Quietly sowing the seeds of life

Not only does she go to places where unfortunate babies are buried, Nguyen Thi Thuy also takes care of abandoned newborn babies. Some people consider these actions 'abnormal', but to her, they are sowing the seeds of life...

Support for the unfortunate

I entered the house of Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy (born 1977) in Hamlet Thach Son 7, Anh Son Commune ( Nghe An ) on a day at the end of August. In the level 4 house, Ms. Thuy and her two children were preparing their belongings and books to start the new school year. I was curious: "Where did your husband go that only you and your children are at home like this?", she hesitated, as if afraid that the two children would hear and feel sad, so she pulled me out to the yard to drink water and chat.

"I didn't get married. When I grew up, my parents were old and weak, so I decided to stay single to take care of them. These two children were both abandoned since birth. Poor them, they are the same age, I raised them since they were babies. Thinking about it, it's been 13 years now," Ms. Thuy said sadly.

Seeing their mother sitting and chatting with guests, the two children ran out and asked permission to carry hoes to the field to weed the rice. "Look, they are only in 8th grade but they are very good. They all know how to do their own work and listen to instructions. They must know their place and love their mother very much," Ms. Thuy said proudly.

Ms. Thuy and her two children prepare books and notebooks to start the new school year - PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

Looking at her children, she said: "In 2012, I met a girl from Thanh Chuong, Nghe An who was preparing to abort her 20-week pregnancy. After much persuasion, I finally decided to take her home to take care of her. As a result, a chubby baby girl was born to everyone's joy. It seemed that happiness would come to her, but more than 10 days later, the young mother disappeared, leaving her daughter to Ms. Thuy. She named her daughter Nguyen Thi Hoai Thu.

As if by fate, 2 months later, Ms. Thuy brought home a girl who lived nearly a hundred kilometers away. That girl was a student who had foolishly gotten pregnant. Unable to bear the criticism of everyone, she decided to abort the fetus. Pitying the young and naive girl, she followed her day after day to advise her to keep the fetus because "the baby is not at fault, it is also a life".

"When I heard the news, I had to ride my motorbike hundreds of kilometers to her house to find her. Wherever she went, I followed her, afraid that she would think of abandoning her child, which would be very sad for her. In the end, I persuaded her to come to my house, one, to avoid gossip from acquaintances, and two, so that I could conveniently advise her," Ms. Thuy recalled.

However, after giving birth to a baby boy, the girl left the child and disappeared. She alone had to take care of her elderly parents and two children while farming. She named the child Nguyen Tran An. Although life was hard, she was happy to see her children grow up every day.

Hoai Thu and Tran An were raised by their sister since they were babies and are now in 8th grade - PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

Ms. Thuy said that despite her busy work schedule, whenever she heard that someone was planning to have an abortion, she would immediately go and advise them, regardless of rain or shine, day or night. "I remember once a girl in a commune 30 km away got pregnant with a guy and decided to have an abortion and then jump off a bridge to commit suicide. Panicked, I had to go there to encourage and advise her. Despite everyone's criticism, I stood at her house day after day, wherever she went, I followed. And finally, they came to an understanding, then the two of them got together and lived happily," Ms. Thuy smiled contentedly.

Until now, she can't remember how many people she has helped who were considering aborting their unborn child. For her, helping someone makes her feel more at ease than ever, but every time she fails to advise someone, she feels guilty and tormented...

The children are somewhat comforted in the afterlife .

I was sitting pensively looking at this woman who was nearly 50 years old but had a kind face when a voice called out from outside the gate. "It's my friend Tung! Today is the first day of the month, we're going to the cemetery to burn incense for the children," Thuy explained. It turned out that the "children" she was talking about were nearly 600 unfortunate fetuses that she had brought here for burial.

Talking about this, she said it was also a coincidence. About 16 years ago, she went to many places and saw unfortunate abandoned babies. Unable to bear it, she brought them home to bury. She discussed this idea with her family and her father, Nguyen Van Che, immediately agreed. "My father is a long-time party member who used to work at a state agency. He encouraged me to try to do good deeds, after all, each child is a living being, we need to find a home for them to rest in. So he reserved a piece of land in the family cemetery for me to bury the babies," Ms. Thuy confided.

