I received an email from So Phuong who is a Nun at nha tho Giao Phu Thuong confirming my arrival on Monday. She sent me about five emails with repeated confirmations to ensure that I would be able to arrive on Tuesday. Once I arrived, she had sent a driver to pick me up at the airport without me knowing. I sent my apologies informing that I would make it out to the airport in the afternoon. She called several times this morning describing directions on the way to the church. I asked for an address and she kept repeating descriptions of how to turn left from the main street and that it was across from another church named Tram Xa Phu Thuong. I repeated my requested for an address so that the taxi driver could find the way when she finally clarified that there was no street address.
On the way over, the paved roads became narrower and turned into a rustic dirt road. As we passed local dwellings from families and street merchants, they gave curious peering stares as their eyes followed the taxi. I felt that only locals frequent these roads and very few Westerners in cars traverse these rugged roads. The taxi driver admitted that he has never ventured this far to this neck of Da Nang. For every kilometer, we had to stop and ask someone for directions and that seemed like the normal and only mode of navigation. I realized that I am far from the world of Google maps.
We drove into the church as a group of children were having a Bible studies class conducted by one of the nuns directly on the front lawn of the church. She seemed to be expecting the arrival and pointed across the street to where the nuns and children stayed. I was then greeted by So Phuong who gracefully accepted my apologies for miscommunications on the delayed arrival. I asked if the children from the Bible studies were in the care of the church. So Phuong described that those were mainly students of the church. They live locally and some travel some distant just to study at the church. They had regular school year, but during the summer, they attend extra Bible school. So Phuong however described that there were a group of children that the church did take care of. Some of these were orphans and some of these had parents but that the parents are usually single moms who do not have the resource to care for their own child and therefore had requested the assistance. Some of the single moms also live in the church facilities along with their children.
I requested a tour and So Phuong was glad to do so. On the walls of the main living room where we first met, there were pictures slightly curled an discolored from the humidity but proudly displaying So Phuong along with her fellow nuns performing their services which I was about to witness in a personal tour. She cautiously walked me to the adjacent building asking me to wait at the door as she asked permission from the patrons. Upon agreement, I entered slowly and she described that these were either expectant mothers or that they had recently given birth to their child out of wedlock. These were mainly teenagers who are students but had an unplanned pregnancy. Most of them were contemplating abortion when they found this option where they can go and stay for a few months to give birth. I can sense from the sense of discretion that their pregnancies were not fully accepted by their communities and this was a shelter that is provided to them as a place to “hide” while they have their child.
The young mothers sat next to their new born infants who were all under a week old. I sense that this is not a rare occurrence but that the services provided by the nuns were quite common. So Phuong described to me that some babies were delivered in a hospital and then come to the shelter, where as the four young women I had visited had given birth right in the next room. There was one expectant mother who had not given birth yet since she held her stomach communicating in her nervous weary eyes that she is going to give birth soon. One of the new born was a few weeks immature and was very small. This is challenging since there were no special prenatal facilities and the child lied on the bed next to the mother wrapped in a blanket in a similar way to the other mothers.
So Phuong then walked me over to the next room where she modestly yet proudly displayed the child birthing room. She admitted that it may appear arcane compared to the modern medicine but that many of the young girls are healthy and that they are able to give birth here among the nuns without any doctor or special anesthesiologist. There does not seem to be any sterile equipment but rather a chair that looks like an old gynecologist chair and a water boiler as if it is used to make hot water for tea. I felt sympathy and empathy for the young woman across the room who was going to be bearing her child in these challenging conditions.
We then walked over to another room where there was a ninety year woman who has the stature of a 5 year old. She was very petite and small and had some kind of developmental condition. Only by looking at her face could I tell that she is not a child, but rather a senior citizen in a very small body. She seemed to be a long time member along with her neighbor who is a man who proudly clarified for me that he has stayed there for over 30 years. It is amazing that the facility can have such longevity in sustaining the assistance of these elderly ill patients.
As we walked out to the corridor, we were greeted with a curious boy. He could tell that there was a visitor. At first sight, he seemed to be a perfectly normal child, but So Phuong told me that he is mute. I do not fully understand the ailment since when I showed him the picture on the camera that we took, his face was beaming and glowing with enthusiasm. He seemed to be perfectly bright and filled with life but all that came out from his mouth were utterances and humming sounds with no detectible words. So Phuong explained that he is mute and had a special illness.
So Phuong continued on our tour as she walked me over to a building across the courtyard to what appeared to be a pre-school. The children were sitting at their little tables and a lesson seemed to be underway. My visit broke the structure of the normal class as some of the distracted children came to the door. The teacher patiently paused her lesson and allowed for the classroom disruption. I am not sure how often they get visitors but they sure seemed rather surprise and it was a novel experience. They were all very well behaved trying with all their might to sit still in their chair to continue with their hand writing exercises. They would start to write in their notebook and get distracted by the intrusive flash of the digital camera. The moment I showed them the pictures I took on the small LCD display on the back of my camera, a small group huddled in amazement. They were more intrigued by the image of their fellow classmates and identifying various names compared to seeing themselves. I did not see any mirrors so perhaps they do not have a solid visual self concept as compared to seeing their fellow classmates. A little boy would mimic what I do by trying to navigating through the menu of the Canon Elph camera through its little buttons which fit perfectly into his baby hands. These are all very bright children and have the potential of being future scientists and doctors.
As I was waiting for my ride to head back to Da Nang airport, a group of other visiting nuns in blue outfits showed up in a van. It was a reunion of sorts since So Phuong seemed to greet them like family. My driver came as they were all gathering in what appeared to be like a family reunion. So Phuong's attention was divided among her group of nuns yet she was still a gracious hosts and showed her motherly care, making sure that I was off safe to the airport. Even amongst the jubilant sisterly chatter, her sense of presence and grace remained with me still even after the flight back to Saigon where the hustle and bustle can rattle the mind.
