North Port woman seeks to raise awareness of the plight of 5 Little Monks in Vietnam

Earle Kimel, Sarasota Herald-Tribune
·4 min read
Tanya Nguyen-Do created subtitles for this video of the 5 Little Monks, which features a skit about karma. She has entered the video in the Sarasota Film Festival, as well as several other film festivals around the world, in hopes of raising awareness of the plight of the Vietnamese Buddhist group that cares for the children.
Tanya Nguyen-Do created subtitles for this video of the 5 Little Monks, which features a skit about karma. She has entered the video in the Sarasota Film Festival, as well as several other film festivals around the world, in hopes of raising awareness of the plight of the Vietnamese Buddhist group that cares for the children.

NORTH PORT – Tanya Nguyen-Do first learned of the 5 Little Monks of Thiền Am Bên Bờ Vũ Trụ in Vietnam three months ago, while surfing through YouTube videos.

As she watched the children perform a skit about karma and morality, the message both touched her heart and galvanized her soul, while she underwent treatment for follicular lymphoma.

“I was amazed at how talented they were,” Nguyen-Do, 61, said. “They won so many contests as little people.”

She started interacting with the group – at first, she offered to help teach them English – and created a version of one video with English subtitles that she submitted to the Sarasota Film Festival for consideration.

The Buddhist group, TABBVT for short, consists of about 30 members, Nguyen-Do noted, and has a following of about 2.3 million subscribers split among three YouTube channels. That revenue helps support the temple.

But TABBVT is not sanctioned by the Vietnamese government and as a result is persecuted for practicing its version of Buddhism.

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Translated web stores from Vietnamese publications – including Lao Dong, which is published by the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor and has a reputation for being an independent voice – have chronicled allegations of impropriety among the monks, who are led by 92-year-old Le Tung Van.

Those allegations include profiting off of the work of the orphans and disabled children in their care, as well as questions on whether the 90-year-old monk – who Nguyen-Do refers to as Grandmaster Le – is the father of several of the orphans.

Nguyen-Do calls those reports fake news, put forth by the government as part of an ongoing practice of harassing Le and his followers.

Either Jan. 3 or Jan. 4, according to published reports, Long An Provincial police officers took away the young monks and plan to prosecute Le and three other monks.

Both the electricity and internet have been cut off at Le’s residence, identified in published reports as the Bong Lai Pure House, where he remains under house arrest.

The text of a change.org petition seeking to raise awareness of the plight of the monks notes that the children have not been able to participate in their online classes, but while newspaper accounts note the three other monks have been detained, there were no immediate details about the children.

That recent development has prompted Nguyen-Do to start reaching out to the media, as well as the federal government and United Nations, in hopes of interceding for the children.

Immigration in 1975

Nguyen-Do was 15 when she left Vietnam in 1975, under the guardianship of an auntie who became her adopted mother.

Tanya Nguyen-Do hopes to raise awareness of 5 Little Monks in Vietnam.
Tanya Nguyen-Do hopes to raise awareness of 5 Little Monks in Vietnam.

First, they went to Guam and Fort Indiantown Gap in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, before Jewish Family and Children’s Service of Greater Philadelphia helped them find a permanent home.

Nguyen-Do first lived in Philadelphia and then Cape May, New Jersey. They later moved to North Port in 2006, after a doctor suggested it for health reasons.

Nguyen-Do and her son own and operate Artistica Day Spa in North Port.

After a recent trip to H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa for treatment Nguyen-Do said she is responding well to but also admitted that the long-term survival rates for follicular lymphoma is not encouraging.

“I’m OK, a few months, a few years, who knows?” Nguyen-Do said. “But spiritually I’m well.

“All I can think is, who can take over this mission?

“I use cancer as an opportunity to appreciate life every day,” she added

Nguyen-Do considers herself a Buddhist but doesn’t go to temple.

“I believe Buddha is in your heart and your soul,” she said.

The 5 Little Monks impressed Nguyen-Do because their performances were so natural.

She said that, too, is why she submitted the 12-minute subtitled video to the Sarasota Film Festival.

Paul Ratner, managing director of the Sarasota Film Festival, said the submission deadline for films is open until Feb. 15, and no choices have been made on what films may be screened.

Nguyen-Do said she is hoping to appeal to the U.N. based on religious freedom and has been networking with churches for help, too.

At the same time, she said, the ultimate safe resolution for the monks may lie in the United States.

“I don’t know that that will work out,” Nguyen-Do said. “But I know that will be the only way to resolve the issue, asylum in the United States.”

Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Tanya Nguyen-Do seeks to raise awareness of 5 Little Monks in Vietnam