Nearly 800 female prisoners at Ngoc Ly Prison in Bac Giang Province, northern Vietnam received gifts in the form of books, friendly conversations, and life lessons during a talk held on Thursday on the occasion of Vietnamese Women’s Day (October 20).

The talk, jointly organized by the Women’s Union of Bac Giang Province, Ngoc Ly Prison, and the Vietnam Women’s Publishing House, focused on paths of rebuilding and recovery after imprisonment, which inspired many heartfelt conversations and personal stories shared by both guest speakers and the prisoners themselves.

Nguyen Quoc Vuong, a guest speaker at the talk, shared with the prisoners simple life lessons he has learned from his past as a helpless overseas student, struggling to feed himself in Japan, to the person he is today, in the hope of imparting to them the strength to carry on despite every challenge.

Another guest speaker, To Giang, who is an author of two autobiographies and at one point in his life was a convict in Australia, chose to speak about his journey to build a new life after prison terms.

While pursuing his dream of wealth and happiness in Australia, Giang grew marijuana illegally and was arrested in 2017 and received a sentence of nearly three years.

During his time in prison, Giang discovered inspiration and a new path, thanks to the benevolence of a wrongly-incarcerated monk and a compassionate female prison guard. 

He diligently learned English and prepared for his return to Vietnam, only to find a shattered family and a mother who fell seriously ill due to her sorrow over her son’s unfortunate news. 

However, Giang gracefully accepted these hardships, slowly regained his footing, and rebuilt his life.

At Thursday’s talk, he gifted his two books chronicling his transgressions and quest for kindness and enlightenment during his time in prison to the 800 female inmates.

Khuc Thi Hoa Phuong, director and editor-in-chief of Vietnam Women’s Publishing House, also made the female prisoners feel the kindness and understanding of a person who, while doing social work, has met many women from all walks of life.

Moved by the atmosphere of honesty and empathy, some of the prisoners themselves stood up to share their own story, the hardships that had led them to this moment in time, and also the hope they have for the future.

Prisoner Trinh Thi Ha, who was six times convicted in Vietnam and twice in Singapore and Hong Kong, told her own life story. Ha is now serving 20 months at age 64 for theft.

People listened to her speak about her experiences nearly a dozen times in prison, and they did not fear her. 

Instead, they only felt compassion for the woman who had been without parents and has largely lived in prison since she was 11 years old.

Sung Thi Chu, a Hmong ethnic prisoner hailing from northern Lao Cai Province, showed her optimism despite every tragedy and the hardships that life had thrown her way until now.

Chu, who only completed second grade, got married at 15 and has children with disabilities due to inbreeding. 

After divorcing, she became a drug trafficker. She has served two years of a five-year sentence. 

Despite all the hardships, she hopes for support to do farming and care for her children post-release.

As the dialogue ended, everybody from the guest speakers to the prisoners found themselves having learned a new profound lesson from sharing and receiving without judgment.

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