“As the plane ascends The screeching chaos I turn to take on last look. What am I fleeing from? I cannot yet comprehend. Where am I going? that... God only knows” Sue Bylund’s poem asks a question with retrospective effect going back 44 years. She was 36 days old then. That day, when she and 17 other children were taken out of Vietnam, she was too young to know or understand anything. She now knows a lot more, but fundamental questions remain, and she has been looking for answers for many years. Sue Bylund during her first days in Australia Fateful flight Sue Bylund was born at the Maternity Hospital Saigon on April 18, 1974 (Vietnam war time), under the name Luu Thi Van, and was taken to an orphanage the same day. A month later, her name was put up for adoption by an Australian couple, Richard and Marlene. “On May 24, 1974, I was taken to Australia and started a new life under the name Sue Bylund,” she told VnExpress. The little Asian girl with dark … [Read more...] about I want mommy: Australian’s 17-year-search for Vietnamese mother continues
Nursing years of school
The return of the Vietnamese adoptee
“I am a product of the Vietnam War,” Suzanne tells VnExpress. “I was the daughter of a Vietnamese woman and a black American soldier.” Found in a bush by a police officer, the girl was sent to the nearest orphanage. “The orphanage gave me a name and a birthday. The name they gave me was Thi Hien. The birthday they gave me was March 26.” Thi Hien’s birth story is recorded in a letter written by Maragret Routh, an English nurse at her orphanage, to her adopted parents, Barbara and Murray Hook. In the letter dated June 6, 1971, Routh wrote that the two-year old Thi Hien suffered malnutrition, could not lift her head off the pillow or sit properly. Mixed raced babies, especially babies of Vietnamese women and American soldiers, were not looked after very well at the orphanage and usually got food last, according to the nurse. Thi Hien at three in a Saigon orphanage. Photo courtesy of Suzanne Thi Hien was among the adoptees … [Read more...] about The return of the Vietnamese adoptee
Mekong Delta provinces voice concern over shortage of healthcare specialists
Mekong Delta provinces voice concern over shortage of healthcare specialistsBy Trung Chanh Delegates participate in a conference on healthcare manpower training, held on the afternoon of August 7 in Can Tho City - PHOTO: TRUNG CHANH CAN THO – Thirteen provinces in the Mekong Delta region are facing a shortage in physicians, prompting delegates to raise concerns over the issue at a conference on August 7 on healthcare specialists and staff training. They called on Can Tho University of Medicine and Pharmacy (CTUMP) to help increase the number of doctors in these localities. Le Van Tam, vice chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, proposed the school raise its enrollment target to meet the rising demand for physicians in these provinces. Tam added that a number of localities have seen a surge in demand for healthcare check-ups and treatment among local residents. Director of Hau Giang Province’s Department of Health Nguyen Thanh Tung noted that the … [Read more...] about Mekong Delta provinces voice concern over shortage of healthcare specialists
HCM City, Yokohama to cooperate in training nurses
Illustrative image (Source: VNA) HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City’s Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs will send students of local universities, colleges and vocational schools to the Japanese city of Yokohama for training in nursing skills. This is part of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed in HCM City on July 25 between the municipal Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs and the Health and Social Welfare Bureau of Yokohama. Under the terms of the MoU, the Health and Social Welfare Bureau of Yokohama will help the selected Vietnamese students with training in nursing skills and working in the city. Speaking at the signing ceremony, Director of the Department of Labour, War Invalids and Social Affairs Le Minh Tan said HCM City has in recent years sent many students and apprentices to Japan for further training in different sectors, including nursing. HCM City currently has 517 vocational schools, including 29 … [Read more...] about HCM City, Yokohama to cooperate in training nurses
Elderly Vietnamese turn to nursing homes for companionship and healthcare
Every morning at 6:30 a.m., Le Thi Thinh, 81, gets up at a knock at her door. “Get up Mom, it’s time for school,” her son says. Thinh's children have been teasing her like this to make her trip to the nursing home more exciting. After breakfast, she gets dressed, grabs her hat and mobile phone, and is helped to walk to a waiting car. After a 10 minute journey she arrives at “school,” which is two kilometers (1.4 miles) away. Thinh and her friends often refer to the nursing home as “school” or “hotel.” Le Thi Thinh, 81, stays at a nursing home in Hanoi's Ha Dong District when her children are at work. Photo by VnExpress/Dien Hong The home was built five years ago in an urban area in Hanoi’s Ha Dong District. Thinh spends the day there with eight others. She has her lunch and takes a bath at the home before her children collect her at 4 p.m. Given her daily routine, it is no surprise that her three-year-old grandchild … [Read more...] about Elderly Vietnamese turn to nursing homes for companionship and healthcare
