'Tribes' of villages that no longer exist on maps.

(Baonghean) - Located next to a stream near the secondary school dormitory is a small "tribe." Small, low stilt-house-style shacks nestled against the stream bank are the encampments of parents who have come to support their young children's education. They are mostly free-living residents in the middle of the Ban Ve hydroelectric reservoir.

Bending down and squeezing through the low doorway, the tall, slender mother entered the makeshift hut, built in the style of the low-stilt houses of the Thai people in the highlands. The hut was part of a row of lodgings for preschool and elementary school students located near the stream. The children were all very young and studying far from home, so they needed the care of adults.

The row of student dormitories in Chà Coong village is nestled among the dormitories of Hữu Khuông Ethnic Boarding Secondary School. Photo: Hữu Vi

The row of makeshift, dilapidated shacks, crammed together, were all constructed of bamboo and reeds. The scene was a stark contrast to the nearby dormitory, which was more solidly built and included a dining hall and sports field. The shacks resembled a small tribe nestled in the center of Huu Khuong commune (Tuong Duong district), a mountainous area.

The young mother, who identified herself as Ngan Thi Van, is 27 years old. She is the mother of two children attending Huu Khuong Primary School. She brought her children from Cha Coong village, a 30-minute boat ride from the school, to their lodging. In the late afternoon, she returns to the hut to cook dinner for her two children. The older child is a girl in the second grade, and the younger child is a four-year-old kindergarten student.

For the past four years, Ms. Van has been an unwilling member of this strange "tribe." Life for these mothers living in makeshift shelters to support their children's education is somewhat more leisurely than farming or fishing at home, but it's also incredibly sad and monotonous. Ms. Ngan Thi Thoong, also from Cha Coong village, has been living here for the past two years to care for her preschool-aged child. Ms. Thoong said: "Sometimes we don't know what to do here. The children fall asleep as soon as they go to school. We just cook for them at mealtime. In general, it's very boring." From the time their children reached school age, Ms. Thoong and Ms. Van's lives were no different from those of preschool and elementary school students. On Monday mornings, they take their children to school and stay with them. On Friday afternoons, they call their husbands to come pick them up by boat. "We only get to be with our families for two days a week," Ms. Thoong explained.

Children from Chà Coong village. Photo: Hữu Vi

The row of shacks, numbering around a dozen, housed students from groups of people known as Chà Coong, Xốp Lằm, Nhãn Mai, Nhãn Nhinh, Huồi Hốc… These village names no longer exist within the local administrative boundaries. They had moved to resettlement areas in Thanh Chương and Quế Phong districts, then returned to their old villages to make a living by raising livestock and fishing.

These communities live freely in the middle of the hydroelectric reservoir without government control. None of the villages have schools, so they have to send their children to school elsewhere. Parents also have to accompany their children to school to provide meals and, above all, ensure their children's safety. Life is difficult, but most families living freely in this reservoir area send their children to school at the appropriate age.

Ms. Ngan Thi Van said: "No matter how difficult it is, families always try their best to send their children to school. 'Previously, we faced difficulties in getting our children admitted to school. But then the local authorities accepted them,' Ms. Van recalled."

Being a hardworking person, even though she had to raise her children far from home while they studied, Ms. Vân never let her hands rest. For the past four years, she used wire mesh to build a small pen to raise pigs. During her time in the shack raising her children, she sold one or two batches of pigs each year. When she had free time, she would catch fish to sell to agencies, schools, and people in the nearby villages.

Ms. Ngan Thi Van and her two children in the makeshift shelter. Photo: Huu Vi

Like other families with school-aged children in Chà Coong, Ms. Vân's two children do not benefit from policies for students in mountainous areas. Families who were supposed to be relocated from the Bản Vẽ hydroelectric reservoir but remained in Chà Coong are no longer under the local household registration system and therefore are not issued household registration certificates. "Without household registration, there is no basis to process the benefits," said the leader of a school in Hữu Khuông commune.

For Mr. Lo Van Oanh in the old Nhan Mai village, whose child is in kindergarten at the age of 5, he is currently the breadwinner of the family. His wife is raising a young child, yet he still has to come to the rented room to look after his child. "Being here makes my heart ache. My parents are old and frail and can't look after the child. So I have to accept going hungry so that my child can get an education," Mr. Oanh confided.

The aspiration of those living freely in the middle of Ban Ve Lake is to be registered as residents of a particular village or to establish a new village. For them, life freely in the middle of the lake, while more comfortable than in a resettlement area, brings many worries related to the future of their children. However, it seems that the aspiration to have household registration in their old hometown remains distant. Ms. Van said that recently, the local authorities also came to Cha Coong village to persuade the people to relocate. "But they said that only if we leave Cha Coong village will we be accepted," Ms. Van said.

Huu Vi