La Salle Mossard Community after the Brothers left the school

Monthly salaries for the Brother-Teachers had been thrifty - having something is better than nothing. When “Religious men, go back to convent” had applied to the Brothers at the La Salle Mossard Community, a big problem was brought up about financial resources for the livelihood of 20 members, including the younger Brothers, “How to look for a means of earning our living?”

There were many suggestions raised for serious consideration. All agreed to try because “without experience, one can do nothing.”

1. Buying a cyclo that, in turn, younger Brothers could pedal around the city, and then could earn 20 State-bank dong per day. The problem was how long these Brothers could do it, since for years, they had been familiar with using pen and paper at the desk? Whether or not earned money could cover medical expenses? So, forget it!

2. Using the garage for growing mushrooms. The first harvest brought satisfactory results. The second and third harvests were deficient.

3. Joining the Manure Cooperation at Mai Thon. According to the contract, the Manure Cooperation provides raw manure, i.e. any kinds of dry grasses or rice trawl, or waste items (remaining food or left over after meal included), especially, stools from cows, pigs, etc. more or less dried. The employees had to mix altogether all these sources after chopping them up, then pack them into plastic bags.

Brothers Colomban, Michel and I, with the help of some Juniors in the afternoon, could pack up to 5 plastic bags full of 10kg mixed manure per day. The earned money was set for 1 State Bank dong/bag. Three weeks had passed. No earned money was paid. Giving up that dirty job for another job was thought the best.

4. Brother Prosper suggested that the community use the old Renault car, remodeling its inside for an actual accommodation to transform it into a coach car. Brothers Michel and Dennis, volunteered in joining Brother Prosper’s project. The whole community agreed to run the transportation line to Binh Son, a New Economic Zone about 120km (75 Miles) from Saigon, arguing that poor people who had been forced to leave their homes from the city, would need more help. Brother Prosper was entrusted to apply for legal documents, i.e. professional permits for the driver, the “driver-aids,” and be responsible for everything concerning this project.

With the approval of Brother Lucien, Visitor, and to save money on gas expenses, the Renault car was parked at La Salle Phu Tho near the bus station. Every morning the driver and three “driver-aid” Brothers drove on two Honda motorcycles to Phu Tho, then came to the bus station as early as possible in order to get the “departure ticket” on the basis “first come first served.” Passengers were always ready to go.
It’s good to know that for this kind of “coach bus,” passengers don’t have to buy tickets. They can get in and get off the bus anytime and anywhere within the assigned transportation-line, though they just have to pay the fees for passengers - and for luggage, if any - corresponding to the distance they travel. There was no limit to the number of passengers onboard. The fees for passengers and luggage was totally decided by the “driver-aid.”

The number of passengers waiting for the Brothers’ Renault coach at the bus station gradually increased every day. However, they had gotten the monetary return for the past two weeks just even for the gas expenses. On the first day of the third week, the Brothers noticed that many passengers had waited for them at the bus station, even though there were some other coach-buses departing before them only half-full of passengers, on the same bus route as theirs. Not only the Brothers noticed this, other diver-aid colleagues noticed this, too. Therefore, on the next day, a driver-aid colleague disguised as an ordinary passenger boarded the Brothers’ coach and observed the manner that the Brothers dealt with passengers.

Arriving at the destination, Binh Son New Economic Zone, the driver-aid colleague revealed himself and explained to the Brothers the reason why he had been on the trip. Then he requested that he assume the role of a driver-aid on the route back as an example of “how to fulfill the job of a driver-aid to earn money.” In turn, the Brothers became ordinary passengers and observed the driver-aid colleague as “teacher.”
. The “teacher” collected passenger fees always without mercy, even a bit higher. He charged without mercy fees for luggage. When the Brother passengers shook their heads, showing pity for these passengers, he argued that “these bags of rice, coffee, fruits, etc. are ‘contraband goods,’ you know. [After ‘75, transporting any goods from one city to another required permission of transportation from the Food Services. There were many check-points along any road into and out from the city. In addition, there were different mobile check-points. The policy of the new government was to control people’s travel. To avoid trouble, i.e. goods being taken over (to the benefit of local officials), or a bus being impounded for a long time, etc. people should know “what to do, and how to do it.”] At any station, you must deal with the officials in ‘tacitly paying taxes.’ It’s more practical and simple that we, driver-aids, had to pay for passengers instead of letting them pay for themselves.”

. Along the bus route, if the driver-aid saw someone on the road side, he made a sign to the driver to stop, then invited the new passengers to get in, even though the bus was filled. It was like sardines onboard. The three Brother passengers, again, more or less unhappy with the way the passengers were treated, shook their heads. The driver-aid colleague tried to convince them that “if you were one of these people who really needed to move, say, in an emergency case, and there were no other means of transportation, what would you do, or want?” The three Brother passengers began to see that, “the secret for happiness - [at least for peace of mind] - depends on each one’s capacity in adapting to any circumstance of his or her life.” (Pierre Daco, Les Prodigieuses Découvertes de la Psychologie Moderne.)

