A place to shelter the unfortunate
The Saint Vincent de Paul Charity House (also known as the Charity House, in Trung Lao village, Trung Dong commune, Truc Ninh district, Nam Dinh province) was established in 2007. Since then, this place has taken care of many unfortunate lives such as: sick elderly people, homeless; children abandoned by relatives; disabled people; single pregnant mothers... Currently, the charity house is taking care of 28 people, including 15 children. The oldest person here is over 90 years old, the youngest child is over 1 year old.
Ms. Pham Thi Ai (75 years old, currently living here) shared: "I am sick, have no money for treatment and no relatives. Before, I only knew how to wander around to find food to survive. Since coming here, my life has been much better. Here, everyone lives together like a family, helping each other with the smallest things. Like me, when I am old, I will help take care of the children and share the work with everyone."
Having been involved with the charity house since the early days, Sister Nguyen Thi Hien (61 years old) said that at first, this place was to help lonely elderly people. But when she witnessed many children abandoned at a young age, Sister Hien decided to take care of them.
"Every child has a pitiful situation, some are even abandoned when they are less than 1 month old and sick. I remember clearly the day Cao Ngoc Bao Anh (born in 2022) was brought here by her mother. That day, the weather was cold. Bao Anh was not even 1 month old yet. My mother asked to leave me for a short time to arrange work, then come back to pick me up. However, it has been 2 years since then, and my mother still hasn't come to pick Bao Anh up.
The saddest thing is that Bao Anh has a congenital heart disease. After coming here for a while, I saw that she was often sick, with pale skin, so I took her to a medical facility and discovered the disease. Every month, we still take Bao Anh to see a doctor and buy medicine for her. The cost of medical examination and medicine is very expensive. I contacted the government many times to persuade my mother to come back and get a birth certificate so she can receive insurance; but her relatives refused to accept her," Sister Hien sadly recounted.
Not only does it bring a life filled with love, when the children at the charity home reach school age, they all go to school to study like their peers.
Gather together like family
Accompanying Sister Hien are 3 other sisters in charge of taking care of everyone. Directly planting green vegetable beds in the yard to make food for everyone, Sister Hoang Thi Hang (31 years old) confided: "In this house, we do not discriminate but everyone works together to strengthen our relationships with each other. The vegetable garden I grow also has the contribution of catching worms and picking weeds from the elders and children when they are home on weekends."
Taking care of children is hard work, taking care of adults who are unable to control themselves is even harder, yet the nuns still persevere in carrying out their mission and work. Despite the hardship, when asked what they wish for, the nuns also dedicate that "wish" to the people they are protecting.
Mr. Bui Minh Ky - Chairman of Trung Dong Commune People's Committee (Truc Ninh District) said: "Currently, the Saint Vincent de Paul Charity House is taking care of many unfortunate lives. To contribute to supporting the charity house, the local government has social subsidies for the elderly. For students, the school exempts tuition fees and provides maximum support to create the best conditions for them in studying and living. In addition, every time there is support from the locality and benefactors, we always turn to this charity house."
