HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Care for orphanagesshould come from love, devotion and enthusiasm, and that's exactly what60-year-old Bui Cong Hiep from Ho Chi Minh City has in abundance.

With his family, he has donated property tobuild shelters and care for orphaned children in the city.

For Hiep, who now lives in Long Truong ward indistrict 9, caring for orphans also means helping them to grow into valuablemembers of society.

He might have appeared to be just your averagecity-dweller, but that was before he and his family decided to donate 1,500sq.mof land and a three-storey house worth more than 100 billion VND (4.3 millionUSD) to house nearly a hundred orphans in 2017.

He and his wife Pham Hoang Lan, daughter Bui LanHoanh, 31, and son Bui Quang Huy, 26, have been running a factory for more than20 years in Binh Thanh district.

The factory is the family's major income. It isalso the main financial source for them to care for 88 orphans at an orphanagenamed Thien Than (Angel).

Hiep said he bought more than 2,500sq.m of landin district 9 after retiring 10 years ago.

“First, I thought I would buy the land just tofulfil my dream of building a small house for the family and particularly forme and my wife to enjoy in retirement. We wanted to relax by gardening andraising cattle while enjoying old age,” Hiep said.

However, witnessing the plight of many homelesschildren, Hiep decided to change his mind.

“Instead of building a house for ourselves, Iconvinced my wife we should build a 3-storey house to make a home for orphanedchildren,” he said.

Hiep said he was very surprised that his wifeand two children agreed without any hesitation.

His two children even said they wanted to workwith their parents to care for the orphans at Thien Than Home, just in casethey became too old and weak to carry on their charitable work.

In 2010, Hiep asked district 9’s authority for permission toopen the home, and it was granted. Since then, the family has adopted dozens oforphaned children, the oldest of whom is just seven.

Before opening the home, Hiep also did someresearch and tried to learn from experienced people about taking care oforphans.

Many of the people he met and talked withsuggested it would be difficult for a man.

“Raising a child is extremely hard. For women,it is normal, but for a man, it is impossible”, and “To care for an infant,sometimes you have to stay up all night and you'll lose your social life”, werejust two of the comments he received.

However, Hiep said he had vowed to followthrough with his plan because raising children was his passion, not only hisresponsibility to society. “I didn't do it for the recognition or honour,” Hiepsaid.

He was determined to engage in the work, and themore difficulties he faced the more he wanted to succeed for the benefit of thechildren. 

Every day, he gets up at 4am, and preparesclothes, food and milk for the babies. Some days, all the children wake upearly and start crying. Some are hungry for milk while others want to go to thetoilet. 

Hiep said he had to be mentally strong to keepgoing, and that's exactly what he has done.

His family agreed that Hiep is great with thekids, and the best care-giver at the home.

He just wants the children to grow up healthyand become good people, with kindness, tolerance and morality, not necessarilysuccess.

"I think forcing a child to develop in acertain direction is difficult and painful for them, especially for those whodon't have the love of a father or mother," Hiep said.

His teaching methods involve helping thechildren develop their own talents and interests.

Hiep revealed that adopting a child was trickybecause getting a birth certificate involves contacting their family for personalidentification.

He always makes sure that children have theirfamily names on the certificates to make it easier for them to contact theirfamilies when they grow up.

For the children who are left in front of thehome, Hiep said he also tried to track down their families to establish a lineof contact when the adopted children reach adulthood.

When he is unable to do so, the children aregiven the adoptive family name.

According to Hiep, local authorities have helpedhim a lot and made it easier to get birth certificates for almost all of themexcept five whose records are incomplete due to problems with new adoptiveregulations.

After seven years with just two nannies, ThienThan Home now has 10 nannies to take care of the children.

Hiep himself covers the cooking, taking thechildren to school and teaching social skills. He has been doing that for morethan seven years.

Asides from his wish to ensure a healthy lifefor the children, Hiep also cares about teaching them and developing their talents.

Many children at the home know how to swim anddo sports, music and painting, and they study foreign languages andinformatics.

Vo Dung Hanh, manager of the home, said Hiep’sday typically started at 4am.

“I have been working with him for seven years,but I've never heard him complain about feeling tired,” Hanh added.

Nguyen Ngoc Cuong, Vice Chairman of the People'sCommittee of District 9, said Hiep and the home had set a good example forlocals in the district.

"Doing what Hiep has done takes a lot ofthought and love, and benefits the community and society," Cuong said.

Hiep's family plans to build a new 5-storeyhouse next year on the 2,500sq.m plot he has just given to the children with atotal estimated construction cost of 5 billion VND.

He also plans to build an education centre inBinh Thanh district. "I am planning to build the centre for children ofdifferent ages to live, study, play and be happy,” Hiep said./.