Heart of Healing Presents "Duc Son-A Study of Love"

On the 7th of February 2008, The first day of the Lunar calendar, there was an exhibit of photographs from Duc Son.

This exhibit was held at the gallery of Dr. Christi Bonds.
Christi is an MD who is also keenly interested in Eastern practices.
She is also an acupuncturist.

She moved to Paducah a little over a year ago and is now opening her own
practice in our Lower Town Arts District. This is her first showing
in her new gallery space.

The following is the text we presented. I hope this offers insight into our current work. We wanted it to be in Minh Tu's voice as much as possible.

TATC:

"Think About the Children" is a 501(C)3 non-profit organization that was founded by Professor and Vietnam veteran, Dr. Thomas Murray. After serving in the Vietnam War, Dr. Murray felt the need to return to Vietnam to try and neutralize some of the effects of the war by working to help children break the poverty cycle through education.


THE PARTNERSHIP OF TATC AND AHIMSA PHOTO FOR "A STUDY OF LOVE':

Over the past month, working with Think About the Children, we have brought food, shoes, reusable diapers, blankets and scarves to Duc Son to alleviate some of their daily needs and help offer a bit of comfort during the coldest days of winter.

We have been spending each day with the Nuns and children of Duc Son. During this time we are developing strong bonds as we play with the kids, help the Nuns, and simply spend time with the Duc Son family. The lessons being learned from these interactions are coming together in the forms of stories, conversations, recorded interviews and photographs to form the project "A Study of Love."



Artist Statement:

[I was told by a teacher in the past that one's heart needs to break in order to open further and truly be compassionate, increasing our capacity to love all. It has been one month now since we began coming to the orphanage daily. Being there is sobering, but invigorating. Each time I leave, I feel my heart breaking open. "A Study of Love" is only beginning as we continue to build trust with the Nuns and children. All of them are our teachers, educating us with lessons of their quiet, humble work. Over time, I hope that we can share the voices of Duc Son with the same level of honesty, humility and clarity that they exhibit and for "A Study of Love" to serve as a way to unite us all in a common mission to break our hearts open, help heal and yes, love.]

...................


When greeting the Nuns at Duc Son Pagoda, bring your hands together in prayer, bow your head and in a gentle, melodic voice say, "A di da phat" (ah dee da fur)

Then look up, make eye contact, and smile.



You have just shared the greeting between Buddhists in Vietnam. "A di da phat" translates similarly to "Namaste" in Hindu and yogic tradition, meaning the spirit in me greets the spirit in you. In this case, my heart greets your heart, both of which are following the path of the Buddha.



Twenty Buddhist Nuns live at Duc Son Pagoda. Each day they awake at 3:30 am. At four o'clock in the morning they chant sutras and pray until five, when they wake the children. Their lives are devoted to service, all of them have chosen to live at Duc Son to help their Headmaster, Thich Nu Minh Tu. Through their devotion and practice to the teachings of the Buddha, they learn to quiet their minds and open their hearts. Minh Tu became a Nun after growing up during the war and feeling compelled to help all those who are suffering. She began her monastic life, or Sangha, with the vision of being in a peaceful setting of a Pagoda in pursuit of a fresh mind. As her studies deepened, she realized that her pursuit of inner peace must be paired with direct action to extend that peace beyond herself.



"I grew up during a very violent time during the war"



When she was young, she was exposed to scenes of bloodshed and death---she recalls that daily, in front of her eyes the bodies of the dead--and the mourning remainder of the families they left behind--mourning: kids for parents, parents for kids, wives for husbands, etc.



At that time Vietnam was divided into North and South. She was reluctant to marry because she could not give her loyalty to a man fighting for either side of a broken whole. She wished to pray for peace, for the men of the north and the south, both of whom belong to families. She endured the conflict as a nurse, working to heal the victims and help the homeless.



"I feel that much of that time I was learning how to love. . .getting familiar with loving people"



At that time she wished to go to the pagoda and pray for the country. She was twenty years old. Fourty three years later, Minh Tu is now the head nun, caretaker, and "mother" of 207 children living under her roof at Duc Son Pagoda.



