I was born in Saigon, Vietnam and have two sisters and one brother.
My father was in the army and then later became a farmer.
My mother was a housewife. Not matter how busy they were, they always insisted we have family prayer in the evening.
I entered the Order of the Dominican of Lang Son convent when I was 12 years old.
On the one hand my parents loved to see me enter the convent but at the same time they told me that they cried a lot when I left.
I didn’t know anything about being a Dominican nun but I went through their convent school anyway.
I also attended a high school on the outside. When I looked at the nuns, I just wanted to follow them.
It was not until I was 24 and preparing for my Final Vows that I felt really shaken up.
I asked myself, why did I want to be at the convent? I realised that I was there because I liked doing good for other people.
But the Dominican charism is education not charity so I wondered if this was the right order for me.
I talked to my parents and my father explained to me that there was also charity in education.
So with the knowledge I had learnt at the convent for 12 years and the maturity I had gained, I decided that this was my vocation.
Now I am the Superior at the Mai Am Hoa Hong orphanage in Ho Chi Minh City.
When I was a postulant, there was a formator mistress whom I looked up to as a model.
I am also influenced by my baptismal patron saint, St Therese of the Child Jesus.
The three things I love about her are: simplicity, humility and complete trust in the providence of God.
At Mai Am Hoa Hong (English translation: rose house of love) orphanage we rely only on the providence of God as well.
The name of the orphanage was partly inspired by St Therese (Also known as “The Little Flower” who promised to send down a shower of roses from heaven before she died in 1897) and partly because I like to see people treat our house as a home and we become a rose offered to God.
People from all walks of life come to us: orphans, pregnant ladies, the disabled and elderly.
The oldest resident is 74 and the youngest is seven months old.
Originally we were lent one house by benefactors but now it is becoming too full so some good people have lent us a new one.
Our congregation is made up of 17 nuns and we run both houses.
One day we hope to have brothers of another order to assist us when the boys and girls are older and need to be separated or we may separate them between the two houses.
At present there are 60 residents in one house and in the other we have 30.
Before I became involved with my work at the orphanage I went to three other communities.
Once I was the Vice Mother Superior and was on the Council for the Order.
Throughout my life I have found that my vocation has been confirmed as the right decision for me many times.
What really satisfies me is that I always wanted to do charity and although we educate the children up to the age of 5 at the orphanage (afterwards they go to a government school), we are also helping all the people that come under our care.
They remain at the orphanage for as long as they need to.
My background is in nursing and I was educated on the job as well as obtaining a Diploma in 1963.
Some of our nuns are qualified to work with the children and others with the disabled.
On a normal day at Mai Am Hoa Hong my role is to connect other people together.
My first priority is to provide for the nuns and the residents their spiritual and physical needs as well as human development.
To be the link is nothing big but I think it is necessary.
These houses exist because of the great help of the congregation, the sisters’ relatives and benefactors.
Besides this, every member of the house that is able to works to earn their living.
They plant vegetables and grain as well as breed rabbits and poultry.
When we first started this ministry many of own sisters were against it because of the expense.
They told us, “It is too difficult. You will fail.”
But when I look at the orphans, I think what would their lives be like if we did not do this ministry? Would he or she still be alive or would he or she be dumped in a rubbish bin by now?
They could be street children or uneducated in the future. They could be in a gang or whatever.
When I prepare them for the future I make sure they know about God, the difference between right and wrong, and about prayer.
We pray that one day they will be good people. That is our inspiration.
Since the orphanage was built in 2004, we have relied on the generosity of people in our country and overseas to help us with finance or to run the place.
As the children grow up we need more finance because we want to give them the best that any child could receive in a family.
We went to give them the same opportunities for education up to university level.
To do that is very costly and the government does not provide any financial assistance.
One of the things that I am very scared of is the Communist government in Vietnam. They always harass us.
They won’t look after the children and they don’t want us to either.
They ask us to see them so they can question us and I am always afraid.
But God works in mysterious ways. Government officials say, “If you don’t do this, we will close the place.” but somehow they always seem to forget!
Our work requires complete trust in God – a God that provides because after all, these people are God’s children.
The more I do this work, the more I believe that God is the one who looks after them. Things happen that are beyond our imagination.