Van Mon: A Forgotten Existence

In the remote countryside of Vietnam, lies small populations of people with disabilities from Leprosy.

Having survived a history of persecution, they were exiled and forgotten.

These people live a difficult life with little funds and contact from the outside world.

Location: Thai Binh, Vietnam

Category: Vietnam NGO Photography Story

Client: Send Me Vietnam

Van Mon Village as a afternoon storm moves in. The buildings seen in the distance are main living quarters for the residents of Van Mon. The retention pond is used as a water and food source for the residents as well.

Thuy, a resident of Van Mon Leprosy village, cleans her vegetables in the Villages retention pond. Thuy, who suffers from mental illness, says that the running water from the village comes from the pond, but she doesn’t trust the cleanliness of the plumbing in the village and prefers to wash her vegetables here.

Tuan takes a morning walk to the hospital to have his eyes checked. Loss of eyesight is a common ailment of leprosy. The on site hospital at Van Mon brings an eye specialist once a year from Hanoi. In one day they check all 400 residents of Van Mon. Tuan has been a resident of Van Mon here since he was 22 years old. He is now 78.

Phat sits in front of his living quarters at the Van Mon Leprosy Village. Phat, like many of the residents of Van Mon, has lived here most of his life. Living a whole life in these conditions with little or no family support, leaves some of the residents depressed at times. This is what is wrong with Phat, according to one of his government caretakers.

Truong anxiously receives his monthly check up by the doctor at a local hospital. The local hospital lacks the funding to take care of these patents after they have been cured from their disease and can only afford to see each patient once a month.

Bop receives an injection from a nurse as Mai watches her cautiously. The nursing care at the Van Mon Village and hospital is often brash and lacks basic empathy for these patients.

Binh, waits for his next bucket from his cold-water bath. This is the common way the nursing staff wash their patients. First they put them into a wheelchair, nude, and then bring them outside and throw buckets of water on them. The nurses wash their patients every Tuesday and Friday morning. They have no hot water for these kinds of baths in the winter due to a lack of funding

Phu tends to his garden surrounded by banana trees. Phu, at the age of 18, lost one leg from the knee down and the majority of his fingers to leprosy. He is now 83 years old and has been living at Van Mon since he was 16. The Van Mon village can only afford to give it’s residents 400 gr of rice a day and 100gr of meat a month. Phu and the other residents must have a garden to supplement their diet as they have no money to buy food.

Nguyen Tran My and Nguyen Hoa Nhung divide and name the villages monthly rations of meat. The each resident receives 100gr of meat a month and 400 grams of rice everyday. Van Mon has a monthly government stipend $9 USD a month for food and clothing for each of its residents.

Mai sits at the entrance of the Buddhist temple and prays. The front of the temple is riddled with prosthetic legs from its attendees. This buddist temple is essential for the spiritual well being of Van Mon’s residents. Everyday the majority of the residents come her to pray at 2:00PM. This temple also servers as a social gathering place after prayer where residents get a chance to chat with each other.

Nguyen My Linh holds her prayer beads as she prays in the Village’s Buddhist temple.

Nguyen Tran My and her friend Khay, residents of Van Mon, outside their shared home chatting as they try to stay out of the summer sun. My has been a resident at Van Mon for more than 40 years. She has no family of her own and her extended family has abandoned her. My and Khay have shared the same room for more than 30 years and Khay is the closest thing to family that My has.