Article 3: Proud Vietnamese female soldiers in Africa
(CPV) – Although participating in UN peacekeeping activities much later than other countries, Vietnam has always been highly appreciated by the UN and other countries, including for the percentage of Vietnamese female soldiers’ participation being higher than the rate recommended by the UN.
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| Major General Hoang Kim Phung, Director of the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, takes a photo with female soldiers of the Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1 during the departure ceremony on April 27, 2022 (Photo: Kieu Giang). |
According to the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations, since joining UN peacekeeping operations (from 2014 to present), Vietnam has sent 72 female soldiers to participate, 66 in the form of a unit and 6 personally. Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1 currently has a very high percentage of female (21/184 comrades), accounting for more than 11.4%, while normally, at the unit level in each sending country, the proportion of females is only about 6-7%. In addition, the percentage of women participating in Level-2 Field Hospital is also high, as Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4 currently has 12 females out of 63 people, accounting for over 19%, while the rate encouraged the UN is 15%.
Taking on a mission far from the fatherland for the first time
Contacting the female members of the Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1 when have had just arrived in Abyei (a border area between Sudan and South Sudan) for a week and are busy settling down, I feel the difficulties and hardships of Vietnam's first deployed squad at the UN Mission. Having just finished the four-day and night travel from Vietnam to Abyei, all the members had to immediately start renovating the housing containers of the Ethiopian infantry battalion unit used for 10 years as the unit base. Having to arrange accommodation for 184 people and immediately deploy the tasks of the engineering force at the request of the UN was a challenge that needed the cooperation and solidarity of all the members.
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| Outdoor meals of members of the Engineering Unit in early days when they arrived in Abyei without a dining room (Photo: Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1). |
Sharing with us, Senior Lieutenant Vu Hong Thuy, a member of the Level-1 Field Hospital of the Engineering Unit joked, "We haven't had time to miss home, we were caught up in work. Everyone had to immediately start cleaning, fixing the accommodation, arranging the working rooms and unloading the goods from the container for storage. In early days, there were no tables and chairs, the whole unit had to eat outside; we found the dry rice here difficult to eat; the accommodation is moldy and dilapidated, but the whole unit is excited and enthusiastic. Thanks to that, we quickly stabilized in all aspects.”
Ms. Thuy also said that the Engineering Unit has 21 female members. Each member has their own job, mainly logistics. This job is very hard, especially in the first days of arrival and in hot weather, with a lack of kitchen utensils. Therefore, female members in different groups are mobilized to participate in supporting the logistics department.
However, Ms. Dang Thi Ly (Logistics Group) said that all the females in the group were very excited and proud to be given the task of taking care of meals and logistics for the whole unit in the context of working far away from the country. Sharing about her first time on a mission in Africa, she said that it was a special experience and she would like to contribute her best with the whole group to contribute to bringing better things to the people in Abyei, Africa.
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| Major Nguyen Thi Tam, a member of Logistic Group, Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1 weeds the garden to grow green vegetables (Photo: Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1). |
Sharing the same thoughts, Major Nguyen Thi Hong Quyen, Director of Level-1 Field Hospital under Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1, said "Our job is to provide first aid and medical care for the entire unit during implementing the mission at Abyei. We have determined that the working attitude is to ensure high independence, while the equipment has shortcomings and inadequacies. However, with a sense of responsibility, we look forward to being dedicated in performing our duties.”
Peace of mind because of a solid rear
Our story is constantly interrupted because of unstable network connection. The sisters laughed and said, "Internet is the most luxurious thing here". Therefore, to ensure the speed and quality of the transmission line, the use of the internet for peacekeeping force members is divided into even-odd times. After working hours, what women want the most is to be able to connect and chat with their family. However, due to the time difference (about 5 hours), when they finished their work, it was already late at night in Vietnam. Therefore, in addition to taking advantage of the internet, they also have to take advantage of the little "golden time" every day to contact their family.
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Female members of the Engineering Unit in Vietnamese Ao dai in Abyei, Africa
(Photo: Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1). |
Senior Lieutenant Vu Hong Thuy and her husband are from the northern province of Thai Binh, but both of them work and live in the northern province of Ninh Binh. When Mrs. Thuy goes on a mission in Africa, her husband tried to arrange his work to take care of their children. The children are also very self-disciplined and know how to take care of themselves when their father goes to work and their mother works away from home. Therefore, she always feels confident to do the task.
Ms. Dang Thi Ly’s children are grown up, so she said "It was the children who encouraged me a lot when I knew that their mother would be away on a business trip within 1 year. When I still feel anxious and worried, my husband and children are the ones who encourage me to work safely. This is a big motivator for me.”
