[ Phuc ] I'd like to tell you about a memory that haunts me.
[ Phuc ] The girl was in 9th grade.
[ Phuc ] She knocked at my door, asking for shelter.
[ Phuc ] She said, 'I'm 3 months pregnant,
[ Phuc ] I want you to help me, I can't go back home'.
[ Phuc ] Imagine, a child in 9th grade,
the same age as my children now.
[ Phuc ] I thought it over and couldn't refuse to help.
[ woman ] This plate was put here by a couple who began living together unmarried.
[ woman ] The woman fell pregnant and had an abortion.
[ woman ] Later, they married, but could no longer conceive.
[ woman ] There are many such plaques.
[ woman ] The parents are apologising to their unborn baby
in these stone inscriptions, for example.
[ title ] TOUGH LOVE
[ Nhung ] When I was helping Uncle Phuc
NGUYEN NHUNG
to bury the tiny corpses, I was terrified,
but Uncle Phuc wasn't feeling well.
[ Nhung ] Certain bodies were larger than the pots and didn't fit,
so Uncle Phuc told me to puncture
the plastic bags containing the little corpses.
[ Nhung ] When I did that, blood splashed onto my hands.
[ Nhung ] If I hadn't come here, I would have had an abortion, too.
[ Nhung ] I was a second year university student when I fell pregnant.
[ Nhung ] My roommates and a teacher learned about it by chance.
[ Nhung ] One teacher was a friend of Uncle Phuc's father-in-law.
[ Nhung ] Uncle Phuc came to see me, persuaded me
not to have an abortion, and promised to help.
[ Phuc ] - Do they need milk? [ Nhung ] - Yes, what kind of milk?
[ Phuc ] Milk for newborns.
[ Phuc ] Give this!
[ Phuc ] Give it to mothers with newborns.
[ man ] Are you happy they still visit?
[ Phuc ] Of course, I'm very happy when she comes.
[ Phuc ] The doctor called me at the end of the working day
for me to take the corpses.
[ Phuc ] I picked up four bodies today.
[ Phuc ] It's a very delicate matter.
TONG PHUOC PHUC
[ Phuc ] There is limited time for me
to pick up the corpses after the doctor calls.
[ Phuc ] If someone were to find out about it,
they wouldn't give me the bodies,
they'd be disposed of as waste.
[ Phuc ] Here is one.
[ Phuc ] I make sure these children have graves.
[ Phuc ] The children who live here will pray for the dead,
so that their souls go to Heaven.
[ Phuc ] This unborn baby is 3 months old.
[ Phuc ] I put my heart and soul into this.
[ Phuc ] I hope with all my heart
to wash away the sin from these babies.
[ Phuc ] I buried the first corpse on July 13, 2004.
[ Phuc ] Over 12 years I built three cemeteries,
containing some 16,000 graves.
[ Phuc ] All my children know about it,
[ Phuc ] I explain to them why they're alive now.
[ Phuc ] To avoid having to bury any more children,
[ Phuc ] I started searching for pregnant women who had made a mistake,
to persuade them not to abandon their babies,
because a child is a gift from God.
[ wife ] Kids, get in the shower!
[ girl ] She hasn't showered yet.
[ Phuc ] Why are you behaving like a tomboy?
[ girl ] My brothers and sisters do, too.
[ Phuc ] Call the others.
[ Phuc ] I'm getting more and more help.
[ Phuc ] Some people help me with actions,
others bring things, rice and salt, for example.
[ Phuc ] Others give money for educating and sheltering the children,
to allow me to continue my work.
[ Nam Tong ] Once, a child came back from school
and asked my father, 'Dad, are you my birth father?'
[ Nam Tong ] My dad replied, 'Who told you that you weren't my birth child?
[ Nam Tong ] 'I'm your father, the father of all your brothers and sisters,
TONG NAM
and Nam's your blood brother.
[ Nam Tong ] Show me the person who said that.'
DUYEN LE
[ Duyen ] Do you want some warm milk after food?
[ Duyen ] Let me bring it for you.
[ Nhung ] He's like a father to me,
he always gives me advice.
[ Nhung ] He took care of me after I gave birth.
[ Nhung ] I was so ashamed to face my friends and teachers
that I even wanted to leave my baby with Uncle Phuc for ever.
[ Nhung ] Yes, he knows. He's in Saigon now.
