It’s late at night in the HCMC S.O.S. village, and all the orphans are sleeping by their adoptive mothers. Some of them are smiling in their dreams – are their dreams about a brighter future?
Founded 17 years ago, the S.O.S. village is an affiliate of the system of S.O.S. children’s villages in Viet Nam which has been expanded over the years to 12 provinces and cities, taking care of more than 2,600 orphans. HCMC’s S.O.S. village has taken in over 200 children in their hopeless plight.
Mr. Nguyen Van Trung, Director of the village, recalled one afternoon near the end of 2003, when a young woman with a two-year-old child showed up in his office. She told Trung her story, that she’d become pregnant as a sophomore at the Da Lat Pedagogy University. After she was expelled from school, her boyfriend turned away from her and her family forsook her.
Abandoned, she had no choice but to look for a way to earn a living. After two years of trying conditions, she was left completely exhausted and decided to make her way to the S.O.S. village and leave her child in the care of adoptive mothers.
After she left, she only phoned Trung twice, asking about her child’s health. Shortly afterwards, Trung learned from one of her acquaintances that she had killed herself.
Another heartbreaking story tells of AIDS-infected parents of three adopted kids. One day in 2001, Trung received an envelop containing a wedding photo, three birth certificates of the children and their photo. On the back of the photo was a handwritten sentence: “Please admit our three children into your village. Thank you. Our last farewell.” At the bottom of the photo were the names of the writer and his wife, and a telephone number.
Mr Trung dialed the number and a man’s voice at the other end eventually told him that the parents had killed themselves by drinking pesticide. Trung immediately drove to the victims’ hometown and there he met the three children, who were at their parents’ funeral. The youngest was still a baby.
Mr Trung said, “These are just two typical cases. Our children come from many different, pitiful situations.”
Trung took out discolored photos, old notebooks and envelopes from the drawers of his desk – souvenirs of the adopted children’s blood parents, which will be given to them when they grow up.
Looking at the photos on the desk, Director Trung said, “All the people in these photos are dead, and they all had a common fear: they feared that their children would grow up feeling hatred toward them. So in the village, we always tell the children that their parents wouldn’t have given them away if they hadn’t been desperate, and these souvenirs will be given to the children as proof of their parents’ love for them.”
While there are still so many unfortunate children in the world calling for help, the S.O.S. village system with its drive to build families for children in need and help them shape their own futures is stretching out a helping hand – a sweet home for the helpless in which they can grow up in love and security.
