Wednesday, September 21, 2016

Sisters provide safety for children of Vietnam's fish farmers

Since 2010 the Daughters of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary had been taking care of children of local fish farmers in the Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Dong Nai provinces, creating a dorm for them in a storage area of the convent. 

Raising fish on river farms requires long and odd hours in an environment that puts the kids at risk of mishap or drowning while parents are focused on the fish.

With nowhere to turn, the farmers sought help from the sisters, but operating the dormitory was dominating the sisters' time and resources and keeping them from their pastoral ministries. 

In May, Sr. Benigna Nguyen Thuy Mien, head of the convent, decided they would have to close the dorm in the fall and send its 26 students, ranging from first- to ninth-graders, back to their families.

But then, in preparation for the shutdown, Mien and her sisters visited the fish farmers at their homes on the rivers.

"We cannot leave the students who really need our help," she concluded.