The flashlight that lights up dreams

(Baonghean) - Growing up in a family lacking warmth and happiness, facing poverty and deprivation, the Thai girl in the remote commune of Chau Phong (Quy Chau) not only did not stop on her journey to find knowledge but also achieved high achievements.

Poverty and unhappiness

The house of Lo Thi Hong Anh’s family (born 2002) is located at the end of the village, precariously balanced between the mountainside and the edge of a winding stream. It was almost noon but the house was still dark, with only a few weak rays of light from outside coming through the gaps in the planks used to make the walls.

Ms. Lang Thi Ha (born in 1982) - Hong Anh's mother said: "The village does not have electricity, the house only has a small flashlight used for dinner and for the children to study. There is no electricity, the family is poor so they do not have enough money to buy batteries to light up."

Lo Thi Hong Anh and her disabled mother. Photo: Cong Kien.

Her parents gave birth to 3 children, Hong Anh is the eldest, then there are 2 younger siblings: Lo Thi Dao (born in 2009, currently in 2nd grade) and Lo Manh Thuan (born in 2014). The happy and warm days of the family were too short, partly because of the difficult life, and partly because a few years ago Hong Anh's mother had a stroke and was bedridden, having to run around everywhere to find money for treatment. Now Ha can get up, but her limbs are cramped, making it very difficult to walk, let alone work and earn a living.

Lo Thi Hong Anh uses a small flashlight to study.

In addition, the father suddenly became depraved, went to work far away, not only did not bring money home to support the children but also beat and abused his wife. For a long time, the mother and her four children lived on the care and support of relatives on the mother's side and neighbors. Ha had to rely on her old mother and her younger siblings to work on the fields, vegetables and bamboo shoots were given to her by the villagers every day, and in the whole year, if lucky, only a few times a meal had meat.

After school, Lo Thi Hong Anh often goes to the forest to collect firewood to help her mother. Photo: Cong Kien.

For nearly 9 years, Hong Anh has been going to school, sometimes full, sometimes hungry. Her classmates have their parents pick them up or go by bicycle, but Hong Anh has been walking alone for many years, and recently she was given a bicycle. Despite all the deprivation and disadvantages, the Thai girl is still diligent and hard-working, even on rainy days or freezing cold winter days, her small feet still leave marks on the bumpy, difficult road.

Willpower and Aspiration

This school year, Lo Thi Hong Anh is a member of class 9A1, Chau Phong Secondary School for Ethnic Minorities, known throughout the school for having just won a high prize in the district-level excellent student competition. Hong Anh was selected to compete in 2 subjects, winning the second prize in Literature and the encouragement prize in History, leading the school's achievements. Currently, she is being actively reviewed and trained by the Literature teacher to improve her knowledge and skills to compete in the district team to compete in the provincial excellent student competition which will be held after the Lunar New Year.

Lo Thi Hong Anh cooks lunch for her mother and siblings.

Talking to us, Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thuy - Literature teacher of class 9A1 said: "I am the person who directly trained Lo Thi Hong Anh and I noticed that she soon showed her talent and passion for Literature. In the process of receiving knowledge and doing exercises, she always demonstrated the spirit of independent thinking and creativity, smooth and fluent writing, expressing the depth of meaning. If she has the opportunity to study further, I believe she will achieve even more success."

Despite her outstanding achievements, few people know the daily hardships and difficulties that Hong Anh has to overcome. Her house is nearly 7km from school, and she is eligible for a subsidy, but Hong Anh asks the school to let her go home to help her mother and take care of her younger siblings. Every morning, she wakes up early to prepare meals, then rushes to take her younger sister to elementary school before going to class, and then picks her up after school. If she has some free time during the day, she goes to the forest to collect firewood, pick bamboo shoots, or goes down to the stream to catch crabs and fish to improve the meals for her mother and siblings.

Ms. Nguyen Thanh Thuy trained Lo Thi Hong Anh to compete in the provincial gifted student competition.

The simple study table in the corner of the house, during the day is not enough light, regardless of day or night, Hong Anh has to tie a small flashlight to her forehead to shine on the pages of books and notebooks. Every day, that flashlight follows her to school to charge, then follows her back to continue the task of "lighting the way" on the journey of knowledge discovery. It is like a close friend who shares all the joys and sorrows, the Second Prize in Literature and the Encouragement Prize in History that Hong Anh has just achieved are partly thanks to that small flashlight.

“When you grow up, what do you want to do?” we asked while she was busy cooking lunch. After a moment of contemplation, the little girl spoke timidly and hesitantly: “I want to be a teacher to help poor students like the teachers at school have helped me!”. Hearing that, the mother immediately said: “I don’t know if that dream will come true, when I am sick, I don’t have enough strength to go to the fields to plant rice, go to the forest to collect bamboo shoots, the two younger children are still young, how can they study further?”

A 9-point essay by Lo Thi Hong Anh.

Mr. Nguyen Ba Vinh - the person who led us to Pieng Cam comforted us: "Try to let Hong Anh study further, only knowledge can help us escape from poverty, besides you there are teachers and the community, society is ready to help. The immediate goal is to enter the provincial excellent student competition team, then enter the provincial or district Ethnic Minority High School to continue writing the dream"./.

Cong Kien