Stopping the children's retreats at Cu Da Pagoda

Hanoi Thanh Oai District authorities have asked Cu Da Pagoda to stop summer retreats after a parent complained about her child being beaten by friends and unsanitary living conditions.

On the afternoon of June 17, Mr. Bui Van Sang, Chairman of Thanh Oai District People's Committee, confirmed the above information.

"I have directed the district and commune working groups to inspect the facilities and living conditions of the pagoda, and immediately request that the retreats be stopped," said Mr. Sang. In addition, the government has asked the district Buddhist Sangha Executive Committee to inspect and report.

In the immediate future, Mr. Sang advised parents not to send their children to summer retreats following the trend, and to carefully research information before making a decision to avoid unfortunate consequences.

Yesterday, Ms. Nguyen Giang Nhu, in Yen Xa village, Tan Trieu commune, Thanh Tri district, attracted attention on social media when she posted that her 11-year-old son was beaten by a friend at a retreat at Cu Da pagoda, causing an arm injury. By this afternoon, this information had received more than 11,000 comments and nearly 7,000 shares.

Baby Phuc wore the same shirt from the first day he went to the temple until the day his mother picked him up. Photo: Family provided — Ms. Nhu's child wore the shirt from the time she went to the temple until she returned home. Photo: *Family provided*

According to her, her son attended a 5-day retreat (June 12-16) at the temple through a Buddhist there. She paid one million VND for food, uniforms and school supplies for her son. After 5 days, when she came to pick him up, she saw him wearing the same shirt he had worn since arriving, his face was dirty, and his arms and legs had many mosquito bites. Her son said he was beaten with a wooden chair by his friends, was not allowed to bathe, the toilet was dirty and he had to sleep on the ground. When he got home, he complained of pain, had difficulty moving his arms, and was in a state of panic.

Her family took her to get an X-ray on June 16 at Thien Duc International General Hospital, and it was concluded that she had no broken bones but soft tissue injuries.

"I don't think my child was beaten that badly, because if there was a problem, the organizers would have informed me," Ms. Nhu shared. She added that the temple and the organizers had previously taken her child to Ha Dong Hospital for examination and X-rays.

Phuc's elbow was swollen and painful after a fight with a fellow monk at the temple. Photo: Family provided — The boy's swollen and painful elbow after a fight with a friend at the temple. Photo: *Family provided*

A representative of Cu Da Pagoda confirmed the incident, saying that on June 15, during recess, Ms. Nhu's child and another student got into a fight. The monks took the child to the hospital for examination, and the doctor concluded that the injury did not affect the bones. When asked about his wishes, the boy said he wanted to stay.

"We were careless and did not inform the family because we thought the child was fine," he said.

Regarding the complaints about dirty restrooms and lack of bathing water, this person said that recently the locality had a rotating power outage, the factory did not pump water so the children bathed late.

This is the second year that Cu Da Pagoda has organized a summer retreat, teaching children morality, staying away from technology, practicing, loving their family and living a more meaningful life. At the pagoda, the children wake up at 5am, exercise, listen to the monk's sermon and play games.

"There are many children aged 9-16 registering, so we divided them into 9-10 batches, each batch has 350-400 children," said a representative of the pagoda. The organization has been reported to the local authorities, and in previous years received good feedback.

Cu Da Pagoda was built before the 18th century. In 2000, the pagoda was ranked as a National Historical and Cultural Relic by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

Summer retreats for students have appeared for about 10 years now and are increasingly attracting the attention of parents. Many pagodas such as Ba Vang (Quang Ninh) and Hoang Phap (HCMC) organize these retreats, accepting thousands of students to practice for free, commonly lasting 5-7 days.

Binh Minh - Duong Tam

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