A place where needy children find a family

Cecilia Tran Thi Tam ran a little restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City. One day she discovered that all her money and the motorbike she had slaved for had been stolen, by the people she employed. Heartbroken, she decided to go home for a while.

Back in the highlands city of Da Lat, she enjoyed a rest, good food, daily visits to the church and a great deal of sympathy.

At the end of it, the 31-year-old college graduate was able to say, “now I’m feeling refreshed. The sadness has gone away. I’m ready to go back and find a new job in the city.

“I just needed to get some helpful advice, heartfelt sympathy and consolation from my mum.”

Cecilia is an orphan. The place she calls “home” is an SOS  Children’s Village and the woman she calls “mum” – who cooked her food, washed her clothes, told her jokes and took her to church – is Teresa Nguyen Thi Phuoc.

“She is my real mother and the greatest consolation to me in all my life. I am lucky to have her,” says Cecilia.

They have been together since Cecilia was eight years old, when her own mother died and her father abandoned her. Now aged 60, Teresa started work as a volunteer at the village 30 years ago.

“I’ve mothered 24 orphans and abandoned children,” she says.  “Six of them are married now and have children of their own. I’m really happy for them and we really are a family.”

The secret, she says, is to treat them as she would treat her own. “I give them loving care and teach them how to cook and do housework. They’re also taught to treat one another humanely and kindly, and recite their daily prayers together.”

Teresa currently looks after nine children in a 100-square-meter house in the village. The children are given monthly allowances of 420,000 to 520,000 dong (US$21-26) and opportunities to study at local schools.

Teresa Nguyen Thi Phuoc (in blue T-shirt) and her children at their home

They are able to stay until they finish their studies. Many who have moved away and married still keep in close contact.

Established in 1989, this SOS Children’s Village has 14 family homes with 200 children mothered by 14 women. There are 14 of these villages in Vietnam, currently accommodating a total of 3,564 children.

Based in Austria, the SOS Children’s Villages network extends across 132 countries worldwide. The organization is a social, apolitical NGO, which aims to build families for children in need and help them shape their own future.