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A special pair of shoes. Photo binhdinhngaynay.com |
Coming to the shoe-making workshop at Quy Hoa National Leprosy Dermatology Hospital, anyone could see thousands of shoes with different shapes.
The making of a pair of shoes requires the shoemakers’ all-out effort. They have to meet patients and measure their feet before making shoes that fit each patient’s feet.
“This is a hard job, but seeing patients wearing the shoes move easily we don’t feel tired anymore,” said Nguyen Tam, head of the shoe-making group.
Making shoes for lepers requires cautiousness. Each shoe must cling to a patient’s feet so that they don’t feel hurt when wearing them.
A pair of shoes for a leper must meet specific standards. Its sole is made from solid material and the upper surface must be soft.
The technique of shoe-making is very complex, but this is not the hardest part. The shoemakers at Quy Hoa Hospital often have to go to many provinces all year round because the hospital is responsible for patients living in 11 provinces from Ninh Thuan to Da Nang.
The shoe-making group is comprised of eight people, of whom the oldest is 54 years old and the youngest is 30. They are now in charge of 2,500 patients. Each of them is offered two pairs of shoes each year. This means that shoemakers have to make over 200 pairs of shoes every year and travel many times.
Tam is the oldest man here. He was born in Phan Rang, Ninh Thuan province. He was a male nurse and has become a shoemaker since 1998.
The most difficult thing the shoemakers face is to meet patients to measure their feet. There are many lepers who are ethnic minority people. To meet them, the shoemakers have to come to their houses very early or late.
Some often have a complex about their disease and they formed a group of 5-7 to live in the forest. When the shoemakers found them, they refused to meet.
Despite the low income, the second-to-none shoemakers are still determined to continue their job perhaps because they have a lot of sympathy to the lepers.
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