Also receiving solid support from the rear, Major, doctor Nguyen Thi Thanh Hai, Head of the Department of Internal Infectious Diseases, Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4 in South Sudan said that her husband is a soldier, so he understand her difficult work. He searched information about South Sudan and its people so that she can be best prepared in all aspects. Her father-in-law, also a soldier, had participated in missions away from home every year, so he understands and sympathizes with his daughter-in-law. Before going to South Sudan, her father-in-law rode a motorbike for more than 40km to bring green tea and vegetable seeds for her to prepare for her time away from home. Those thoughtful things from the rear made her feel emotional and very lucky to have the support of the whole family to complete the job well.
The "steel roses" on the land of Africa
Before returning to South Sudan as Deputy Director of Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4, Lieutenant Colonel Do Thi Hang Nga was a staff officer at the UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS). She is the first Vietnamese female officer to join the UN Peacekeeping Mission. After successfully completing the duty of a staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel Do Thi Hang Nga was again selected to be in the leadership of Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4.
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Lieutenant Colonel Do Thi Hang Nga (in the middle) and female soldiers of Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4.
(Photo: Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4.) |
With her current job, Lieutenant Colonel Do Thi Hang Nga said, “Besides fulfilling my professional duties well, I hope to be the spiritual support of the females in Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4, who are performing their tasks for the first time. We will try to overcome all difficulties and challenges to complete all assigned tasks. We have also prepared the necessary knowledge and skills to do a good job of mass mobilization and to be peace messengers for the people of the host country, especially poor women and children."
She shared that the field trips and access to people's lives gave her unforgettable experiences, helping her understand more about them. Near the stationed area of Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4, some villages are still flooded with immense water (water close to the roof) due to the impact of historic floods during the rainy season last year. People have to leave the village, find a higher place to build a house. As a result, new villages sprung up, crowded with people in makeshift houses. A new rainy season begins, she does not know how long those temporary will last. Occasionally, she and her colleagues from the hospital visit them and give them small gifts, sharing their hardships and difficulties.
“Thanks to my job, I am able to go places where female soldiers like us have never thought we would go. Thanks to my job, I have the opportunity to see many difficult situations and see the value of a peaceful life in our country," said Lieutenant Colonel Nga.
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| Female soldiers from Level-2 Field Hospital No. 4 and children in Bentiu, South Sudan (Photo: Sy Cong) |
Also in the mood of "returning to Africa", Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Lien, CIMIC officer, Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1, said, "For the second time receiving the task of participating in the peacekeeping force in a different field from the previous mission, I myself did not hesitate. I always think 'I can do it' to motivate myself. Stepping into the actual work as a mobilization officer - a bridge between the military and the inter-sectoral agencies, I myself have the opportunity to experience and challenge myself in a new field. If in the past, I joined the Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic as a training staff officer, now I perform the duties of an officer in the combined military-civilian operation (CIMIC) of the Engineering Unit. I will have work more with iron and steel, cement, cranes, tractors at construction, road and bridge fields. I will have an opportunity to have more new experiences. That was amazing."
Ms. Lien said that in the first months of working in the Central African Republic, she was the only female member of the Vietnamese officers' delegation on duty in the harsh African country. And now, in Abyei, she is one of the oldest members of the female engineer squad. No matter what position, in any field of activity, she always remembers that in addition to performing well the assigned tasks, it is necessary to always preserve the image of Vietnamese women. Every work I do must to show fine qualities of women of a heroic nation, which is loyal, courageous, always ready to help people and tries her best to overcome all difficulties and challenges.
Talking about Colonel Nguyen Thi Lien, colleagues in other countries still remember her with the story of 800 masks "made by Lien" that she rented a sewing machine herself, bought fabric and brought home to sew. The precious masks that she sewed herself after working hours to give to the UN Mission staff and local people are really a meaningful gift in the context of the complicated developments of the COVID-19 epidemic in the world, as well as in a poor country like the Central African Republic in 2020. With this gesture, Ms. Lien received a letter of commendation from Lieutenant General Daniel Traore, Commander of the US Mission in the Central African Republic. The letter of commendation wrote that her kindness, generosity and hard work have demonstrated the core values of the UN. She deserves to be a great Ambassador of Vietnam.
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Senior Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Thi Lien and colleagues perform a mission at the UN Mission in Abyei
(Photo: Vietnam's Engineering Unit Rotation 1) |
The sewing machine that Ms. Lien used to sew masks, a painting by chidren from South Sudan given to Major Do Thi Hang Nga, etc., in April 2022, has been given to the Vietnamese Women's Museum. They will be precious artifacts, vivid evidence of the contributions of Vietnamese female soldiers and the affection of the indigenous people for the soldiers of “Uncle Ho's Army”.
Talking about their own results, the sisters humbly said that it was simply the performance of the task. They always try to complete the assigned tasks, to set an example for their children and will be happy if those efforts contribute to spreading the beauty of female soldiers and the image of Vietnamese women in the peace./.
Article 1: Vietnamese engineers perform an international mission for the first time
Article 2: Continuing peacekeeping mission of Vietnamese military medical staff
Article 4: Vietnam’s imprint in peacekeeping mission