VietNamNet Bridge – In Vinh City in the central province of Nghe An, there are over 20 people whose main source of income comes from selling their blood.



“We earn our living by selling our blood. Calling it a job but we are reluctant to sell our blood. Though our blood is quite washy, we only sell safe blood. We never cheat anybody,” Mr. Tinh says about his ‘job.’

Born in Ninh Binh in northern Vietnam, Tinh and his mother left their hometown to Vinh city after a family event. They became stevedores at the Vinh Railway Station. Tinh got married with a poor girl and had several children. At that time, the railway station re-organized stevedoring system and Tinh was unemployed. The man became a waste collector while his wife turned into a blood seller.

Income from collecting waste was not enough to support his family; Thinh has joined the team of professional blood sellers.

In 2000, Tinh’s wife died. The man has still lived with “blood selling job” to bring up his children. “Thanks to this job, my children can go to school. I hope that they will not have to do this job like me and my wife,” Tinhs aid.

Next to Tinh’s tent, in the hamlet of porters in Vinh City, is the tent of Ms. Thuy, Tinh’s sister-in-law, who has also sold her blood for 30 years.

“I have done this job for 30 years. I want to give up but I cannot. Sometimes my daughter called me from her school to ask for money. I was short of cash so I had to go to hospital to sell blood,” Thuy said.

The hamlet of Tinh and Thuy is called the hamlet of blood sellers because most of residents there earn their living from selling their blood.

In the hamlet, Ms. Hien is a senior blood seller. She is respected by locals for selling her blood to support her daughter who is studying at a medical university.

Hien was born in the central province of Thanh Hoa. After being forsaken by her husband 25 years ago, the woman left her hometown to Vinh city with her three children. No home, no money, the woman went to Vinh Hospital to sell her blood.

“That was 1987. I received only VND32 the first time I sold my blood. Tears came to my eyes but my heart got warm when I think of a meal for my children and I could pay rent on time,” Ms. Hien recalled.

Since then, whenever she had to pay rent, when her children were sick, when her children had to pay school fees… the woman went to hospital.

Ms. Hien and other blood sellers had to go to many hospitals to sell blood because hospitals only purchase blood from the same seller after each three months.



“Selling blood is the last resort for us. Many people fainted after selling blood. Some people are in Thanh Hoa province but they went to Vinh to sell blood,” Hien said.

From her blood, Hien’s children could go to school. One of them is now a medical student. As her children have grown up, the woman has given up this ‘job’. She now sells ice tea in front of Vinh Hospital.

According to blood sellers, to sell blood often, they have to take a lot of iron pills and salted lemon water.

“All professional blood sellers have to take a lot of iron pills but we have our own pride. Our blood is clean, which is tested. Though it is washy, it is safe,” said a blood seller at Nghe An hospital.

These people have new names, which go with their blood types, for example Ms. Thanh A, Mr. Chien A, Mr. Tinh A, Ms. Ngoc O, etc.

Blood sellers in Vinh City have grouped up to become a community who are willing to help each other.

Dr. Nguyen Hoang Cat, deputy director of the Center for Hematology and Blood Transfusion of Nghe An province, said that in the past, when the source of blood for Nghe An Hospital was scarce, professional blood sellers were the main source and they were managed by cards, granted by the center. However, when the blood donation has developed in Vietnam, blood sellers have to go to other hospitals.
 
Mai Lan