Cold snap takes toll on Hanoi's underserved communities

Thuy (pink jacket) lives across the street from the Agriculture General Hospital in Thanh Tri District, renting a tiny place in Ngoc Hoi communefor VND450,000 ($18.28) per month. The 52-year-old, whose health is declining, lives there so that she can get regular dialysis done.

Though she has lived through sub-10-degree weather before, this cold spell feels more severe than anything she has experienced. The dilapidated wooden door filled with holes in her sparsely furnished unit leaves her constantly shivering. She says: "I’m curled up into a ball, partly because of the cold. The wind keeps howling outside. Whenever the weather is this cold, I cannot sleep." On days she does not have to go for dialysis, she ventures to the market to collect cardboard, sacks and tarpaulins to fortify her house against the chill.
All 25 northern Vietnam localities recorded temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius on Wednesday morning, the lowest at minus 2.9 degrees in Mau Son, a drop of nearly 2 degrees from Tuesday.

Braving her leg pain, Thuy climbs on a plastic stool to place plastic sheets on the ceiling to prevent leaks and gusts.

Like Thuy, Truong Thi Le also hails from elsewhere in Hanoi but lives in the neighborhood with her 25-year-old daughter for both to get dialysis done at the Agricultural General Hospital. They too face similar challenges amid the cold spell. The 47-year-old covers her dilapidated windows and doors with cardboard she manages to scavenge.

A broken hinge prevents her back window from closing properly, forcing her to use a bedsheet as a makeshift cover.

She says: "The cold affects us much more than it does a healthy person. Besides repairs to our houses, last year all of us also got an electric heating bag. It provides some relief for a few hours during the night."

The chief of the neighborhood is Pham Van Hong, 59, who keeps an eye on seven dialysis patients aged 25 to 59. With the cold spell expected to last until January 28, Hong diligently checks on each of them, advising them to bundle up, stay hydrated and avoid catching a cold. Some resort to cutting down trees and lighting fires for warmth.

Hoang Thi Xoa, president of the Red Cross in Ngoc Hoi Commune, Thanh Tri District, says most dialysis patients in the neighborhood are from underserved communities. The Red Cross appeals for donations to provide them with necessities and furniture, she says. The houses are old and dilapidated with walls and ceilings riddled with holes, causing great inconvenience to their occupants, she says. "We keep urging landlords to renovate the houses to ensure the residents have a comfortable living environment, especially during harsh weather conditions like these."

Some 20 km away from Ngoc Hoi, in Phao hamlet in Long Bien District on the Red River, 40 households brace themselves against the coldest spell of the season.

Pham Thi Thu, 66, and her husband have lived in a house on a raft for decades. During the monsoon, they secure tarpaulins and buy old corrugated iron sheets to shield their shabby house. Thu says: "If it is 9 – 10 degrees in the city center, it is only 5 – 6 degrees on the river. The wind blows straight into the house. "We do consider buying a heater, but this area lacks electricity, and the wooden house poses a fire risk. So we rely on extra layers of clothing, hot water and wood from the shore to make a fire."

Nguyen Dang Duoc, 78, head of the hamlet, says the cold severely impacts people's lives since all of them reside in dilapidated, unstable houses. "Residents can only cover their places with tarpaulins, plastic or cardboard to fend off the cold, and that is not enough. A strong wind can shake the house. But then where can we go?" Duoc said.