Mid-Autumn Festival is called the reunion festival for relatives to reunite. For children, Mid-Autumn Festival is also an opportunity for them to have fun, break feasts, and carry lanterns around. Therefore, orphans at social protection centers and facilities need even more attention and love on this occasion.
The joy of children at Binh Duong provincial Social Work and Welfare Center during the Mid-Autumn Festival
Common home for orphans
The main campus of Binh Duong provincial Social Work and Sponsorship Center is spaciously built in Thoi Hoa ward of Ben Cat town. The Center is a place to receive homeless people, abandoned children, teenagers, the elderly, and the disabled.
We came here during the Mid-Autumn Festival. There are currently 64 children being adopted and cared for by the Center, many of whom are newborns. According to Nguyen Bao Thanh, Director of the provincial Social Work and Sponsorship Center, many children received by the Center are very weak due to premature birth and illness. Therefore, taking care of them is very difficult and strenuous. However, the care-takers at the Center always try to complete their duties for better care of children.
In recent days, implementing the direction of the provincial People's Committee on social protection and poverty reduction in 2023, the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs has organized delegations to visit and give Mid-Autumn Festival gifts to children with disabilities and special circumstances at social protection centers and facilities in the province. At the provincial Social Work and Welfare Center, it seems to be happier these days when many come to visit and share with the children the joy of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Each cake and each shimmering lantern lights up the children's faces. In the common room, the children were dressed beautifully by the care-takers to play together, sing and danced the familiar songs. Small but very meaningful gifts helped the children feel warmer and most of all the caring and love of people around them.
Loving and sharing
Talking to us, Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc (56 years old), told us about her previous work at the canteen of the provincial General Hospital. At that time, in addition to her daily work, she often brought meals to mental patients at the hospital. One time, she happened to meet a center staff who came to care for pediatric patients and received abandoned newborns. She was touched by the endeavors and asked to become a staff member at the Center.
Every day, her job is to take care of the children, feed them with milk, and help them take medicine when they are sick. “Some children were too young, born too prematurely, too weak, and passed away early, which made me depressed for a long time. For those lucky children who are adopted by families and meet loving adoptive parents, I am very happy. There are children who were adopted by families after a few years of visits, are still attached to us like forever. Those are the beautiful feelings we received. Once you consider the children as your own, taking care of them will be much easier and more fun," Cuc shared.
Hua Thi Thu Tam, Head of the center's Emergency and Long-Term Care Department, said: "These days, in addition to the gifts from organizations and individuals who come to give to the children, we also organize cooking events."
Delicious food, beautifully presented for children to eat, drink and play together in a happy occasion, an event of reunion for those who are working at the Center, thus, everyone loves and shares in unity and more helping at work."
In the rooms for young children, the staff enthusiastically feeds the children, giving them small spoonfuls of milk. Witnessing the girls tying their hair, clipping their nails, and cleaning the children, we realized that without love, compassion, and hard work, it would be difficult to do such a job.
Dedicatedly visiting each other, having fun together and giving Mid-Autumn Festival gifts so that the children have a warm reunion is also a way to help children in unfortunate circumstances have their best memories of a meaningful life so that we know how to love and share.
Reported by Quynh Nhu – Translated by Vi Bao