[ Nhung ] Not at all. He tried to make me
NGUYEN NHUNG
get rid of the baby in every way.
[ Nhung ] At 8 months, he made me take a drug to kill the baby.
[ Nhung ] I spent 2 month with my child after giving birth.
[ Nhung ] It was difficult, I wanted to stop studying and care for my child,
but Uncle Phuc told me to continue studying.
[ Nhung ] I left my child with him and missed her very much.
[ Nhung ] And then...
[ Nhung ] I missed my child.
[ Nhung ] I'd call every day and ask about her...
but because of my situation,
[ Nhung ] I had to study and work to earn money to raise the baby.
[ Nhung ] Thanks to Uncle Phuc's support,
I studied really hard,
although I was so worried about my baby.
[ Nhung ] Sometimes, I'd come visit my daughter...
...but then I'd have to go back.
[ Nhung ] Some time after graduation...
although it was hard,
but thanks to Uncle Phuc's support,
[ Nhung ] I took my baby with me,
and we moved into a rented room.
[ Nhung ] Still, we sometimes ask Uncle Phuc for help,
as my baby and I haven't found our feet yet.
DUYEN LE
[ Duyen ] Uncle Phuc is famous for
caring for babies and pregnant women,
and more people hear about him every day.
[ Duyen ] When the centre has visitors, no one hits the children, of course.
[ Duyen ] Uncle Phuc pretends all is well,
and hugs the children in front of them.
[ Duyen ] But when the kids are alone, he may lock them up and beat them.
[ Duyen ] This video was shot by a foreigner and put online.
[ Duyen ] Uncle Phuc was fined because of this video.
[ Duyen ] When asked how he could have let it happen,
he said that when the children were beaten, he was at work and knew nothing about it.
[ Duyen ] But I think that Uncle Phuc was in the know,
and beat the children himself.
[ Duyen ] I think I will leave soon.
[ Duyen ] I'll leave but what'll happen to the women and the kids?
[ Duyen ] Will they continue beating them? For how long will it go on?
[ Duyen ] Uncle Phuc is more careful,
DUYEN LE
after the hidden camera video and the fine.
[ Duyen ] They say the fine was 10 million VND ($440).
[ Duyen ] Compared to other organisations,
the conditions at Uncle Phuc's house are good.
[ Duyen ] Phuc's organisation is the best thing
for the children in Nha Trang, I agree with that.
[ Duyen ] Many people help him provide those conditions.
[ Duyen ] No!
[ kids ] Let's sing Happy Birthday for Bunny!
[ kids ] One, two, three…
[ kids ] Happy birthday to you, Happy birthday to you,
[ kids ] Happy birthday, dear Bunny, Happy birthday to you!
[ Phuc ] This girl’s name is Ton Phuc Vin Tong.
[ Phuc ] She was born on 26 September, 2005.
[ Phuc ] Her mother was 17 at the time.
[ Phuc ] After she fell pregnant,
TONG PHUOC PHUC
she had no partner by her side.
[ Phuc ] The girl's mother came to me and I helped her.
[ Phuc ] She listened to me,
and decided not to have an abortion.
[ Phuc ] The baby's mother was too young
to take care of the child,
and it would have prevented her from getting married later.
[ Bunny ] How should I cut it?
[ voice ] Cut it in half.
[ girl2 ] Happy birthday, sister Bunny!
[ girl2 ] Here is your present.
[ Phuc ] After her wedding, the girl's mother came to see me only once,
and said, 'I'm married now, please take care of
my child so my family can live happily'.
[ Tam ] When I was a little girl,
my father sang me a lullaby and fed me.
TONG TAM
[ Tam ] I want to be a doctor to make people better.
[ Tam ] Oh, here's my school!
[ Thu ] They look like a family.
[ Thu ] Children can be a handful at times,
THU TRAN
and they should be beaten so that they learn what not to do.
[ Thu ] When children grow older,
if they're too hyperactive and disobedient,
they should be punished so they understand
that they should behave themselves.
[ Thu ] Of course not, you could kill a child by accident.
[ Thu ] You should only threaten a child with a stick.
[ Phuc ] This is pure provocation.
[ Phuc ] This video was made to frame me.
I understood that they wanted to harm me,
so the children would have nowhere to go.
[ Phuc ] Every nanny has a contract now,
and they know about children's rights.
