as she had done for years. Her body remained fragile, her steps uneven. But this time, her smile felt lighter.
Ms. Luyen is a 45-year-old single mother living with a disability caused by Agent Orange exposure passed down from her father, a war veteran. Her legs are weakened, her spine severely curved, and her health limits her ability to work. Most days, she earns only 1-2 dollars collecting recyclables, and some days, nothing at all. Her main income is a modest monthly social allowance. She is raising her nearly five-year-old son alone, while taking care of her elderly mother, who struggles with mental health issues.
Photo: Ms. Luyen arranging the recyclables she collected as her daily work.
In October 2025, Matmo typhoon brought heavy rains and widespread flooding to Bac Ninh province. “The water rose so fast,” Ms. Luyen recalled. “It reached the yard, almost to the door. There was no time to prepare. My son was scared and asked me why there was water everywhere.”
Ms. Luyen and her son had to evacuate and stay with relatives for five days. Her small rice plots and the few vegetables she grew at home were destroyed, leaving her family with no food crops to rely on.
The flood forced her son to miss school for a week. “I don’t like staying at home,” he later told his mother. “The water is dirty. I want to go back to school.”
Photo: Ms. Luyen and her son on her old bicycle.
Through the cash assistance programme for households with children affected by Matmo typhoon in Bac Ninh, supported by the Government of Canada through the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund (CHAF) and Save the Children, Ms. Luyen received VND 2.4 million (approximately CAD 125) - equivalent to more than a month of basic living expenses for her family.
“I was very happy,” she shared. “It meant a lot to us when organisations and authorities came to our home, listened to our situation and offered support when we needed it most.”
Photo: Ms. Luyen sharing with representatives from the Canadian Embassy in Vietnam and Save the Children.
Ms. Luyen used the support to pay her son’s school fees, buy food and rice for daily meals. “It may not seem much,” she said, “but for us, it helps us survive.”
As we prepared to leave, her son Phuc (*) hugged a few new colouring books bought with the support money, talking excitedly about his class and the pictures he wanted to draw next. “When I grow up, I want to be a rescuer to help people,” he told us with a smile.
Photo: Phuc – Ms. Luyen’s son holding new colouring books.
For families like Ms. Luyen’s, timely cash assistance is more than immediate relief - it helps children return to school, brings stability back to daily life, and offers a first step toward recovery after disaster.
In 2025, amid successive storms across Vietnam, Save the Children worked closely with national and local authorities to deliver rapid emergency responses, prioritising households with children, people with disabilities and families facing the greatest risks. Through swift action and people-centred approaches, these efforts helped children and families not only survive the crisis, but begin to look forward again.
(*): The child’s name has been changed for personal data protection purpose.
