Mother Theresa of Vietnam Dedicates Life to Helping Orphans

An exceptional woman has been dubbed “Mother Theresa of Vietnam” for running a non-profit organization dedicated to the adoption, support, and free offering of loving kindness to foundlings, orphans, and homeless children. Huynh Tieu Huong has adopted 346 children after overcoming a life of incredible hardship which started when her parents left her on a doorstep as a foundling.

Huong’s start in life led her to year after year of vagabondry, until she found a baby girl left on her doorstep when she was about 19 years old. She adopted the child and met a Chinese man who gave her the money to rent an apartment and start a business. When she could finally support herself and her daughter Anh Dao, she started volunteering at the Vietnam Relief Association in 1993, helping orphans and the elderly.

After maintaining a successful business, her tragic beginnings inspired her to dedicate herself to making a difference to others in a way that never was possible for her. In 2001 she founded the Que Huong Charity Center in the Tan Dong Hiep Commune, and gradually increased the number of her dependents until it passed the 300 mark- all bearing a surname that Mother Huong received when she was briefly adopted the second time.

She also founded the Mother Houng Foundation to support this work and has begun expanding its footprint overseas to the US. Thanks to support given by donors and volunteers, these 346 children are all able to receive education, safe places to sleep and play, and the proper medical care to ensure they reach adulthood healthy.