BTO – In our lives, there are people ready to shelter orphaned children with love from the bottom of their hearts. I am speaking of the monks and nuns of Phước Thiện Pagoda in Bình Thuận province.

I learned about the kind and compassionate work of Phước Thiện Pagoda from a young volunteer. The pagoda works quietly, so few people know about it; it feels to me like a rare haven of peace amid the bustle of modern life. Besides worshipping the Buddha, the pagoda also raises more than 40 orphans. The monks and nuns do their best to give the children the essentials of life, such as food, shelter, clothing and play…, but the children still lack a great many things.

As orphans, the children do not only go short of food; they deeply long for family affection, for the love of their parents that nothing can replace, something they will feel keenly and painfully as they grow up, when Tết comes and they cannot gather with a family of their own. I cannot hold back my tears whenever I look at them.

How could I not cry when these children were separated from their parents the moment they were born? Because they were sick, because their parents were poor? Those are nothing but the excuses of irresponsible people.

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According to the abbess of Phước Thiện Pagoda, in the 20 years since its founding, the pagoda has always opened its compassionate heart to these small, unfortunate lives. The children come from many places, and the pagoda does everything it can to raise them from the time they are abandoned there as newborns.

And that is not all: the children's growth and health are also a constant worry. The pagoda has no income other than offerings from Buddhist followers, so whenever a child falls ill, the monks and nuns worry greatly because they cannot afford enough medicine. The buildings where the children live and spend their days are still basic and lacking in many ways.

Thanks to charity visits by kind-hearted people, Phước Thiện Pagoda has received a little more support, but it is still not enough to raise several dozen children until they are grown. The monks and nuns of Phước Thiện Pagoda have truly precious hearts, but they still need more help from compassionate people in and outside Bình Thuận province so that the children can go on living.

Đinh Thành Trung