Visit to the sisters in Vietnam

24/04/2023

Sr Lee Veriga from Australia and Sr Moekti Gondosasmito from Indonesia went in March 2023 on a trip to visit our sisters in Vietnam. Sr Lee shared their experience. Below is an excerpt from the text.

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We were met at the airport, in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) by Sr Hoang Oanh and Sr Thảo. They worked very hard (…) preparing a wonderful array of foods for our dinner together that evening in their house.(…)

The following day we were taken to visit Hoang Oanh’s place of ministry. It takes nearly one hour to go to this centre. She travels by motorcycle and does voluntary work there because she wants to learn the skills of traditional medicine from the people in this centre.

Later, we travelled from Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to Dong Nai. It takes a couple of hours to drive by car. We had a quick stop to visit the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Ho Chi Minh City which is being restored.

Dong Nai is a province in south-eastern Vietnam, located east and northeast of Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon). The largest city in Dong Nai is Bien Hoa. (…) The area was known as Kâmpéap Srêkatrey in Khmer.

  

We were warmly welcomed and introduced to the Sisters in community in Dong Nai. (We already knew Lang and Minh Trang!) This community household is known as Bethania, while in HCMC it is called St Angela’s. (…)

Lang and Minh Trang work in the kindergarten across from the community house. They are kept VERY busy looking after and teaching over 40 children, aged from around 9 months to about 5 years of age. They have one young teacher assistant who helps them out.

While our visit to Vietnam was only a few days, Moekti and I appreciated spending time with our Vietnamese sisters in their local environment and getting a little feel of life in Vietnam. The experience was most enriching and added to our understanding of the depth and diversity of Ursuline life across our Asia Pacific region.

Sr Lee Veriga