HappyNews.com has a great story about a Vietnamese man (Tong Phuoc Phuc) who has become a safe haven for single mothers. He is an alternative to abortion for these women. Here are some clips from the article.
Phuc, a building contractor, started saving money to buy a craggy plot of land outside town. He then began collecting unwanted fetuses from hospitals and clinics to bury in graves on the property. At first, doctors and neighbors thought he had gone mad. Even his wife questioned spending their savings to build a cemetery for aborted babies.
He says word of his unusual graveyard eventually spread, and women who had undergone abortions started visiting to pray and burn incense. Phuc urged them to tell others considering the same option to talk with him first.
Phan Thi Hong Vu looks lovingly at her chubby 7½-month-old baby boy sucking on a pacifier surrounded by all the other babies on Phuc's floor. She shivers at the thought of how close she came to losing him.
''I actually went to the hospital intending to get an abortion, but I was so scared,'' says Vu, who was 3½ months pregnant at the time. ''I decided to go home and think about it. Two weeks later, I met with Phuc.''
It costs about $1,800 a month to care for all 33 babies and the women. Phuc gets donations from Catholic and Buddhist organizations and from people who have heard about his work. On a recent day, a local family dropped by with an envelope sent from their daughter in California who had read about Phuc on a Vietnamese Web site. Two years ago, he even got a letter from Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet praising him for caring for women and children scorned by society.
''I will continue this job until the last breath of my life,'' he says. ''I will encourage my children to take over to help other people who are underprivileged.''
Here is a blog where you can find out more about him and a way to donate if you wish.