[ Phuc ] I'd fine the culprit and fire them.
[ Phuc ] Every month, I report to the administration
and inform them about everything I do here.
[ Phuc ] I even tell them who comes here to film.
[ Phuc ] That's why I'm so careful about filming here.
[ Nhung ] I also heard something, and was afraid,
NGUYEN NHUNG
but I realised it was impossible to grasp
all the challenges of childcare
if you're not in this organisation.
[ Nhung ] Before he had official permission, he would shelter pregnant women.
[ Nhung ] They babysat the children while he worked, and they beat them.
[ Nhi ] I don't have a mother, I live with my father.
[ Nhi ] He has a new family.
[ Nhi ] I went away to work and rarely come home.
[ Nhi ] My family knows,
but my stepmother won't let me return.
PHAN NHI
[ Nhi ] Of course my family knows.
[ Nhi ] I understand I must be responsible for my actions. How can I return home?
[ Nhi ] If I go back, I'll be ashamed to face my parents.
[ Duyen ] She didn't tell her family or the guy.
[ Duyen ] She worked as long as she could.
[ Duyen ] Last month she left her job and came here.
[ Duyen ] She also said that someone in her family works for the police.
[ Duyen ] Her family is fairly well off.
[ Duyen ] Only her mum and sister know.
[ Duyen ] She'll hide it from him until the last moment,
then give the baby to her relatives.
[ Duyen ] She won't tell the father.
[ Duyen ] Her relatives will say they adopted it.
[ Nhung ] I live here with three other people.
[ Nhung ] I pay 1.2 million VND ($54) a month for the room,
plus electricity and water.
[ Nhung ] My monthly salary used to be 3.5 million VND ($150).
[ Nhung ] When I found a restaurant cashier job my salary grew by 1 million VND ($44).
[ Nhung ] Now it's 4.5 million ($200) a month.
[ Nhung ] We have enough money to pay for tuition, milk and other things,
NGUYEN NHUNG
if we spend it sensibly, of course.
[ Nhung ] I have six siblings, each has their own family and children.
[ Nhung ] My parents take care of them, whereas I gave birth all alone.
[ Nhung ] Strangers helped me.
[ Nhung ] My parents are still ashamed,
and don't even ask about the baby.
[ Nhung ] When I was a girl, I dreamt of being a bride.
[ Nhung ] I dreamt of a wedding like in the movies.
[ Nhung ] I wanted to be photographed.
[ Nhung ] I dreamt of celebrating the wedding in the country, with my parents.
[ Nhung ] Today, I only want my child to grow up
and learn more about life.
[ Nhung ] I still dream of meeting a man who will understand and love me,
and at the same time...
who would love my daughter so that she wants for nothing.
[ Nhung ] I hope my child will grow up in good conditions.
[ Nhung ] I will try to help her avoid my mistakes.
[ Nhung ] One day, when my daughter is older
and asks me about it all, I'll say:
'First, I was very angry with your father.
[ Nhung ] 'I was afraid that my family, friends and teachers, everyone,
'would hear about it and there would be a scandal.
[ Nhung ] 'But then I felt an invisible link between us.
[ Nhung ] 'Back then, I tried to do good, I went to temples,
'saw how miserable orphaned children were.
[ Nhung ] 'But there were people who took care of them, brought them up.
[ Nhung ] Why was I thinking of abandoning you?'
[ Nhung ] I'll tell my daughter about this time in my life before she grows up.
[ voice2 ] Open the door, auntie!
[ Nam ] Since I was a baby until now,
I never thought about these children as being adopted.
[ Nam ] I consider them my blood brothers and sisters.
NAM TONG
[ Nam ] As relatives, we must love and help each other,
growing up together and sharing a father who takes care of us.
[ Nam ] I'm very proud of my father.
[ Nam ] In the future, I want to be like him.
[ Nam ] I'll do everything for others, show them love.
[ Phuc ] At the start of all this, nobody understood me.
[ Phuc ] Even now, they say, 'Only a madman does that'.
[ Phuc ] I have 20 adopted children now.
[ Phuc ] As for the pregnant women who I helped
persuade to keep their children,
I've assisted 140 since 2004.
[ Phuc ] I try to work harder, so my children see the consequences of others' mistakes
TONG PHUOC PHUC
and don't repeat them. I want my kids to be good people.