..At every check-point, the driver-aid colleague, after gauging the actual temper of local officials, knew how to cope accordingly, i.e. “how much it’s worth to give them money.”

When the three driver-aid Brothers recalled this “training lesson” to the whole community, Brother Francois, Director, remarked, saying, “Children of this world are more clever than children of light!” Brother Prosper added, “Isn’t it true that we must be as simple as doves, and clever as snakes?” In fact, after “being trained” by the driver-aid colleague, the driver-aid team contributed to the community a little more money without damaging, too much, the poor passengers. [Nobody knows how and when Brother Prosper had successfully fled overseas. He then resettled in Australia on November 1977. He passed away on March 1, 1993, in Sydney. Two other driver-aid Brothers, Michel and Dennis, continued their job until “D” day when policemen came to “visit” the La Salle Community on January 3, 1978. (see Part 4)]

5. My closest friend, Mr. Remy, whom I had known since we were at the Junioriate at La Salle Pellerin School in 1958, came to visit me. He had gotten married into the Phuoc Tuong Phat great family, of Chinese origin, who had run several businesses. Even and after ‘75 one of these businesses was an Ice Maker Factory in Thu Duc. His wife, Mrs. Nguyet, gave him a son. I was a godfather for his baptism in October 1976.

Mr. Remy and his family offered ten ice blocks per day (Each block = 30cmx20cmx100cm) for the wholesale cost of $1dong/cubic block. My job was to find and to deliver to refreshment stands or coffee kiosks at this retail price. “You can sell $4 dong/cubic block,” he said, “Then, after subtracting gas expenses, and original cost per block, you can earn about $20dong or so, per day. I think that was the way Nguyet and I would like to help you and the Brothers.”

During this time of great austerity the whole community gratefully appreciated such an offer. I accepted to be a Lambro tricycle driver to re-sell ice blocks every morning at 4:00 A.M. However, the problem was “how to find refreshment stands or coffee kiosks?” Fortunately, one of my friends, Mr. Thanh, who used to come spend some time to enjoy “yellow music (music before ‘75),” talking, and relaxing in my room, volunteered to find and deal with kiosk owners about the ice delivery every morning. In less than a week, he found 20 patrons. In addition, he offered to accompany me every morning from Phuoc Tuong Phat to each of the kiosk patrons.

I used to wake up a quarter to 4:00 A.M., got on the Lambro tricycle starter to make its engine start, then went to Phuoc Tuong Phat to pick up 10 ice cubic blocks. It took about 3 hours for a tour of delivery to 20 kiosks. So far so good . Everyone in the community was happy.

One early morning, I attempted many times to start the engine, but it didn’t start. I began counting the attempts up to 60, and the engine didn’t start either. I went upstairs, woke up a Junior and asked him to push the Lambro tricycle. After a while, the engine started. Similar situations had happened so many times that, when I awoke ready to go “to work,” the Juniors decided among themselves to take turns awaking in order to help me start the Lambro tricycle engine.

On another morning, while I drove a half of an ice block, delivering it to a coffee kiosk, I saw a little kid who was going in my direction, and he looked at me, then said, “Brother An! You are Brother An?” I was astonished. Looking at him, I was a little bit embarrassed, but still proudly, I replied, “Why yes! How do you do? Why are you here?” I, then, put down the half ice cubic block in front of the kiosk, ran out to the Lambro, and continued my work, forgetting to take money from the patron!

6. Brother Pierre, like all other Brothers, had been searching for a job. One of his students’ father, who had formed a joint business with the State, Rail & Bridge Construction Company, recruited Brother Pierre for his typewriter team. To tell the truth, Brother Pierre, like many other Brothers, didn’t learn “how to type” following any methodology. The two-finger methodology: wasn’t it enough!

Brother Pierre honestly confessed to Mr. Vice President in charge of Personnel that he could not meet the criteria as a typist. Nevertheless, he knew that I used to type for more than a decade before, and that I had been an expert in typing. He suggested that I take his place in the typewriter team. The vice-president agreed. I so exchange with Brother Pierre my job as an ice blocks deliverer for a typist.

The typewriter team was composed of 4 agents, myself included. The job consisted of “photocopying” technical documents, or any legal documents from other Departments in the Company. Certain documents were in French or in English. Most of them were in Vietnamese, and the typewriter team was to stencil them into many copies for use by the whole Company around the country, especially from the 17th parallel to the South.

