Over the past 15 years of working with unfortunate children and victims of Agent Orange (AO) at the Shelter No 3 of the Da Nang Care Centre for AO Victims and Disadvantaged Children, Nguyen Thi Kim Yen is always dedicated to loving, teaching and caring for these children.

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Kim Yen and children who are victims of Agent Orange at the Shelter No 3 of the Da Nang Care Centre for AO Victims and Disadvantaged Children in Hoa Vang District.

One day in early September, when I visited the Shelter No. 3 in Hoa Nhon Commune, Hoa Vang District, I saw all the great love that Mrs. Yen as well as her colleagues spent for victims of AO and the unfortunate children there.

A total of 60 victims of AO and unfortunate children from communes in Hoa Vang District are being cared for at the facility.

Every day, the 54-year-old woman wakes up at 5 o'clock to arrange her household chores and then rides nearly 20 kilometers from her home in Lien Chieu District’s Hoa Khanh Bac Ward to her workplace.

After she and her colleagues picked up the children at the gathering points and brought them to the Facility, they are busy taking care of the children in terms of eating, hygiene, literacy and vocational training.

Mrs. Yen’s working day starts at about 8:30am and lasts till 4:30pm. Her main task is to teach literacy to children who are victims of AO who speak first, forget later, and can't remember a single word after studying for a month. However, she always patiently holds their hands to write each letter and number.

In addition to teaching literacy and social integration skills, Mrs. Yen is actively involved in childcare activities every day, shows children how to make incense, arrange flowers, sew clothes, and plant and care for vegetables.

Mrs. Yen said that her simple happiness is to see children at the facility reading every word, making each incense stick, growing vegetable beds, serving themselves, doing household chores, loving each other, and being polite to visitors.

Despite the hardship of her job and limited income, Mrs. Kim Yen has never once thought about finding another job with higher income or closer to home to take care of family life.

Fortunately, Mrs. Yen’s love for children has grown and grown by taking care of them and listening to stories about their disadvantaged circumstances. The stories motivate her to help the unlucky children suffer from less pain.

For her, working, teaching, and taking care of victims of AO and unfortunate children is no longer just a job to earn income but has become an "integral part" of life. For a long time, she and other teachers at the facility have considered the place to be their "second home".

Mr. Tra Thanh Lanh, Vice Chairman of the city's Association of Victims of AO/Dioxin, remarked that although the current income of staff at facilities is not high, they still love their job. That is something very precious.

He hoped that the social community will pay more attention and share more to the unfortunate lives so that they can join efforts with the city to better care for and support victims of AO in particular, and the vulnerable in general.

Reporting by ANH LINH - Translating by M.DUNG