Today’s Terriers
Sisters on a Mission —Srs. Maria Yeu ’17 and Mary Diep ’17
From half a world away, from the farming region of northern Vietnam, two Sisters have come to St. Francis
to learn skills that they will take home with them to improve the lives of the people they serve.
S
r. Maria Yeu ’17 and Sr. Mary Diep ’17 are from the Lovers of the
Holy Cross community in Phat Diem Diocese, a rural area a few
hours south of Hanoi. Thanks to a sponsor from the Houston-based
Formation Support for Vietnam, they came to the United States to learn
how to provide medical care for the poor in their community.
Their first stop was Houston where they enrolled in ESL classes.
(Learning English wasn’t their only obstacle. Both Sisters had taken the
name Maria, but it proved too confusing to their ESL teacher, so Sr. Diep
agreed to use the name Mary.) They then applied to and were accepted
by St. Francis College and were given Presidential Scholarships.
Sr. Mary is currently
working towards an
undergraduate degree in
Psychology while Sr. Maria
is getting an undergraduate
degree in nursing.
“We’ve never had a
nursing home for poor and
abandoned people,” said
Sr. Maria who will help set
up a facility in Phat Diem
when she goes home. When
the Sisters make house
calls, they are often at a loss
as to what to do since only
two of the 4 0 0 members
of the Congregation of the
Lovers have any training in
Western medicine.
Sr. Mary’s psychology
degree will open up a new
avenue for helping others
in Phat Diem. “There is not enough help for mental health issues in
Vietnam. The culture is not open to it. Our hope is that people will feel
comfortable talking with a Sister about their problems,” said Sr. Mary.
Often, she said, women and children who are victims of abuse suffer
in silence. She hopes her education at St. Francis can play an important
role in helping them heal. She also wants to reach out to young pe