On holidays, Ms. Thuy often comes to burn incense for the babies - PHOTO: PROVIDED BY THE AUTHOR

Since then, whenever and wherever there was an abandoned baby, she would go there and bring it back for a proper burial. Sometimes she went alone, other times she was accompanied by Ms. Phan Thi Tung, a friend of the same age who lived near her house. Medical facilities in the surrounding area were almost familiar with this woman's face, so they were very understanding...

However, her actions initially made many people in the village and commune curious and skeptical. Some people thought she had bad intentions, some said she was abnormal… Ms. Thuy did not care about that because, for her, when the babies were buried properly, she felt more at peace.

She said that in 2013, she was walking on the street when she heard the cry of a newborn baby. She ran over and saw the baby lying naked in the bushes, with injuries all over his body. She quickly gathered some money she had saved and took a bus to Hanoi to take the baby to the doctor, but it was too late. The baby died, her heart was broken, she cried for several nights.

"I wonder if it was fate that brought me to meet those babies? Just 2 weeks ago, one night I couldn't sleep, my heart was in turmoil. When I finally fell asleep, I dreamed of a newborn baby holding out its arms as if asking for help. When I woke up in the morning, I had just gone a kilometer when I saw a baby abandoned on the side of the road, but it was dead. I brought it home, washed it clean, and buried it. I felt so sorry for it!", she said, looking into the distance...

Sitting next to her friend, Ms. Phan Thi Tung also said: "She (Ms. Thuy) is very brave. Many rainy and windy days, it was almost 2am but she still brought the baby home to bury by herself. I stopped her from doing it tomorrow morning, but she said she couldn't bear to see her children lying in the cold rain. That's her personality, no one can stop her."

The cemetery where Ms. Thuy buries fetuses is about 30 square meters wide ^, with carefully built tombs and thoughtful incense offerings. She said this is the common home of her "children", with it the fetuses will surely be comforted in the afterlife. "As long as we have strength, we will continue. The important thing is to educate couples not to abort their fetuses, and burial is not too worrisome," Ms. Thuy said.

The fifth Living Well Writing Contest was held to encourage people to write about noble actions that have helped individuals or communities. This year, the contest focused on praising individuals or groups that have performed acts of kindness, bringing hope to those in difficult circumstances.

The highlight is the new environmental award category, honoring works that inspire and encourage action for a green, clean living environment. Through this, the Organizing Committee hopes to raise public awareness in protecting the planet for future generations.

The contest has diverse categories and prize structure, including:

Article categories: Journalism, reportage, notes or short stories, no more than 1,600 words for articles and 2,500 words for short stories.

Articles, reports, notes:

- 1 first prize: 30,000,000 VND

- 2 second prizes: 15,000,000 VND

- 3 third prizes: 10,000,000 VND

- 5 consolation prizes: 3,000,000 VND

Short story:

- 1 first prize: 30,000,000 VND

- 1 second prize: 20,000,000 VND

- 2 third prizes: 10,000,000 VND

- 4 consolation prizes: 5,000,000 VND

Photo category: Submit a photo series of at least 5 photos related to volunteer activities or environmental protection, along with the name of the photo series and a short description.

- 1 first prize: 10,000,000 VND

- 1 second prize: 5,000,000 VND

- 1 third prize: 3,000,000 VND

- 5 consolation prizes: 2,000,000 VND

Most Popular Prize: 5,000,000 VND

Prize for Excellent Essay on Environmental Topic: 5,000,000 VND

Honored Character Award: 30,000,000 VND

The deadline for submissions is October 16, 2025. The works will be evaluated through the preliminary and final rounds with the participation of a jury of famous names. The organizing committee will announce the list of winners on the "Beautiful Life" page. See detailed rules at thanhnien.vn .

Organizing Committee of the Beautiful Living Contest

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/lang-le-gieo-mam-su-song-185250917124738812.htm