Compassionate Embraces
Seventeen years ago, after a vegetarian meal on the 15th day of lunar January, monk Thich Nu Nhu Tri and other nuns in Dieu Giac Pagoda took some homeless children living on the streets to the Pagoda to nurture them. Since then they have done everything to earn money to cover the cost of the children’s living and study expenses. Due to their efforts and affection, the Dieu Giac family now has a large facility including bedrooms, dining rooms, study rooms, library and health care clinic, which serves as a happy haven for the children.
Like the birds without nests, hundreds of children living in Dieu Giac family have experienced an unfortunate fate. The youngest child who is lying in the cradle is Van Phuoc Thinh, only over three months old. He was brought to the Pagoda when he was only a couple of days old and was nurtured by a single young woman, who called him her son and took care of him with the heart of a mother.
At Dieu Giac family, all children are well cared for, educated and sent to school when they reach proper age. Van Thai Hien Hoa, a 17-year-old schoolgirl at class 11A7 in Gia Dinh High School has just won a third prize at a drawing competition held by the Ho Chi Minh City Open Semi-public University on the occasion of the World Social Work Day in Vietnam. She has lived in Dieu Giac Orphanage since she was a little girl and does not remember anything about her parents and native land. That’s why, like other children, she has the family name of Van- the family name of monk Thich Nu Nhu Tri who is the co-founder of the Orphanage.
To nurture the orphans, monk Nhu Tri and other nuns in Dieu Giac Pagoda had to overcome untold difficulties to cover the living expenses, school fees, clothes and books. In addition, they had to manage to pay the cost of building and upgrading their house and daily activities. Fortunately, they received assistance from benefactors, who granted money to help build a 3-storey house on the foundation of the old house. Tailors volunteer clothes for the children while women traders in the markets provide nourishing food. once a year, high schools in the city send groups of pupils to the orphanage to exchange activities and present books and gifts to the children. The orphanage always co-operates closely with the schools to educate the children with the aim of equipping them with knowledge and confidence in life.
To have a stable income, the Pagoda opened a shop selling vegetarian food, receive orders to cook vegetarian meal to serve tourist groups, produce incense sticks and make embroidered paintings and handkerchiefs. Some women from different provinces have come to the Pagoda and stayed there to rear the children. They consider the orphanage’s children as their family. The adolescent children also work to earn money to cover their study and help younger children in study and play.
Monk Nhu Tri was fatherless when she was 11 years old and she embarked on a religious life at the age of 16. Much influenced by her mother who had a great affection for people, monk Nhu Tri wished to co-ordinate with other nuns to do the good for the sake of a better life. She said that Dieu Giac had been built with assistance from the Ho Chi Minh City Buddhist Association, offices and sectors as well as people with a benevolent heart. She and the nuns in Dieu Giac Pagoda consider all orphans living in the orphanage as their children and have great love and sympathy for them. Like other mothers, they wish their children to have a bright future.