US Navy nurse, jailed for protest, revisits VN
VietNamNet Bridge – American Navy nurse Susan Schnall was dismissed from service and sentenced to six months of hard labour for protesting against the American war in Vietnam in 1969. In March she visited Vietnam for a fifth time with other 22 American veterans. They took part in a commemoration of the My Lai Massacre and the opening of an exhibition called Waging Peace at the War Remnants Museum in HCM City to display for the first time the newspapers, photographs, posters and films circulated underground by the GI peace movement. Viet Nam News spoke with Schnal. Nurse for peace: American Susan Schnall at the exhibition in HCM City. How were you involved with the American war in Vietnam? From 1967 to 1969 I was a Navy nurse at Oak Knoll Hospital, which was built during World War II in Oakland, California, to care for Marines wounded in the Pacific. I had joined the service to alleviate suffering by caring for wounded troops from the war in Vietnam. It was at night … [Read more...] about US Navy nurse, jailed for protest, revisits VN
DPM: VN advocates activities of SOS Children’s Villages International
Photo: VGP/Dinh Nam Deputy PM Vu Duc Dam made that statement at his reception for representatives of the SOS Children's Villages International led by Honorary President Helmut Kutin and President Siddahartha Kaul on January 9 in Ha Noi. At the meeting, the Deputy PM hailed the cooperation and sponsors of the SOS Children's Villages International for Viet Nam in caring and raising disadvantaged children. The Deputy PM asked the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to mobilize resources from sponsors, businesses and community for this work. Deputy PM Dam affirmed to join hands with other relevant ministries and agencies to review support programs for disadvantaged children to go to school and their families to get access to preferential loans. Mr. Siddhartha Kaul stated that the ceremony to mark the 30th founding anniversary of SOS Children’s … [Read more...] about DPM: VN advocates activities of SOS Children’s Villages International
Travelling for the love of animals
A man and a woman from France care a lot about animals. They are travelling around the world to film animals that have been having a hard time. In Việt Nam, they have visited a centre for bears that have been rescued. Other Asian countries they plan to visit are Malaysia, Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia. By Hồng Vân In these days when selfies are de rigueur, cameras and video gears have become normal travelling companions. For French couple Pascal Schram and Anne Laure, this equipment has an added purpose beyond photographs of destinations to serve as later personal memoirs. Their aim is to use their travel and their cameras to film animal protection centres and raise awareness of animal welfare. “Animals are intelligent and have feelings just like humans. The more we learn about animals, the more we become sensitive to how humans treat them,” said Schram. “We care about the link between nature and humankind on a daily basis. Both of … [Read more...] about Travelling for the love of animals
Vietnamese teacher helps hundreds of US students to enter university`s gate
In August 2008, the 11th grade of Sam Houston High School outside Texas, USA, had a new math teacher. In the classroom, the students are not noisily talking or playing. All are not interested in the appreance of a 23-year-old Vietnamese teacher in the classroom. "Let's try out some of these additions" Van Tan Hoang Vy told in an interview via telephone with VnExpress. Looking at nearly 30 students, he noticed some of them were spread out their hands to calculate, some even took off their shoes and counting their toes. By the end of the previous school year, only 33% of these students passed the Texas Standards Math test. 2008 was the first year Sam Houston High School reformed after six continuing years ranked "unacceptable" level by the State Board of Education. Van Tan Hoang Vy, a graduate student in mathematics at the prestigious Imperial College in the UK, is one of the young teachers to be recruited to help Sam Houston "change blood." Van Tan Hoang Vy (wearing purple shirt) … [Read more...] about Vietnamese teacher helps hundreds of US students to enter university`s gate
Films to celebrate life of President Ho
Two movies to help celebrate Ho Chi Minh’s 120th birthday on May 19 next year have the approval from the Government.Producers have approval to make Hanh Trinh Qua Ba Be (Journey Across Three Oceans). It will be made by the Chinese Zhou Jiang Group and the Viet Nam Writers’ Association.It is a possible sequel to Nguyen Ai Quoc in Hong Kong, which was screened six years ago.The Vietnamese and Chinese film producers always intended to make a sequel.It will follow milestones in a year when Nguyen Ai Quoc (the late President) left Hong Kong on his voyage to Shanghai and Xiamen.The association wrote the film script and translated it into Chinese. A Chinese scriptwriter edited the original and it was completed after a joint effort by Vietnamese writers Ha Pham Phu and Le Ngoc Minh.The historical figures portrayed in the film will include Chinese Song Qing Ling and Vietnamese revolutionaries such as Nguyen Luong Bang and Ho Tung Mau.The French Vailant Cuturie, editor-in-chief of … [Read more...] about Films to celebrate life of President Ho