THE STORY OF A MIRACLE CHILD

Dr. Luis Medrano and Sister Bernadette with Bonbon

 THE STORY OF A MIRACLE CHILD

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The baby in the pictures above and below is Bonbon. Tran Ba Duy is his real name.  His young parents fled their homeland on a small fishing boat with sixteen other refugees hoping to find a safe haven somewhere outside of their country of birth. They sailed across China Sea for weeks. One morning they saw an island from afar. 

Andrew Taylor and Bonbon

Thirty minutes before landing on the island their boat capsized when it hit an underwater rock. Shortly after that, everyone sank into the water and drowned because they couldn't swim; they were too weak due to dehydration and hunger. Bonbon's mom tried to stay afloat while holding her precious child. Her husband was nowhere in sight. She was too weak to swim and hold on to Bonbon but she refused to let him go. Seconds before she was about to give up, she heard her husband calling, "Em oi!" Em oi!!!". She responded to him and they found each other. Moments after she handed the baby to her husband, she sank deep into the water, never to emerge again.

 

Dr. Luis Medrano and Bonbon

Bonbon's mother was forever gone. His father was helpless. He tried to swim to the island in sight, but he was too exhausted. He was about to give up when he saw a Filipino fishing boat coming to the rescue . All the boat people during that trip died except Bonbon and his father. After they were rescued by the kind Filipino villagers, his father cried like a child calling the name of his wife. When he couldn't cry anymore he stopped but fell into a deep shock. When he and Bonbon arrived in the camp he refused to speak to anyone. He stayed speechless for months. He just sat in one corner looking at one direction and sometimes his tears rolling down his cheeks.  

Sister Bernadette Izon, O.P.,  Dr. Luis Medrano and wife Cira, Mona San Luis, and Bonbon

Sister Bernadette then volunteered to take care of Bonbon while his father was recuperating. After seven long months, Bonbon's father started to speak and interact again. He started doing his normal routine.

For the benefit of his miracle child, Bonbon stayed with Sister Bernadette and the Dominican Sisters at the convent downtown Puerto Princesa City. Two years later, Bonbon and his father immigrated to France.

 Everybody loves you, Bonbon! With Benny Ong

If you know Tran Ba Duy's AKA Bonbon's whereabouts, please email us at impeccable37@yahoo.com. He lives in France and is now around 28 years old (2014)

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VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE

WHAT DOES "VIETNAMESE BOAT PEOPLE" MEAN?

(Adapted from Phuong Minh Nguyen's PFAC Palawan Facebook posting on October 24, 2014.)

Vietnamese boat people refers to refugees who fled Vietnam by boat and ship after the Vietnam War, especially during 1978 and 1979, but continuing until the early 1990s.



 The term "Vietnamese Boat People" is often used generically to refer to all the Vietnamese (about 2 million) who left their country by any means or method between 1975 and 1995.

The number of boat people leaving Vietnam and arriving safely in another country totaled almost 800,000 between 1975 and 1995. Many of the refugees failed to survive the passage, facing danger and hardship from pirates, over-crowded boats, and storms. The boat people's first destinations were the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Singapore plus the British colony of Hong Kong.

The mass flight of hundreds of thousands of boat people from Vietnam in 1978 and 1979 caused an international humanitarian crisis with the Southeast Asian countries increasingly unwilling to accept ever more boat people on their shores. After negotiations and an international conference in 1979, Vietnam agreed to limit the flow of people leaving the country, the Southeast Asian countries agreed to admit the boat people temporarily, and the rest of the world, especially the developed countries, agreed to assume most of the costs of caring for the boat people and to resettle them in their countries.

From refugee camps in Southeast Asia, the great majority of boat people were resettled in developed countries, more than one-half in the United States and most of the remainder in France, Canada, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

Several tens of thousands were repatriated to Vietnam, either voluntarily or involuntarily. Programs and facilities to carry out resettlement included the Orderly Departure Program, the Philippine Refugee Processing Center, and the Comprehensive Plan of Action

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PFAC Palawan Plaza where the main stage used to be.

OOO



SON SAYS GOOD BYE TO PFAC PALAWAN

Featuring VO NGOC SON

From Vietnam to PFAC to Norway

 

 Vo Ngoc Son and his former teacher Andrew Taylor

 Son and the rest of the graduation dancers, his classmates

 Son had a simple party three days before he left PFAC for Norway.

 Son's other former teacher is Maricor Torrecampo.

 Son was an active member of the PFAC Boyscouts.

 A true leader and a great person.

 With Teacher Gemma and Maricor

 His former teacher Andrew Taylor

 With Teachers Sammy and Benny Ong

 With his friends

 With the Boyscouts

 Good bye PFAC Palawan, Son's second home away from home.

 So was a really young when he arrived in PFAC.

Vo Ngoc Son and friends

(Vo Ngoc Son and his former English teacher Andrew Taylor were reunited in Orange County, California on June 19, 2014. Son now lives in Oslo, Norway with his lovely wife and two well-raised children)

XXX