There isn’t much that Nu Huynh won’t laugh or smile about. Even when she’s being serious. Nu, who will in October 2024 celebrate eleven years living in a Gellibrand shared house, is an independent woman with her heart always set on giving to others.
In the early 1980s, most of Nu’s immediate family migrated from Vietnam to Australia, but the Australian Government wouldn’t allow Nu to come at first because she couldn’t walk. So, she stayed on in Vietnam with her father for another two years.
“Mum brought five children with her here,” Nu said when I met her at her home. She added that, after another letter to the Government, she was allowed to come to Australia eventually. After a stopover in Thailand.
“It was so hot there” she smiled, “and there was no bed! I was glad to get to Australia.”
Nu lived for a while with her family before moving into her Gellibrand share house in 2012. When asked what’s the best part about life with Gellibrand, she praised her House Managers and Gellibrand team members. Then Nu’s attention turned to how she tries to support her housemates, Debbie, Connie, Karin, and Sally.
“It’s a good house,” Nu said, adding that she likes to make sure everyone is eating properly – even if that means sharing her food – and that her housemates can easily get the shopping they want. She’s something of a mother figure to her friends. “I google what they want and show pictures to team members so my housemates can get what they need.”
Nu is also known for her gift giving, especially loving to spoil her relatives with presents at Christmas when all her family – from around the world – get to reunite. And she also gets to see her sister Vicki for lunch from time to time.
“She’s my youngest sister and I’m very close to her,” Nu said.
Her weekly day of pampering is another aspect of living at Gellibrand that Nu enjoys immensely, when she gets her nails painted and make-up redone, all with lots of chatter and fun. Learning is another big part of Nu’s life and she attends Meaningful Activities in Partnership (MAP) every Friday to work on improving her reading, counting, and use of technology – Nu loves TikTok and is a champion at playing the Cookie Jam game on her phone.
“I’m on level 30,000,” she laughed. That figure seems about three times higher than what’s possible, but I’m not about to argue with an expert.
Nu is proud to be independent in most aspects of her daily life, including making her morning coffee and toast. She also makes two-minute noodles, but, beyond that and getting ingredients out for dinner, she said cooking is not for her. She does, however, love getting out into the community, especially going to the movies, which, Nu said, make her laugh more than anything.
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