Ms. Truong Thi Thanh Tien’s life, as a songwriter of the song “Shining from within” is an inspirational story about a journey from the dark to the light with passion for life and confidence in herself.
At the age of 23, Ms. Thanh Tien discovered she would lose her sight for the rest of her life, casting a dark shadow over her life. The familiar people and vivid images were still alive in her mind, but they had faded and vanished before her eyes. “I recall warmly kite flying with my pals on the Perfume River, climbing hillsides to gather flowers, or riding bicycles to the sea.” I imagined I’d never be able to read books or write lines on a familiar white sheet of paper.”
Years later, a glimmer of hope appeared in her life when she learnt about the character Mary in the movie “Little House on the Prairie” – a talented blind women who can read and write fluently and do many impactful things for society. After that, she discovered her second home – the Association of the Blind in Thua Thien Hue province, a place to heal her sorrow with love among people sharing the same suffering, and a place to brighten her learning path with Braille letters.
She started writing poems, composing music, and short stories. Her accomplishments over the years serve as encouragement for her to always have faith in the light within herself. Her poem “Bình minh trong mắt em” (Dawn in my eyes) won first prize in the poetry contest for people with disabilities in Thua Thien Hue province and was voted one of the ten best poems of Vietnam in the national poetry exhibition among six countries worldwide, including France, the United States, Japan, Brazil, Australia, and Vietnam. She has completed approximately 100 songs in more than 20 years of self-study in the field of music, covering a wide range of topics such as praising the nation and people of Vietnam, the love of nature, and the stories of the blind. In addition, three volumes of short stories written in Braille letters, “Kỷ niệm một buổi chiều thơ” (Recalling a poetic afternoon), “Ánh sáng cuộc đời” (Light of my life) and “Cánh diều tuổi thơ” (Childhood kite) are always carefully placed in the drawer as a reminder of her pride.
Ms. Thanh Tien’s light emanates not only from her mind and heart, but also from her hands and smiling face, which illuminate countless miracles. Despite her blindness, she can still sew her own clothes, knit wool scarves, make bags and bamboo chopsticks with meticulousness. With those same hands, she has been nurturing her two children to become happy and kind people. Ms. Tien now simply smiles with gratitude as she recalls all of her life’s incidents “My life is still rather wonderful, dear. There were nights when I sobbed while holding my child in my arms. But I told myself that I had to go on so that my children would realize that even if my eyesight was failing, I still had a brilliant intellect, a loving heart, and deft hands, and we would light up the future path together. That is something I am grateful to realize.”
That confession, along with the stories of many other visually impaired women, was presented in the song “Shining from within” composed by Ms. Thanh Tien in a very genuine and touching way. Each of those melodies and lyrics make people feel as if all differences have been erased, and all that remains in each person’s heart is the glowing light of love…
“Amidst the hustle-bustle of daily life,
I feel like a brilliant star,
shining from the depths of my soul.
My heart is like a blossoming flower,
dispelling the gloomy night…”
Check out the song here: https://bit.ly/3Brl5cs.
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The story is based on Ms. Thanh Tien’s speech delivered at the “Circle of Peace” gender equality training session on September 27, 2021.
The song “Shining from within” is part of the Project “Music-Based Storytelling: A New Approach for Promoting Gender Equality of Blind Women in Thua Thien Hue Province,” which was initiated by Center for Research and Development and Knowledge Co-Creation (CKC) and collaborated with Center for Education Promotion and Empowerment of Women (CEPEW) through i4Equality Fund, with the participation of 19 visually impaired women from Thua Thien Hue Association of the Blind.
Chi Duong
In response to World Food Day 2021 (October 16) with this year’s theme “Our Actions are our Future – Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life”, CKC Employee Well-being (CEW) team invited CKC members to join the “7-day at-home breakfast” challenge, which took place from 13th to 19th October 2021.
Throughout the seven-day challenge, participants were required to prepare their own breakfast at home based on the hygiene, taste, nutrition, diversity, and convenience guidelines. Through this activity, CKC members can develop their own healthy habits, reduce food waste and plastic waste, contributing to environment protection. Eating breakfast at home has several benefits, especially in the context of COVID-19 pandemic and the prolonged rainy season in Hue city.
With the enthusiastic engagement of all CKC members in Vietnam and Australia, the Challenge was really a food exchange. An exciting array of dishes made at home by the participants are very diverse, showing cultural identities of Hue and other regions in Vietnam and Australia, especially Melbourne city. A special congratulation would be sent to Philip Thomas and Lan Chi with the most votes for their impressive breakfasts.
Please don’t miss any breakfast to begin an active working day! If you are stuck with breakfast ideas, here are a few suggestions for delicious and nutritious dishes prepared by CKC members during the Challenge.
Tu Nguyen
“The light shines brightly within our hearts and souls,” is a simple and heartfelt message about gender equality that visually impaired women wish to express through a song they have co-created and performed.
The song “Shining from within” is a narrative about a blind mother with her sense of life and a message to her child about how each person’s genuine light emanates from the heart and soul. That light transcends physical eyesight and gender differences. The mother wishes that her child tries to spread the light of love, knowledge, and inner happiness, because that is something that all people share, regardless of appearance, race, religion, gender, or ability. Only by truly cherishing the light within each person, can the awareness of equality actually begin.
The song is the result of a gender equality training, many honest conversations, many hours of working and practicing of the blind female musician and other visually impaired women participating in the Project, as well as the contribution of many other individuals and organisations. The Center for Research and Development and Knowledge Co-Creation (CKC) would like to express our heartfelt gratitude on behalf of all Project members for all such efforts and support, particularly the partnership of the Center for Education Promotion and Empowerment of Women (CEPEW) and the Thua Thien Hue Association of the Blind.
The song is part of the Project “Music-Based Storytelling: A New Approach for Promoting Gender Equality of Blind Women in Thua Thien Hue Province,” which was initiated by CKC and collaborated with CEPEW through i4Equality Fund, with the participation of 19 visually impaired women from Thua Thien Hue Association of the Blind.
Gender Equality Innovation Fund – i4Equality (Innovations for Equality) was initiated by CEPEW to seek and support new ideas from individuals/groups towards promoting gender equality in Vietnam.
With the goal of “Rethinking Equality,” i4Equality encourages initiatives aimed at increasing gender equality awareness, providing critical reflections on diverse gender equality discourses, and promoting dialogue about gender equality in a variety of contexts and offering novel approaches to addressing the root causes of gender inequality.
Chi Duong