Fresh hope for refugee

Press, 28 May 1984, Page 6

Fresh hope for refugee

PA Auckland A Vietnamese refugee, Vu Van Su, has received the best news he has had for months, but none of his family were there to share it He could not tell his wife, Ngo Nhu Dao, that, after battling for almost a year to become a registered nurse, the Nursing Council had given him hope.

A former senior nurse who worked with New Zealand surgical teams in Qui Nhon Hospital, South Vietnam, he has twice applied for official recognition in New Zealand. He graduated from nursing school in Haiphong, North Vietnam, in 1950 — but his records cannot b found. The council, after representations from many doc-

tors who served in Vietnam, now advises that he must complete six months clinical training at a New Zealand hospital. It suggests that he then reapply for formal registration. “I believe this means I will at last be able to continue the job I’ve been working at for over 20 years,” an elated Mr Vu said yesterday.

That’s the first part of Mr Vu’s dream of a bright new future in New Zealand after years of despair. The second will be when he meets his wife and family when they arrive from Saigon, perhaps by Christmas. Mr Vu has seen his wife for only 20 days in a little more than eight years and the reunion, he says, will be “wonderful for my life.”