Although she has never been able to go to school, an Agent Orange girl with paralyzed limbs made a determined effort to study from her sisters and friends.
Without anyone knowing that she was doing so, Tran Tra My eventually learnt to write short stories and will soon have her first story series, “Wishes of the old days” (Ước mơ xa xưa) published.
Since birth, the strong-willed girl Tran Tra My, suffered many diseases and once was even pronounced clinically dead. She was born in the poor central province of Quang Tri, which was heavily sprayed with toxic chemicals, such as Agent Orange, by the US military during the American War.
Although her parents have spent a lot of money trying to treat her disease, their efforts have been futile because of the dioxin chemicals that she contracted.
As time went by, other children of her age were eager to go to school together, however, My was kept at home where she decided to study by remembering words from her younger sisters, and when they came home from school she would search their notebooks, look at the words and copy them down with her disabled hands.
As time passed by My had taught herself how to read and write but nobody in the family knew until an event happened that surprised all the people in her neighborhood.
One night when her younger sister, Khanh Ly, was struggling to find the solution to a maths problem, My, who was sitting next to Ly, told her sister that her last solution was wrong.
Khanh Ly paid little attention to her sister’s word thinking that with no schooling My was unable to do grade three math. However, My insisted that her answer was wrong, and an argument broke out. The discussion only ended when their father entered to reconcile them.
Their father checked the solution, then was delighted to find that his handicapped daughter’s solution was right, he embraced her, saying that the land may be infertile in Quang Tri, and although not even a cactus could grow there, she is the cactus blossom of the land to her father.
Later, Mr. Hai, her father, borrowed five thick literature books for his little daughter to read in her free time. While reading these books, an idea flashed in her mind that she too would write stories and poems.
Since 2005, Quang Tri newspaper, Cua Viet magazine and the local radio station have carried her stories and the Buddhism newspaper, Giac Ngo, published her short story ”White Roses” (Bong hong trang) in 2006, and essays of “The loved central region Viet Nam”( Thuong Nho Mien Trung) were written later.
Previously, My was driven away from an internet shop where she needed to go to send her stories to the newspaper office.
Soon after, upon hearing this story, a Swedish executive presented her with a computer of her own and provided her with internet access whilst he was on a trip to the Quang Tri Province.
Winning the third prize in a literature competition launched by Quang Tri Education University in 2006, encouraged her a lot. To date she has written 14 short stories and her first story, “Wishes of the old days” (Ước mơ xa xưa), will be published later this year.