I had been familiar with typing since I first entered the Petit-Novitiate in Nha Trang in 1960. I worked for the trimester News Letter of the District, Lien Lac, and the semi-annual BAN (Friends) Bulletin. At the very first text, I typed so fast that it made consecutive sounds like fire-cracker explosions, and everyone in the room clapped his/her hands in admiration. Two or three days later, the head of the typewriter team whispered to my ears, “Brother, may you type slower?” Kind of amazed, I frowned at him. He smiled, then continued in a really low tone, “Brother, we have to live, too! If you type too fast, we will have nothing to do! Furthermore, we won’t have any reason to come back in the evening for to work overtime!” I showed him that I understood by nodding my head, and smiling. He continued, after looking around, “You may know it, one overtime hour is equivalent to one and a half; in addition, you’ll have a free snack, e.g. a big dumpling, or a glutinous rice cake!” “It sounds good,” I thought. And I understood why people used to say that, “Workers, especially employees in public office, were concerned about finishing required working time, rather than by finishing assigned work.”

More than 3 weeks had passed. While I was typing a technical text in French, I heard someone asked, “Is it you, Brother An?” I raised my head and saw a gentleman smiling at me. I replied, “Yes, I am Brother An.” He shook my hand, then said, “This job should not be yours.” He smiled again, then left. The head of the typewriter team came to me and respectfully said, “Do you know who he is?” I shook my head. “That’s the boss of the company,” he said. I shrugged my shoulders, then said, “Really?”

The next morning, the vice president in charge of personnel came to my desk. He said, “Brother! Please move to the Planning Department. That is more suitable work for you.” I was working with 5 other people who had been working as engineers for bridges and roads or engineers in chemistry and electricity for the former system of Saigon. I was in charge of 20 bridges from Da Rang to Phan Thiet, including expenditures for salaries for workers, and all necessary materials for each bridge.

This job was relatively easy. I really enjoyed working in an air conditioned room. But, to be honest, I still regretted not working with the typewriter team because there I could get “extra money,” and particularly “a big dumpling or a glutinous rice cake” every evening!

***

By the end of November 1977, the Brothers agreed to celebrate Christmas in the chapel of the Junioriate. I was assigned to be M.C. for the liturgy. I gathered some friends to form a band to prepare for and practice the Christmas songs and music.

Unfortunately, I received news from my family on December 8, that my father had undergone a treatment at the hospital and might expire at any time. I told this to a Junior, Alphonse Minh - who later became Brother Alphonse Minh in 1985, to continue working with the band so that the Christmas celebration ‘77 “should be like a catalyst to support each other with JOY and PEACE and HOPE during these difficult times.” My father passed away on December 13, 1977, in his 70’s. I returned to Thu Duc on December 23.

Back in my room, I noticed that it had been searched thoroughly: drawers opened and emptied, the closet opened and items in disorder, the typewriter and Getstetner printing-machine was lost. Brother Gervais came to my room and said, “Bad news! Not only bad news. It has caused everyone of us to be anxious: Tien, a Junior, has been arrested and put in jail. Nobody knows where he could be since December 12.”

On December 10, Brother Dennis brought a propaganda flier from the Inter-religions Anti-Communist Front whose leader was Rev. Redemptorist Vang. Brother Dennis requested that Brother Pierre Thang type on stencil paper then duplicate it up to 200 copies. Everything had been done “secretly” in my room with the presence of Brothers Dennis, Michel, Pierre, and Duong Hoang, a Junior. Brother Dennis took responsibility to submit these duplicates to “whom it may concern.” Brother Michel kept one copy with the intention to inform Brother Colomban. Duong Hoang, clandestinely, hid one copy.

Mr. La The Dung, Principal of Junior&High School of Thu Duc, used to stand in the balcony looking towards the rest room area for students, from the 3rd floor of the building. On the morning of Monday, December 12, he stood there, as usual after breakfast, relaxing through the Tai Chi method. Students came in and out from the rest area. He suddenly saw a student involuntarily drop a piece of white paper. “Students are used to being careless,” he thought. The bell rang. Everything seemed normal for a school day.

A student rushed to the principal’s office, submitted to him the piece of white paper, and then said, “Mr. Principal, I picked up this piece of paper in the corridor of the rest area. It seems something like a propaganda flier and seems really reactionary.” The principal took the piece of paper. He immediately recognized the piece of paper. He had seen a student drop it. He said, “Good! Go back to class.” He called the police station while trying to figure out something more specific and more concrete about that careless student. “Oh! that’s right,” he said to himself, suddenly remembering a black mourning band on that student’s right arm. [Tien had been informed of his father’s death in a re-education camp on October 1977. Northern people used to wear a black band on the right arm as a sign of being in mourning when a close relative died.]

A group of 5 policemen came. The principal led the group into every class, looking at every student. In the 12th grade class, he pointed to Tien, and shouted, “Here, he is! That’s that guy!” Since that day of December 12, Tien has disappeared.

