VietNamNet Bridge – Without any relative, Ms. Thanh, 83, was refused many times by her landlords because they were afraid that she could die anytime.

Over the past 25 years, Ms. Dinh Thi Thanh has been sitting on the pavement of the Thanh Xuan Department Store, Thanh Xuan district, Hanoi, to sell small things. Her "store" sells merely several calendars, a box of candies, two cigarette packs and a scale. The most expensive thing is the scale that she bought several years ago, worth more than VND1 million ($50). This is her major means of living. She entrusts the scale at the department store at night and takes it out at 10am of the next day.

The woman is tiny, with white hair but her skin is still stretching, her voice is rotund, especially her eyes and ears are still keen. Every day she buys newspapers to read and listen to the radio at night to know about the weather of the next day, in order to deal with his arthritis. At 10 am, she hobbles pushing her small stroller from the inn to the pavement to start a day.

Ms. Thanh is called “Ms. Scale” by many people. Asking them about “Ms. Scale”, people also said: "She's very unfortunate."

In 1957, when her husband died, she left her son to her parent-in-law to go to Hanoi to seek a job, at the age of 27. Working for a high voltage station, she married Mr. Vinh, a man from the central province of Binh Dinh, who had a stepchild.

The couple has a son named Hung. After Mr. Vinh died, Thanh and her son moved from O Cho Dua to Thanh Xuan. Ten years ago, Hung also died.




Her husband’s stepson now lives in Gia Lam. He wanted to take care of her but Ms. Thanh denied because she wanted to live alone.

The old woman currently lives in a shabby motel room of 6m2, filled with used bottles. In the morning, when she leaves the room, she has to cover up her blankets with cardboards so mice cannot "march through" them.

Her small gas oven looks new because she rarely uses it. Sometimes she buys an egg and vegetables to boil. Sitting on the sidewalk all day, she usually takes street food.

She used to live on the sidewalk of the Thanh Xuan Department Store for three months because no motel opened for her. Recalling that time, she said: "They were afraid that I would die so they did not dare to let me rent a room. Some explicated the reason but many people intentionally offered very high prices so I could not rent".

No refuge, she slept on the pavement. She had baths each two days, paying VND10,000 and bought water to wash her face every morning. Some nights, she was awakened up by drug addicts who asked for her money.

She works all days, even on holidays and the New Year. She only stays at home when she is ill. She said she often cried at night for feeling lonely.

"I have to work to earn enough for paying monthly rent (VND800,000 or $40). I do not worry about food but only the rent. I just need a place to sleep", she said. She suffers from arthropathy but she does not have money to buy medicines.

She has some familiar customers. There is a family with the mother to her daughter and her grandchildren who frequently come to her place to weight. Occasionally, passers-by who use her weight service presented her tens of thousands of dong. Every day, she earns about VND30,000 ($1.5) and sometimes VND50,000 ($2.5). In addition, she earns a little more money from cleaning services, etc.

A kind-hearted person took her to a rest-home but after three months, she left the rest-home. Changing motels for many times, finally she has returned to the motel of Ms. Su in Thanh Xuan Nam ward. Over a decade living there, the two women have become soul mates. Ms. Su committed to take care of funeral service for Mr. Thanh if she dies at her motel.

However, Ms. Thanh’s biggest aspiration is donating her body to a hospital. She said she applied to donate her body to the Bach Mai Hospital, but the application has not been approved.

Translated by P. Linh