by Andrew Doan Thanh Phong
Ha Tinh – “A word of sympathy, a hand of supporting can save a life” was emphasized by Father Joseph Tran Van Bong in a training session on the way of listening, accompanying and supporting pregnant women in difficulty, especially to those who are mentally traumatized or stuck in the situation of unwanted pregnancy.
That session was part of the training program for 100 collaborators organized at An Nhien Parish by the Life Protection Subcommittee – Caritas Ha Tinh Diocese in central Vietnam last October with the theme: “Accompanying and advising pregnant women in the work of protecting life”
According to the Department of Family Planning in Vietnam, there are nearly 300,000 abortions nationwide each year, mainly among the ages of 15-19, of which 60-70% are students. Furthermore, the abortion rate after 12 weeks of age accounts for nearly 80%. And a report from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health indicates that about 44% of young people in Vietnam have sex in their premarital life. Another survey at Thai Nguyen University of Medicine and Pharmacy showed that among students living together with sexual relations, there are only 48% use contraception and when being pregnant, 64% of them choose the method of abortion, partly due to their boyfriends run away and left their girlfriends in pregnancy alone, the remaining 36% are getting married and leading the marital life.
Ms. K.T , a student of Marketing in Ho Chi Minh City, confided: “The man who I loved with all my heart abandoned me and his own unborn child. Such a wound of betrayal in my heart made me return home from Hochiminh City in hope of being accepted by my parents. But my parents could not accept this fact and forced me to abort the baby to start a new life since my family were afraid of ridicule from the neighbors. My heart was filled up with sadness in the feeling of being abandoned from my sweetheart and being turned away by my family, I almost lost my will to live. However, I loved the innocent unborn child in my womb, I could not accept that the mistakes made by adults could take away the right to live from the growing pregnancy. Finally, I made my mind to return to Saigon with pregnancy and give birth by myself.”
Similar situations occur in many places across Vietnam with many girls, in particular to those who work or study far from home, and that is much serious in Binh Duong province, Southern Vietnam where there are currently about 700,000 workers working in industrial areas, of which more than 70% are migrants coming from provinces along the country.
Almost every day, there are unmarried female workers and students coming to maternity hospitals and maternity homes for abortions, and furthermore there are inborn babies abandoned every week in the hospitals from the areas in which there are many industrial areas, export processing zones. Estimated, in the past few years, the situation of abandoning newly born babies tends to increase between 20-30% each year.
Faced with such painful realities, the organizations and congregations of the Vietnamese Church have committed themselves to making a small contribution to protecting life by opening facilities called “Cozy Homes” to care for pregnant women without close relatives. In addition to taking care of their material lives, the Cozy Homes are trying to ease the pain of pregnant women abandoned by their families, parents, and lovers.
Recently, statuses have been uploaded on social networking sites such as: “Temporary shelters for destitute women in pregnancy are available” or “Free rooms for alone pregnant women” accompanied by addresses like Jesus Cozy Home, Faith Family, Gerardo Charity House, Mai Linh Cozy Homes by The Congregations of Vinh Son Daughters of Charity, and Mai Tam Cozy Homes belonging to the Order of St. Camillus.
Most of the pregnant women had lived in the status of loneliness, fear and disappointment before coming to those cozy homes, then they were helped to stabilize their psychology and trained for stable jobs. Finally, they felt safe and lived happily with people around and were instructed to take care of their health until they gave birth safely.
Those silent loving cares for pregnant women and inborn babies were mentioned in an article by a Vietnamese newspaper of Dan Viet: “Minh Giao Parish in Da Lat City, Lam Dong Province in Southern Vietnam also organizes a Cozy Home for raising and caring for many abandoned babies. The parish is truly a refuge for little angels”
Ms KT, mentioned above, continued her story: “In Hochiminh City, I have two close Catholic friends, and when knowing my difficult situation, they were very sympathetic and supportive of my decision. Then they introduced me to the Thanh Tam Cozy Home of the Congregation of Our Lady of the Mission in District 7 of Ho Chi Minh city, Southern Vietnam in which the Soeurs accepted to help pregnant women like me. So, I moved into the Cozy Home to wait for my date of giving birth. And my life began to change from that time”.
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