Amid the bustling rhythm of the year’s final days, in a quiet corner on the outskirts of Hanoi, a shared roof gently keeps the flame of spring alive for elderly people and children with nowhere else to turn.
As the capital’s streets fill with shoppers rushing to prepare for Tet, Social Protection Center No. 3 grows busy in its own way. Here, spring does not come only from five-fruit trays or steaming pots of banh chung, but from patient gestures of care and decades of steadfast protection for lives once left alone.
Staff at Social Protection Center No. 3 care for elderly residents without family support. Photo: N. Huyen
According to Nguyen Hong Phong, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Health, the department currently oversees 11 public social assistance facilities, caring for 672 elderly people. All are beneficiaries under Government Decree 20/2021 and specific policies issued by the Hanoi People’s Council under Resolution 09/2021/NQ-HDND, as well as regulations on supporting homeless individuals in the city.
Within that system, Social Protection Center No. 3 remains the first - and to this day the only - facility in Hanoi assigned to care for elderly people who are lonely and without family support.
Director Tran Thi Hai said that for many years the center has strictly followed procedures in receiving, managing and caring for residents.
“In 2019, the center cared for the highest number of elderly residents, with a total of 82. Currently, we are looking after 37, including 32 women and 5 men,” she said.
Most have lived here for many years, some for more than two decades. Their average age ranges from 80 to 90. One resident recently passed away at 105. Those numbers reflect not only the passage of time but also the dedication of the staff who have quietly stood beside them.
Entrusting everything to the center
Director Tran Thi Hai visits and encourages elderly residents at the center. Photo: N. Huyen
Mrs. M., 90, from Xuan Phuong in Hanoi, has lived at the center since 2008. Without husband or children, she was admitted as a lonely elderly beneficiary.
“I am used to living here. I consider it my home,” she said softly.
For more than twenty years, her Tet seasons have passed with the laughter of children, the attentive care of staff members she affectionately calls her sons and daughters.
Mr. Bach Quang Ngoc perhaps understands loss most deeply. He once lived for years at Bo De Pagoda in Gia Lam District.
“I have two children, a son and a daughter, but they could not support me. I used to have land and a house in Gia Lam, but when my children grew up, I sold everything and divided it among them, keeping nothing for myself,” he recalled calmly.
He worked various manual jobs and later volunteered at the pagoda for shelter. In 2014, he was brought to the center. Since then, it has been his home.
Mr. Bach Quang Ngoc. Photo: N. Huyen Director of Social Protection Center No. 3 Tran Thi Hai visits and encourages elderly residents. Photo: N. Huyen
After a fall, staff suggested contacting his children. He firmly declined. “When I entered the center, I told them I entrusted everything here. I am well cared for, with milk and medicine every month. When I fall ill, they look after me attentively. The State and the center treat me kindly, so I do not want to trouble my relatives,” Ngoc said.
Each morning, he rises early to help clean the elderly living quarters. For him, working is a way to feel useful, to live each day with quiet gratitude.
Mrs. H., 83, from Thanh Oai District, arrived at the center at the age of 60. “I have no family at all. I was completely alone,” she shared. For 23 years, this place has been her only home.
She returns to her hometown occasionally on her parents’ death anniversary. During Tet, if younger relatives invite her, she visits briefly before returning to the center.
“I am used to being here. I have friends with similar circumstances, children who are also without family, and staff who feel like my own. I no longer feel lonely,” she said.
Each spring, the center wraps banh chung, decorates with peach blossoms and kumquat trees, and organizes small cultural activities. In this space, Tet is no longer a reminder of abandonment. It arrives differently - through the State’s support, the community’s responsibility and the devoted care of those who quietly serve day and night.
Vietnamnet.vn
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