Despite such an embarrassing event, and all printed Christmas songs were burned, the community decided to invite former students, students, and friends to celebrate Christmas Eve, Saturday, December 24 at 9:00 P.M. There were over 200 people gathered in the chapel of the Junioriate, faithfully and joyfully singing “Silent Night,” “Il est né, le Divin Enfant,” etc.

After the mass, two Chinese girl students, Thuy and Mac, came to me, wishing “Merry Christmas.” Then one of them said, “Brother! I have to relate to you a marvelous experience in my life. We are not Catholic, you know. We were seated in the front row observing the mass. After the communion, the priest continued to distribute the ‘small white pancake’ to the people in the first pew. When he came to me, I was still sitting because I know I cannot receive it. But he stood in front of me, waiting for my reaction. I didn’t know what to do. I suddenly stood up, and although very embarrassed, I extended my hands to receive the piece of pancake and put it into my mouth. I felt something peaceful and comforting in my heart, and I was happy, too! Even now, I can hear the beat of joy in my heart.” I hugged both of them, then said, “Peace of Christ be with you! God loves everyone of us!”

***

On December 27 I was assigned to report on the 20 bridges that I had been in charge of. The final report of 1977. I returned home on January 2, 1978.

After dinner some Brothers and Juniors gathered, talking and gossiping about everything before going to bed. The local policeman came “just for a visit,” he said. Brother Colomban had been familiar with such “visits.” He came up to his room, brought all the family-registers of the community, presented them to the policeman with, as usual, an envelope “Happy New Year 1978!” The policeman, as diplomatic as usual, said, “Oh! You shouldn’t do that!,” then put the envelope into his pocket. While reading the names in the family-register, he inquired after some Brothers or Juniors, “How is he doing?” or something like that. Reading in the last family-register, he suddenly asked, “Ah here, he is. Duong Hoang is presently here?” Brother Colomban answered, “He is at his home for the new year holidays, like some other Juniors. They’ll be back tomorrow for school.” I was wondering “Why he mentioned Duong Hoang, and not other people?” I didn’t have any clue.

Because Brother Michel had to join the “socialist work team” for the irrigation project the next day, I told Brother Dennis to wake me up earlier to join him as a “driver-aid” in place of Brother Michel. We went to bed.

***

On the morning of January 3, 1978, I woke up. It was about 6:00 A.M. Brother Dennis had left for the bus station at 4:00 A.M. Perhaps because I just came back home from meeting on the 20 bridges yesterday evening, Brother Dennis thought it would better for me to have more time to sleep.

As I was preparing to go to work at the Rail & Bridge Construction Company, reporting about my past week of work at the meeting of 20 bridges I had been in charge of, a LaDalat car came on the Junioriate property. The driver, a young lady, came out of the car, then asked me, “Excuse me! Is it La San here?” “Yes!” I replied. She nodded her head, then said, “Is Mr. Dennis Nhon home?”
- “ No. He has gone to work.”
- “ Where is he working?”
- “ He is a driver-aid on the Binh Son transportation line.”
- “ When will he be back home?”
- “ I don’t know. But usually he is back late in the evening.”

A lady in her 50’s got out of the car from the back seat, and with a tone quite domineering, asked, “Where is the bus station?” I replied, indifferently, “I don’t know.” She whispered to the driver something, then got in the car. The young lady said, “When Mr. Dennis Nhon is back, please tell him to call Ms. Minh Huong. It’s very important and very urgent. Thank you!” [In 1997, When I met Brother Michel in Vietnam for the first time since January 1978 [Please read Part IV: Reasons for the Disbandment of the LaSalle Mossard Community] I asked him about these ladies. He really didn’t know who could be Ms. Minh Huong, but he realized that the “bossy lady” was a high ranking officer of the Secret Service headquarters, and was the one who investigated him for many times at the Chi Hoa prison.]

Usually I had lunch at the company, and then continued my work there until 4:00 P.M. But on January 3, 1978, at lunchtime, I felt something causing me to go home. I had lunch with Brother Colomban. After lunch, we continued talking about what had happened this morning with regard to the two ladies. While we were talking, Chien, a classmate of some Juniors who had been at school since that morning, stood at the rear gate of the Junioriate, and said, “Brothers! Thang, Minh, Hoang... have they returned home yet?”
- “ Not yet! They are your classmates, aren’t they?”

He was frightened out of his wits. Anxiously looking around, he said, “Brothers! They have been arrested at school at 10:00 A.M. this morning.” And without waiting for my reactions or questions, he rushed away. Brother Colomban and I looked at each other, both astonished and confused.

A few seconds later, the Dalat car came in, followed by two molotova (military cars) full of armed policemen. When the molotova parked in front of the gates, some policemen ran around the fence like mounting guard over the property.

- “It’s the hour!” I said to Brother Colomban. “Go to your room. Let me come down to greet them!”

It was around 1:15 P.M. January 3, 1978.