THE TRAN-GIENGER FAMILY CHARITY FOUNDATION
TAX ID# 88-0858840
In July of 2023, we visited Vietnam for 5 weeks. One function was for the dedication of the retirement home that the Tran Gienger Family Charity Foundation helped built for the Dominican Sisters of Thai Binh. During this trip, we experienced some very special adventures that we would like to share with you.
Some pictures during the construction of the retirement home
Activities on the day of pouring concrete
We had an opportunity to tour the construction site. Sister Hân is over seeing this building project. She explained to us that in order to keep the cost down, many of their young nuns from the convent do a lot of light time consuming auxiliary non-skilled work such as spreading concrete, moving construction materials and clean up. The heavy skilled work is performed by a hired contractor and crew. The building envelop and most of the interior fixtures were 90% complete, and we were happy to see that the elevator was installed and fully functioning.
While there, we met Ms. Trần Thị Liên, a visiting benefator from Saigon. She donated 20 additional beds and matching furniture for the rooms. Many small items such as bed sheets, blankets, pillows, ect. are still needed. We are hoping to receive more donation for these much needed items by this winter.
The retirement home for The Dominican Sisters in Thai Binh Vietnam in construction
Remember and visit senior nuns
Sister Kính, is a 91 year old nun who survived 8 years of imprisonment by the Vietnamese government in the north of Vietnam. She endured many hardships and tortures, but she told us that she never gave up and had completely put her trust in God. During this time, she composed a book of poems. To this day, her health has never completely recovered.
Sister Kính
Sister Đức, the First Provincial Mother Superior of this Dominican Sisters of Thai Binh, conceived the idea of building this retirement home for their elderly sisters. She encountered many difficulties and obstacles and had to postpone the implementation of this project. In 2022, she passed away after several years of fighting cancer. However, with the blessing of God and the community involvement, the project was resurrected. This was an opportunity for the Tran Gienger Charity Foundation and others to realize the completion of this long overdue project.
Sister Đức
Meet the children who are supported with scholarships every year
These two young girls, Hà Anh and Ngọc Anh, live in Thai Binh. Their family cannot afford the tuition for school. The Tran Gienger Charity will cover these expenses. These children are so happy and enjoy school so much that they don’t want to go home. Along with them, we also help many other children in similar situations. Their happiness is an invaluable source of motivation for us.
Hà Anh and Ngọc Anh
Fifteen years ago, this young boy, Hiền, was almost aborted. Through God’s grace, he was saved by Sister Diên, a Dominican Sisters of Thai Binh Vietnam. He was placed in the care of his grand parents and is looked over by Sister Diên. He is in 10th grade and his aged grand parents have serious health issues. The modest retirement income that they have is not enough to fund his schooling.
Hiền
Khánh Huyền and Thanh Tâm are sisters, age 16 and 14 respectively. Their father is a farmer suffering from a mental disorder and can no longer work. Their mother is a vegetable vendor at a local market. They have always faced many financial difficulties. Our foundation has not hesitated to support them with an annual scholarship of 1,000 USD for each child.
Khánh Huyền and Thanh Tâm
This was a picture taken with a group of young Catholic students from Hà Đông. This was their weekend trip of pilgrimage visiting the Mother House of the Dominican Sisters of Thai Binh. Some of them may be future scholarship recipients of the Tran Gienger Charity.
Visiting a class for autistic children
This is a video taken by the Tran Gienger Charity when we visited a classroom for autistic children at Binh Minh School, Thai Binh. The children and parents receive one on one training onsite. Sister Diên is the nun in charge of this out reach and is a Certified Special Education instructor with a Masters Degree in Special Education from Edgewood College in Madison Wisconsin, USA.
Some pictures during the visit to Vietnam
After the celebration for Sister Ngô Thị Hạnh, the Provincial Mother Superior for 25 years of service, we had a couple of days to relax, to recuperate from the heat, and to harvest the home grown fruits.