Sand paintings are displayed at an exhibition held in Phan Thiet.

VietNamNet Bridge - After years of loneliness and isolation, Do Dang Phi Long was reborn after he discovered sand paintings.

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The work displayed at Binh Thuan Province’s Phan Thiet City community centre was crafted by the hands of a 22-year-old man who began learning sand painting only four years ago.

Do Dang Phi Long is no ordinary artist: severely hearing-impaired, he embarked on his artistic journey after years of struggling in the shadows and feeling ostracised by his peers.

His mother, Dang Thi Thu Ha, who was at the community centre the day we met Long, said he lost his hearing after suffering from a high fever at the age of two.

Seeing his friends going to school every day, Long was disconsolate and begged his mother to persuade the teacher to admit him to her class, Ha said.

The teacher refused, saying that she had no ability to teach hearing-impaired children.

Ha tried to ease his sadness, but Long ultimately began to escape from his sheltered world by drawing and painting.

"That was and is his unique joy," Ha said.

When Long was eight years old, Ha sent him to the Thuan An hearing-impaired education centre in Binh Duong Province since Binh Thuan had no such training centre.

There, Long was taught sign language so he could communicate with others, and he learned how to draw as well.

After leaving the education centre, he returned to Phan Thiet and earned a living by drawing and illustrating calendars.

In 2005, Long stopped by a local art gallery to see an art exhibition of Y Lan, the most well-known sand painting artist in Viet Nam.

Intrigued, Ha and her son travelled to HCM City to visit Y Lan’s gallery. Ha asked Y Lan to teach him but she was reluctant to do so because of the communication barrier.

Ha and Long persisted, returning to her gallery the next day and pleading with her to give him a trial period of several months. She agreed to one month.

Long learned quickly, much to the surprise of Y Lan.

Long’s centre

After learning at Y Lan’s gallery, Long returned to his hometown in Phan Thiet and opened his own training centre with a loan his mother got from a bank by using her house as collateral.

Today, more than 100 hearing-impaired and disabled Vietnamese study and work at the Phi Long Sand Painting Centre.

Many of the students are from the local area but also come from Vung Tau, Dong Nai and Ninh Thuan provinces. After training, some of them work at souvenir stalls in the area’s numerous beach resorts.

Students who live outside the area can board at the school for free. They and other students are required to pay only VND60,000 (US$3) per month for meals during their apprentice ship.

The provincial Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs helps support Long by giving him VND240,000 ($13.5) per person every month.

The students can earn money as well. Their products are displayed at the centre, where tourists and local residents can buy them.

Most of the centre’s products have been sold in the province’s resorts and exported to other countries, including the US and Malaysia.

Once their apprentice period ends, the students will receive a fixed monthly salary ranging from VND1.5 million ($84.3) to VND2 million ($112), enough for them to live and send some money home to their families.

Long said his original wish was for the students to live independently and be less of a burden to their families.

Nguyen Thi Kim Thuy, a student at the centre who is physically handicapped, called Long a gentle, humorous and light-hearted teacher.

Even so, he demands a lot from his students and is strict.

"When I paint badly, he pours the sand out and asks me to work again," Thuy said.

Having finished her training, Thuy, who has learned sign language, now helps Long guide new apprentices.

Before coming to Long’s centre, she attended an accounting course but could not find a job because many employers were reluctant to hire the disabled. Then, through TV, she learned about the Phi Long Sand Painting Centre.

She hopes one day to be able to paint portraits as well as her teacher. "Painting portraits is very difficult."

Working at the centre has been a great solace for Thuy. "It helps to take away my loneliness by working with my colleagues," she said.

VNN/VNS