A LASALLIAN LIFE JOURNEY:  VIETNAM TO SYDNEY

Refugee stories are part of Australia’s living history. The plight of current seekers has been distressingly with us for a decade. For Theresa (Sr Thi Nga Nguyen), it has been a happier life transition, and what she sees as a religious call from God.

A La Salle Sister, Theresa comes from a strongly-faithed Catholic family in Vietnam, the youngest of three brothers and a sister. One brother is a priest and another is recently ordained a deacon. She is proudly an aunt to seven nephews and two nieces. The father is a fisherman and her mother a goods- seller.

Living outside her town, Theresa completed her primary and secondary education despite paucity of learning equipment. She would walk the three kilometres there and back each day on a dilapidated road. Work followed; she was earning money and preparing for a future life.

However, “I always … (had in the back of my mind) to choose a special way”. Theresa became a Sister at 28 years of age.

The Vietnamese De la Salle Brothers established the Sisters in 1966. They were officially recognized by the Catholic Church, in 2002, as a women’s congregation. 

Today, La Salle Sisters are present in Vietnam, Thailand, the United States, Australia, and Cambodia. The mission of the La Salle Sisters is similar to that of the Brothers, which is to provide a human and Christian education to young people, especially the poor.

In Vietnam alone there are 125 Sisters; their work focusses on childcare, especially with ethnic minority children, at the margins in their society. Coming to Australia in 2007, childcare ministry is complemented with the long-established Viet Saturday schools for culture and religious education.

Sr. Theresa was invited to join the small Sisters’ community in Sydney by her superior, and has been completing her studies, with practicums, in childcare, (Certificate 3 and a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care. She has found “both positive and negative” experiences, expanding largely her knowledge of Australian culture and language.

Mastery of English and professional qualification has opened up a new way of life for Theresa. In a sense, she says that “I am not worried much about this life” because –“everything I do is just for God, and I am convinced that God…(is) always with me all the time”

For more information about the La Salle Sisters visit https://www.delasalle.org.au/our-sisters

(Source: Br Gary Wilson, Creative Writer)