A Vietnamese nanny who goes by the name A-chiu is planning a visit to Taiwan next year to reunite with the children she cared for 15 years ago. That’s after one of those children launched a successful search for her former nanny, and managed to have a virtual reunion with her.
A-chiu began caring for Hsieh Pei-yu and her infant brother when the girl was five years old. Hsieh and her family were close with A-chiu, but lost touch with her around ten years ago. Hsieh is now a university student.
Hsieh wrote a story about her close relationship with her nanny for the program “Search for your Second Mother,” a collaboration between Radio Taiwan International, Commonwealth Magazine, and some 30 media outlets and civic groups. The program aims to help Taiwanese people track down former migrant caregivers who were once part of their families.
A day after the story went live online, a search mission tracked down A-chiu. She and Hsieh set up a video call. A-chiu plans to visit Taiwan after the COVID-19 outbreak dies down. For now, she will continue selling vegetables and seafood on the small island in northern Vietnam she calls home.