There are twenty four girls in Mai Am Shelter right now. Here are more stories:
Vo Thi Thuy (1992) came from Thua Thien Hue. Her father abandoned her when she was little and her mother was disabled and sold lottery tickets in a wheel chair.
Thuy has just finished her final year 12 with average grade. She is about to start studying economics at a technical college in Go Vap for four years.
Nguyen Thi Kim Hau (2002) likes to sing and draw.
Hau has no father and her mother died of Aids. She was found under a bridge over a canal in district 1.
After her first year in the Home Hau finished Class 1 passing with excellent and in June 2010 she graduated from Class 2 also with excellent. She enjoys maths.
Nguyen Thi Tien (1992) is Ha’s big sister. She comes from Quang Binh. Her father was an alcoholic
who couldn’t work and regularly beat them, so her mother and the children escaped and came to Saigon to find work as servants, but had nowhere to live. Tien has just finished Class 12 with average grade. She is studying accounting.
Nguyen Thi Kim Loan (1992) has no father and her mother sells lottery tickets. She likes to listen to music and watch tv.
Loan has been in the Home since soon after it began 13 years ago. She finished Class 11 in 2009 with average grade and graduated from Class 12, the last year of school, in 2010 with above average. Now she wants to be a nurse and will go to nursing school for 2 years in district 4 (4 million dong fee). She has Christian principles and is committed to wanting to help sick people get better. She will make a wonderful nurse.
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha (1998) is 12 and finished Class 4 with excellent grade in 2009 and Class 5 also with excellent in 2010. Ha was abandoned by her father, her mother works as a cleaner in a restaurant. Her sister is handicapped. She likes to play the piano and sing and enjoys maths.
Tran Thi Ngoc Oanh, nickname Tien, is now 10. (On arrival she was said to have been born in 2000.) She has no father and was abandoned by her mother. Her grandmother was too poor to take care of her. She likes to draw. She’s a real character, always laughing and mischievous. She wants to be a kindergarten teacher.
Tien finished Class 2 with above average grade in 2009 and Class 3 also with above average in 2010. She enjoys maths.
Nguyen Thi Bang Phuong (2002) was abandoned by her father who is a Swede, and her mother was very poor. She came to the Home in February 2008. She finished Class 1 with above average grade in 2009 and passed Class 2 with excellent this year.
For those, who don’t know much about this shelter read my earlier posts (Jan-Apr 2010). All girls sleep in one room on bunk beds, they cook and clean themselves. They wear donated clothers. They go to school and support each other. If any of you want to be pen pals with the girls (must be in Vietnamese), they would appreciate it. It is hard to replace a real family but kind words will help them to grow in life and become mature individuals.
If you are interested in learning more about the shelter and want to help the girls have education, food and clothing, feel free to contact Celia at celia@primenz.com or just leave your comment to this blog post and we will contact you.
