Manila (AsiaNews) – About a hundred people are pursuing a master degree and another 20 a doctorate in Ho Chi Minh City offered by Filipino universities thanks to assistance provided by the Filipino Church to the Vietnamese and their Church in the fields of education and training. Through its educational and social activities the Church of Viet Nam is pursuing more and more its pastoral and missionary activities in a Socialist country.

The Philippines have diplomatic relations with Vietnam since at least 1986. Hundreds of Vietnamese priests, nuns and lay people have studied in the archipelago. Sharing education is an orientation both countries have.

In order to increase knowledge and put into practice acquired working skills in parishes, the Salesians have been involved in pastoral activities and teaching the catechism in remoter areas of the Philippines.

The same is happening in Viet Nam where people like Sister Thao, who works with children from difficult backgrounds, are “making sure that children can take part in social activities,’ she told AsiaNews. “Now they can read and write in Vietnamese, and many of those who came from Ho Chi Minh City’s 65 drop-in shelters have graduated since 1994. Some of them have gone onto university.”

“In the Philippines I studied social work and its method and gained practice. Through education children have changed the way they live and learnt how to be confident in themselves,’ she said. She should know for she has 20 years of experience in social work.

For his part Franciscan Father Hoang is involved with people living with AIDS. In Ho Chi Minh City alone there are about 40,000 HIV-positive people.

“They need special drugs but also love and attention. They are discriminated in life, even by their families. We have nuns who have come from the Philippines to work with these people, and who have also organised small Bible study groups.

A layman, who graduated in the Philippines from a Master programme in Business Administration and who is now working for a private company in Cam Ranh, helped more than a hundred people find work.

“Now they have a more stable life and are happy. The community is developing and children are going to school. The laity in the parish work hard and a practicing; each Sunday they go to Mass as they do after work. There are small groups that include children, youth and the elderly who pray together,” he said.