The Sisters in Nghe An presented a new idea to the Hong An Association for helping and supporting patients with kidney disease. These patients go to the hospital three times a week for dialysis and their meals are prepared by the Sisters. The Sisters shared: The hospital has about 160 patients. Many patients have been on dialysis for more than 10 years. Although they do not pay for dialysis, they still have to pay for medications, transportation, and other miscellaneous expenses! The Sisters give rice to the patients but due to their limitation of 20 bags of rice, they created a rotation so every month, 20 people will receive a bag, then the next 20 people for the next month, and so on. So, after a few months, everyone has received a bag of rice.
Patients who come to Nghe An are often very poor. They have multiple struggles along with their own health complications. Some examples of this are:
- – A husband suffers from a stroke, his wife has kidney failure, and their child has a disability.
- – For another elderly couple, the husband has both kidney disease and a stroke. His wife rents a small lodge to take care of her husband.
- – There is a young girl, who just finished high school, recently diagnosed with kidney disease. Her future is unpredictable.
When on dialysis, the patients look exhausted and seem to have lost their will to live. There are a bunch of children, lying close to each other for dialysis. Dialysis is very draining on the body so by the time they are home, they must rest and recuperate. They do not have energy to do anything else!
When the patients receive the rice from the Hong An Association, they are overwhelmed with joy and excitement. They are happy to take this donation home to their family.