“I am the water, the children are flowers, you are the sunshine to help the flower smile”



Her youngest are 8 weeks old twins and her oldest is about 24. They come from villages all over Viet Nam. Their parents are poor, sick, handicapped, or dead. Minh Tu has dedicated her life to giving them the tools they need to shed the circumsatances of their birth, break the cycle of poverty, and give them the oppurtunity for a better future. She does this by providing them with love, food, education and shelter.



Love—flowing freely from the devoted and attentive nuns and volunteers. There is also a special sentiment shared among the children. Minh Tu explained that an adoption agency approached Duc Son willing to support the entire orphanage in exchange for the right to find the children new homes. Minh Tu organized a ‘family’ meeting where adoption was discussed openly—the children cried in fear for the next week at the idea of leaving Duc Son.



Food—Meals are prepared at 6, 11, and 5. Local farmers occasionaly occasionally bring edible donations, but surplus food, money, or time remains scarce. The majority of their budget comes from inconsistent dontation form individuals, and the spontaneous giving of foreign tourists who stop to visit with a local tour company, on their way to a nearby monument. Working with wood stoves to fill over 200 hungry bellies makes the task nearly continuous throughout the day.



Education—A small wing of Duc Son functions as a preschool for the youngest children at Duc Son and doubles as a daycare for the community, allowing local parents to work away from home during the day. The rest of the children all have the oppurtunity to go to local schools and the possibility of going to college.

They provide vocatoinal programs in wood work and tailoring, but enrollment has been minimal as the kids continue to succeed in school.



Shelter—An open but drafty building unfortunately located on a flood plain, more unfortunately in a region where it regularly floods 10 times a year. At its worst the water drowns the 2nd story. The 200+ residents must wait for the waters recession in the few rooms spared by the water, and on the roof. With limited supervision, the nuns are forced to keep the smallest children confined to protect them. By far, the flood time poses the greatest threat to the children and represents their greatest fear.



“Our highest demand right now is a sustainable place to stay”



We are working now to help Minh Tu build a new home for her ever growing family. It will serve as a permanent home and safe haven for the younger children, and a refuge for the older students during the flood time.



We believe that providing Duc Son with a building safe form the floods, is the best way to enable Minh Tu and the other nuns to continue their work of caring for and raising these children.



Today there is a lot of talk about sustainability and resource consumption. We want to help Minh Tu in her mission to refine a resource more valuable and powerful than the most precious ore—the human resource.



Duc Son is actively rescuing these children from a life of certain struggle and hardship, and building a better future not only for the children but for the community and the country. Many students after graduation leave Duc Son to return to their communities or go on to work in cities all over Viet Nam.



Minh Tu often emphasizes that her work is quiet. She encourages us to speak out about the needs at Duc Son, and although we work differently, we work throught the same heart and with the same purpose. We want to give Minh Tu’s voice a greater audience, so that the job at Dus Son can remain focused on raising and education the children.



“While waiting for the new house building, we are being patient. The slowness here is not somehting bad for a person, but it only makes the steps forward much stronger”



Although we are only beginning to get to know nuns and children that live and work at Duc Son, we wanted to begin to engage with people in the U.S. to create a dynamic dialogue spanning national, cultural, and linguistic divisions to connect people to a greater sense of global community.



We believe that creating an intimate and direct connection between people is very potent in bringing understanding and very powerful in moving the spirit of giving. We wish to develop a lasting relationship so that we can most efficiently and effectively help Duc Son build a better future for these children.



“That is the greatest happiness in the world, that giving your hand to help each other. For someone to live and just think about themselves is not really living. I believe that people cannot stop giving love to each other. . .When we live in the world and we know how to share love and how to give love, life becomes sweet and comfortable.”



The modern world has broght with it the need, the oppurtunity, and the ability to reach a helping hand further than every before. Minh Tu speaks of the children as having a hole in their hearts. Just like a hole in the road, she says, you can fill it with sand or stones. Imagine it take 3, 4, or 1,000 stones to fill it. For most of these kids, she is the first one to throw a stone into that hole, and she wishes for everyone to follow her to help fill that hole in their hearts.



“If we mention the world, it sounds like a very huge place, but it is nothing outside of the individual heart”