Tet of compassion for Vietnamese patients living with dialysis
While Tet brings families together across Hanoi, dialysis patients find comfort in gestures of compassion from the city's authorities and the wider community, even as they continue their uninterrupted treatment routines.
THE HANOI TIMES — As the Lunar New Year approaches and spring fills the streets of Hanoi with color and reunion, life moves at a different pace in the city’s dialysis boarding houses as patients dependent on regular blood filtration cannot welcome Tet without their daily routines.
Hospital visits remain constant and treatment schedules cannot pause.
Standing Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front - Hanoi Tran Thi Phuong Hoa offers Tet gifts to people with dialysis. Photos: PV/Hanoimoi
Understanding these hardships, the Vietnam Fatherland Front of Hanoi has stepped in with a message of solidarity. Guided by the principle that no one should be left behind, the committee has delivered Tet gifts and encouragement to dialysis patients living in rented clusters across the capital, offering comfort to those quietly enduring illness through the holiday season.
A few days leading up to the Lunar New Year or Tet, in a small courtyard inside the dialysis boarding house at 121 Le Thanh Nghi Street in Bach Mai Ward, Hanoi, patients sat close together against the year-end cold. Their faces bore the fatigue of long illness and sleepless nights after treatment, yet their eyes reflected hope as they felt the care and attention of the wider community.
Pham Van Tuan, Head of the Le Thanh Nghi dialysis boarding house, said patients must undergo dialysis every other day and Tet is no exception. Many can return to their hometowns for only a single day to light incense for their ancestors before rushing back to Hanoi in time for the next treatment.
“At times like this, even a small gesture, a kind word or a modest gift can give patients more strength and confidence to keep going. It helps make the winter feel less cold,” Tuan shared.
Led by Standing Vice Chairwoman Tran Thi Phuong Hoa, a delegation from the Vietnam Fatherland Front - Hanoi visited the boarding house to offer words of encouragement and deliver Tet gifts to 32 patients facing special hardship. Each gift included cash support of VND2 million (US$77) along with a Tet package.
On behalf of city leaders, Hoa extended wishes of peace and well-being to the patients and their families and encouraged them to remain strong and resilient as they continue their fight against illness.
A similar quiet atmosphere marked the dialysis boarding house in Ngoc Hoi Commune on days ahead of the year’s lunar month, traditionally reserved for seeing off the Kitchen Gods. While many households prepared for the holiday, simple rental rooms here remained home to patients relying on one another for strength.
The Vietnam Fatherland Front - Hanoi’s Vice Chairman Pham Anh Tuan (3rd from left) presents Tet gifts to 28 dialysis patients.
At the site, the Vietnam Fatherland Front - Hanoi’s Vice Chairman Pham Anh Tuan presented Tet gifts to 28 dialysis patients in difficult circumstances. He expressed empathy for their daily struggles and reaffirmed that city leaders and Fatherland Front organizations at all levels remain committed to caring for vulnerable groups.
“Each gift is though modest in value but it carries the care and sharing of the city. We hope patients enter the new year in good health and peace,” Tuan said.
At the grassroots level, Ngoc Hoi Commune Fatherland Front Chairman Vu Hong Khanh said local authorities also prepared Tet gifts for 28 dialysis patients living in the area, offering encouragement for patients to face life with greater confidence.
Receiving the gifts, Nguyen Minh Ha thanked city leaders, the city's Fatherland Front and local authorities for their continued support, which helps ease the burden of medical and daily living costs. “The message that no one is left behind is not just a slogan but truly become a guiding principle in social welfare efforts, meaning a lot to to us.”
Pham Van Hong, who has undergone dialysis for 24 years, represents patients in Ngoc Hoi shares some words of gratitude.
Sharing similar emotions, Pham Van Hong, who has undergone dialysis for 24 years and represents patients in Ngoc Hoi, said the support provides not only material help but also vital spiritual encouragement, reinforcing patients’ belief in life.
For Luong Thi Huyen from the northern city of Haiphong, who has been on dialysis since 2007, Tet has often been spent in a small rented room. Unable to miss treatment sessions, she keeps her longing for home within short phone calls. Still, support from fellow patients and community visits has become an important emotional anchor.
“When the city’s agencies and organizations come to visit us before Tet, we know we are not alone,” Huyen said.
In another difficult story, a mother has spent nearly 13 years accompanying her son Nguyen Dinh Dat through dialysis treatment. After a traffic accident left him paralyzed and later kidney failure set in, the family has struggled to cover treatment costs. Free rides and quiet acts of kindness have helped them endure.
For those with dialysis, Tet gifts carry both pratical values and countless encouragement.
Beyond Tet gifts, warmth also comes from everyday compassion. It is found in no-cost transport services, in landlords who reduce rent and in the dedication of doctors and nurses at hospitals who treat patients as family.
As the year draws to a close, these acts of care help light a sense of hope in Hanoi’s dialysis neighborhoods.
Life remains difficult, but patients face the new year with greater strength, reassured that they are supported by a community willing to share and stand beside them.
