The nun brings love to orphans

At the 6th National Emulation Congress honoring "good people, good deeds" among Catholic compatriots, for the period 2020-2025, held on September 10 and 11, Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh was honored to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front. Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh is one of 3 individuals from Dong Nai and the only female delegate from the province to be commended at the congress.

Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh receives gifts from the Dong Nai Provincial Fatherland Front Committee and sponsors for the Hanoi Parish Orphanage (Ho Nai Ward). Photo: Tran Thanh

This honor recognizes Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh's great efforts in both religious and secular work.

Religious and secular affairs go hand in hand

As of 2025, Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh has spent 17 years serving as a member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and a member of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Committee for Solidarity of Catholics (CSCC). At the same time, from 2023 until now, she has been the Deputy Chief of Office of the Dong Nai Provincial CSCC. In each role, she always strives to serve her religious work well and do good in secular affairs.

Specifically, she has actively contributed to consolidating the great national unity bloc by participating in propagating the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws; campaigns and patriotic emulation movements; propagating and mobilizing the implementation of the Coordinated Unified Action Program of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee and the CSCC committees at all levels...

According to Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh, all the things she has done and is doing are aimed at the desire for children at the center to have a sheltering home, feel the sharing of human affection, and confidently step into life together so that their futures will be better

This has contributed to the effective implementation of the "All People Unite to Build New-style Rural Areas, Civilized Urban Areas, Live a Good Life and a Beautiful Religion" campaign associated with the 10 contents of "7 good things in secular life, 3 beautiful aspects in religious affairs" launched by the Central Committee of the Vietnam CSCC in Dong Nai province. It has contributed to creating a vibrant emulation atmosphere in parishes and religious communities, bringing practical results in all areas of social life; encouraging Catholic compatriots, parishes, and religious orders in the province to promote activities in health, education, charity, social welfare, gratitude, helping lonely elderly people, orphans, homeless children, and unfortunate people in society...

At the same time, when the whole country embarked on the process of organizational restructuring, the Sister advised the Dong Nai Provincial CSCC to join local authorities at all levels in propagating the restructuring of the apparatus to help people understand the Party's guidelines and policies; meeting and promptly informing priests, religious sisters, and parishioners about the cessation of operations of district-level CSCC committees to conform with the two-tier local government...

Bringing love to orphans

In addition to the above contributions, Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh also joined hands to build a home for orphans.

Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh with the children cared for at the Hanoi Parish Orphanage (Ho Nai Ward). Photo: Van Truyen

Sharing about her involvement in social work, Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh said: From 1994, she was sent by her religious order to pursue specialized studies in social work. By 1996, she participated in many social activities related to helping the poor, people with disabilities, orphans, and the elderly in need... After that, she was in charge of operating the Hanoi Parish Orphanage (Ho Nai Ward). The center is currently caring for 36 children. Among them, the youngest are newborns. The children are cared for and given opportunities to study like other children in the community.

According to Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh, the children come to the center in many ways, including some who are abandoned and discovered by residents before being brought to the center through many procedures, while others are left at the center’s gate... After receiving the children, the center always informed the local authorities to carry out the necessary adoption procedures.

Raising the children is difficult, educating them is even more challenging. Due to their circumstances, the children here more or less feel a sense of inferiority and are somewhat hesitant to interact with outsiders. To help them always be confident in themselves, first, she and other nuns show care and love without pampering them, thereby building the center into a big loving family. At the same time, during the children's development, the nuns encourage each child to overcome obstacles to cultivate moral values, and strive in their studies to become useful members of society, creating a good life for themselves in the future.

Thanks to this, from 1990 until now, nearly 30 children have grown up from this loving home. Among them, those with good academic performance have graduated from universities, others have graduated from vocational schools, and all have stable jobs. On holidays and Tet, the grown-up children all return to the center to participate in activities with the center's staff.

During a visit to the Hanoi Parish Orphanage Center to visit and give gifts, Luu Thi Ha, Vice Chairwoman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province, acknowledged the efforts of Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh and the nuns at the center who have strived to care for disadvantaged children; and at the same time built and fostered community cooperation to effectively carry out the center's activities.

In addition, Sister Bui Thi Hong Hanh and the center's staff also organize supplementary classes for children selling lottery tickets, and for those who move to Dong Nai with their parents for work... and therefore are unable to attend primary school. The center also provides textbooks and notebooks for children studying here. To ensure the classes are of high quality,  the center invites teachers from nearby schools to teach, and these teachers only receive a symbolic honorarium for their support.

By Van Truyen – Translated by Mai Nga, Thu Ha