Warm meals of love for poor students in remote Quy Chau

(Baonghean.vn) -Sympathizing with poor students who live far from school and have to stay in class, teachers at Chau Hanh 1 Primary School (Quy Chau) used their salary to organize a 'Charity Meal'.

Teachers reclaimed the land in the school grounds to grow vegetables for the students. Photo: Luong Nga

Every day at around 9am, teachers from Chau Hanh 1 Primary School, who do not have classes, go to the kitchen together to wash rice, cook rice, pick vegetables, and cook food for poor students who stay at school for lunch.

Although it has just started operating, the kitchen is still rudimentary and cooking utensils are lacking, but the teachers overcome the difficulties, each meal cooks 30 nutritious meals for the students.

Thanks to the teachers' charity meals, the students no longer have to go hungry one day and even have to eat raw instant noodles. Photo: Luong Nga

Teacher Vo Thi Thuy - Principal of Chau Hanh 1 Primary School shared: “Since the beginning of the school year, every noon we often see images of children staying at school without a place to eat or rest. Many children eat raw instant noodles, some go hungry... Faced with such pitiful situations, we met and came up with a solution to organize a “Charity Meal”.

Located in Chau Hanh commune, Chau Hanh 1 Primary School is only about 1km from Tan Lac town (Quy Chau), but out of a total of 224 students in the school, over 80% are from poor or near-poor households (of which poor households account for over 51%).

In addition, there are students from Thuan Lap, Minh Chau, Khe My villages... over 90% of the students studying here are from poor households, their houses are more than 7km away from the school. Due to difficult travel conditions, parents go to work in the fields, so many students have to stay at school for lunch. Lunch is usually prepared by parents with sticky rice, sometimes just a simple loaf of bread.

Warm, nutritious lunch. Photo: Luong Nga

Lo Thi Tham - a 5th grade student in Khe My village said: "At noon, I often eat sticky rice that my mother cooked in the morning, it is very hard, and there is no food so it is difficult to eat. When the teachers cook, we find it very delicious. After eating, the teachers also show me how to wash my dishes and chopsticks and give them to the younger children. After eating, I have a place to sleep, so I feel very healthy and happy."

In the beginning of organizing the “Love Meal” program, the school encountered many difficulties in arranging the kitchen, dining room, and bedrooms for the children. Faced with this reality, the school renovated the old classrooms to serve as a place for the children to eat and sleep.

At the same time, parents donated working days to clean the backyard and make sleeping stalls for the children. All teachers in the school contributed to buy gas stoves, rice cookers, etc. In addition, each month, 50,000 VND/person from their salary was donated to support the program. Initially, the "Love Meal" model has been operating very well.

Every month, each teacher at Chau Hanh 1 Primary School deducts 50,000 VND from their salary to support 30 children with lunch at school. Photo: Be Vinh

Mr. Lo Xuan Van - Chairman of the Parents Association of Chau Hanh 1 Primary School said, "Previously, the model of "Love Meal" had not been organized, the children living far away had a hard time. When the school organized like this, we, the parents, felt very happy and secure. In the near future, we will also mobilize parents to contribute a small part with the school to maintain this activity well."

The school also arranges a place for the children to rest at noon before continuing their classes in the afternoon. Photo: Be Vinh

“Love Meal” is an activity to help children learn to love. At the same time, it teaches them life skills” - teacher Vo Thi Thuy - Principal of Chau Hanh 1 Primary School, Quy Chau shared.

Organizing boarding meals for primary school students is one of the essential supporting activities to effectively implement two-session teaching/day at primary level to help poor students in remote districts.

The way of working and the responsibility of the staff and teachers of Chau Hanh 1 Primary School is also a good experience for schools to learn from, thereby overcoming difficulties, gradually improving the quality of teaching and learning, and training the awareness and self-awareness of parents and students.

Baby Vinh - Luong Nga