Poor orphan boy who loves to study in Thai village

(Baonghean.vn) - Looking at the bright face and gentle smile of the 4th grade student, few people would have guessed that Lim Van Hoa had gone through so much pain as an orphan.

His grandparents, his only support, are no longer around because they passed away due to illness. Overcoming these misfortunes, Lim Van Hoa is still optimistic, passionate about studying and has become the pride of the people of Ke Ninh village (Chau Hanh commune, Quy Chau).

A violent childhood

The simple stilt house on the edge of Ke Ninh village used to be the happy home of little Lim Van Hoa, who was the only hope and love of his parents after many years of waiting due to infertility.

However, happiness was short-lived when her father, Mr. Lim Van Vinh (born in 1982), from a healthy, energetic young man, not yet 35 years old, was diagnosed with a terrible cancer. After a short time, he was bedridden, all the work fell on the shoulders of his wife, Ms. Vi Thi Van.

The cruel shock fell on Van’s shoulders as she had to earn money to treat her husband and take care of her young child. The debts kept piling up but Vinh’s illness did not improve. And then her father passed away when she was just 1 year old.

Her mother’s farming job was not enough to cover the debts, so every day the creditors came to the house to collect the interest. On the days when they could not pay on time, the mother and daughter had to listen to countless insults and humiliations from people. Due to the dire and difficult circumstances, Van had to sell the small house, the property that the couple had saved up for many years, and send her to her grandparents to go to work as a laborer in the South.

Despite difficult circumstances, Lim Van Hoa has been a good student for many years. Photo: Luong Nga

The days of wandering in a foreign land to save up every penny to send back home, along with the longing for her children, had made the once youthful woman wither away. Then Ms. Van fell ill. And then Lim Van Hoa continued to suffer terrible pain when his mother also passed away. The day his grandparents brought his mother home for burial, everyone could not hold back their tears when they saw the bewildered 2-year-old child crying beside his mother's coffin.

Without the care of my parents, I completely depended on my grandparents. Because of the pain of losing their own children and understanding the lack of parental love, my grandparents devoted all their love to me. But with old age and weak health, my grandfather's trips to the forest or my grandmother's farming were no longer enough to provide meals. Many times, seeing me so sick and pale, my grandparents could only sigh helplessly. They were afraid that when they were gone, I would become a homeless child.

Not long after, fate brought misfortune upon the small family. When she was 6 years old, her grandfather also passed away. From then on, all the burdens fell on her frail shoulders.

Every day, she went out to catch crabs, snails, and pick wild vegetables to sell to earn money to raise me. Because of her old age and having to work hard day and night, 6 months ago, while going to the forest to pick vegetables for dinner, my grandmother breathed her last. She left me alone in a dilapidated house, with nothing of value except the bed where I used to listen to her stories every night.

Overcoming the pain

While others use the love of their parents and grandparents as a stepping stone to move forward in life, the young student Lim Van Hoa turns loss and pain into the motivation for him to strive to rise up in his difficult life. The sorrows in life do not make the boy falter, on the contrary, he is strong enough to overcome everything.

Although I had an orphaned childhood, I always tried to excel in my studies and matured earlier than my age. At the age of 9, when other children my age only knew how to study and play carefreely, I had to do all the jobs that the main workers in the small village had to do, from catching crabs and snails to collecting scrap metal to sell to earn a living. At night, I buried myself in books to forget my sadness and to fulfill my dream of changing my fate. Even though I was young, I dreamed of becoming a doctor because I saw both my parents suffering from serious illnesses and in dire need of treatment. That was also the motivation that always urged me to become a good doctor to treat the poor.

The dilapidated house where Lim Van Hoa lives. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Not having a separate study corner, Hoa often lies on the floor to study. He has very beautiful handwriting. To do that, every night Hoa lies on the floor and practices writing and rewriting the sample paragraphs that he likes in class and asks the teacher to correct them after finishing. Seeing the way he writes each letter carefully on his white notebook, everyone admires his determination and innocence.

Every day, Lim Van Hoa still goes to school on the old bicycle that he kept after his mother passed away. The distance of more than 3 kilometers is sometimes very long when the bicycle breaks down, forcing him to walk through streams or steep dirt roads. On rainy days when the water level rises, he is forced to stand on the roadside and ask adults for rides.

Witnessing her situation, homeroom teacher Truong Thi Chau could not hide her sadness and said: “Since my grandmother passed away, I have become more depressed. Although I do not have to beg, my life is very difficult and lacking in many ways. Although my uncle's house is right next door, I can stay here, but I only ask to come home for meals and still return to my old house every night to sleep because I miss my mother and grandparents. Perhaps because of my pride when I see that my uncle's family is also in difficult circumstances and has to raise younger siblings, I do not want to become a burden to them.

Teacher Truong Thi Chau also said that despite traveling a long distance to go to school, Hoa rarely had breakfast, many days she had nothing to eat, and came to class exhausted to the point of fainting, but Hoa still did not drop out of school. Pitying her situation, the teachers at school and kind neighbors encouraged and organized donations to help Hoa have more money to buy books and cover living expenses, hoping that she would not abandon her dream of going to school.

Despite all the hardships, in class, I am always obedient, study hard and always be a top student. Those achievements make teachers and classmates very impressed.

The new school year has come, Lim Van Hoa has to overcome steep mountain passes to get to school. In his eyes, there is still hope for a better future, a future where he can pursue his passion for learning and realize his dreams./.

Luong Nga - Thanh Quynh