When a person has cancer, the life of everyone in their family is turned upside down. This is especially true in the case of poor patients who are being treated at Hanoi K Hospital, one of Vietnam’s biggest. These patients are the main breadwinners of the family, and when they fall ill kids are left in the care of other family members. Some are cared for by grandparents or older siblings, some by neighbors who occasionally stop by the house to check on them. Families with adult cancer parents have no income or adults to look after the house and very often children have to drop out of school. Since 2014 Empathy, a group of volunteers in Hanoi, has been financing the education of 40-50 such children and providing them with other support. This is the possibly the only charity project in Vietnam to help the children of cancer patients. Last week Empathy, consisting of hundreds of volunteers under the coordination of Pham Xuan Hop and his wife, organized Tet, the Lunar New Year, … [Read more...] about Hanoi samaritans help children of cancer patients
Nursing years of school
Schools offer courses for overseas workers, students
Viet Nam News HCM CITY — Many colleges and universities are offering courses and college-level programmes in foreign languages, culture and academic subjects for students who plan to work abroad. The HCM City University of Food Industry, for instance, is carrying out a two and a half year programme that includes courses in the student’s major, training in Japanese language and culture, and workplace skill for Japan’s business culture. The students graduating from the programme would receive a college-level degree (not a university diploma) and work in Japan, said Phạm Thái Sơn, director of the university’s Centre for Enrollment and Communication, at a conference on improving the quality of guest workers in foreign countries. The conference was organised yesterday by Tiền Phong (Vanguard) newspaper in co-operation with the Department of Overseas Labour at HCM City’s Văn Hiến University. The HCM City University … [Read more...] about Schools offer courses for overseas workers, students
I want mommy: Australian’s 17-year-search for Vietnamese mother continues
“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
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