Sharing love with orphaned students due to Covid-19

Not only destroying the economy, the Covid-19 pandemic also left great pain and mental loss for many families. According to statistics, Vietnam has more than 4,400 orphans due to Covid-19. Their families lost their economic pillars, and they themselves lost their caregivers. This loss cannot be filled, and will forever become a deficiency for the rest of their lives. Sympathizing and understanding those disadvantages and losses, on September 7, the Department of Education and Training and the Education Trade Union of Nghe An province organized the program "Share the lovewith orphaned students due to Covid-19 epidemic" in the province.

Premature children

In the list of 48 children orphaned by the Covid-19 epidemic, interspersed between the lines “father passed away”, “mother passed away” are the lines “difficult family circumstances”, “living with elderly grandparents”… People still say that children who grow up in hardship will have to mature early compared to their age - a painful maturity.

Vo Thi Binh Yen lost her father due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Photo: Mai Lieu

Representing 48 students sharing at the program, Vo Thi Binh Yen - a student of Bac Yen Thanh High School could not hold back her emotions and burst into tears. She said: “When I was young, due to difficult family circumstances, my parents had to work far away. I grew up in the arms of my grandmother. When I was about to enter high school, my father passed away due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In the following days, I felt extremely uncertain and lost... Relatives, friends, teachers and friends cared for, encouraged and shared with me a lot. My family also received help from the local government and the school. On this occasion, I would like to thank the teachers, industry leaders, and the industry union for caring, sharing and helping me as well as my friends in the same situation as me."

Surely Binh Yen's parents always wanted her to have a peaceful life like her name, but the family's circumstances and the lack of both material and spiritual things forced Binh Yen to be independent early and to make many times more effort. Trying to excel in her studies, for many years in a row, Binh Yen was an excellent student.

Ms. Phan Thi Duoc hid her tears, quietly watching her children admire their new backpacks and moon cakes. Photo: Mai Lieu

When asked about her family situation, Ms. Phan Thi Duoc (Vinh city) turned away, hiding her tears so that her 3 children could not see. She choked up: “My husband went to work in Russia, and unfortunately passed away last year due to the epidemic. When he was alive, I had to stay home to take care of 3 children so I could not work. When he passed away, I was the only one taking care of 3 children, finding a job was difficult, I had no income, I did not know who to ask for help taking care of the children so I could go to work. Every time I thought about my children, about my fate, I could not hold back my tears.” Throughout the program, she silently watched her 3 children admiring their new school bags and moon cake boxes with teary eyes.

As two siblings whose father died due to Covid-19, Nguyen Manh Hung and Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nhi (Quy Chau) were moved when receiving gifts from the industry leaders and the Provincial Association for Promotion of Education. They confided: “My father died due to Covid-19 in 2021, my mother is a freelance trader with an unstable income, she alone takes care of both of us studying. My family is poor so we lack many things. For the past 3 months, my mother has been saving and collecting money to provide our two children with a few new clothes and some books to go to school. Today, when the teacher took me to the office to receive the support gifts, I was very touched, my mother must be very happy because she has money to take care of our two children's education."

Let love heal the pain

While students in Vinh came with their relatives, most of the students in the districts were brought to the program by their teachers on behalf of their parents. Busy worrying, comforting, and taking care of them, those teachers seemed to have become relatives to the students.

Comrade Ngoc Kim Nam - Member of the Standing Committee, Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Commission and Comrade Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training presented gifts to the students. Photo: Mai Lieu

Sharing about this meaningful program, comrade Dang Van Hai - Chairman of the Nghe An Education Trade Union said: “The Covid-19 pandemic has left pain for many families, until now students who have lost their fathers or mothers due to Covid-19 are still haunted. The Education sector understands and shares the pain, deprivation and loss of these students. On the occasion of the new school year, the Department of Education and Training and the Trade Union organize this program with profound humanistic meaning, to encourage their spirit, provide some material support, and give them more motivation to overcome the pain and continue to strive to excel in their studies and life. The Trade Union sincerely thanks the agencies, units and businesses for their attention, sharing and companionship. In order for students who have lost their fathers or mothers due to the Covid-19 pandemic to be cared for during their studies, the Trade Union has directed grassroots trade unions to continue to care for, support and help them in the coming time”.

The program is implemented from the industry's budget and sponsorship from units. 48 gifts were handed to the children by the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee, the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs, the Department of Education and Training, the Provincial Labor Federation, the Industry Trade Union and the Provincial Education Promotion Association. Each gift includes 2 million VND ofEducation sectorand Training, 500,000 VND from the Provincial Association for Promotion of Education, 1 school bag and 1 gift bag including milk and moon cakes. The total value of each gift is nearly 3 million VND.

Comrade Dang Van Hai - Chairman of Nghe An Education Trade Union presented gifts to students. Photo: Mai Lieu

Moved by the students' sharing about their current situation and the difficulties and hardships they had to go through in the past time, comrade Thai Van Thanh - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province thanked and acknowledged the Industry Union's idea of ​​organizing this meaningful and humane program.

"I believe that the provincial leaders, local authorities, the education sector, and the trade union are always interested and want to help children orphaned by the Covid-19 pandemic overcome difficulties, go to school, and have a stable life. Children who have been deprived of their family home early will have larger homes that love and protect them. When you encounter difficulties in studying and in life, please share with teachers, with the trade union, with school leaders to be listened to and helped" - Comrade Thai Van Thanh told the students at the event.

Comrade Kha Van Tam - Chairman of Nghe An Provincial Labor Federation and Comrade Nguyen Thanh Hien - Chairman of the Provincial Association for Promotion of Education presented gifts to students. Photo: Mai Lieu

The Director of the Department of Education and Training of Nghe An province also requested the Trade Union to continue to closely monitor and grasp the specific circumstances of the children in order to have appropriate forms of care, and direct the grassroots trade union to care for and share more with the children, especially those who are still young and do not have a father or mother, which will be very difficult in many aspects of life./.