The orphaned student who sells scrap metal dreams of going to school.

On a May afternoon, the scorching heat left the road leading to Yen Tho village (Quynh Thuan commune, Quynh Luu) deserted. The cry of little girl Ho Thi Thanh Nhan, “Who wants to collect scrap?” rang out regularly.

Every day, I pedal my bike around the village to collect scrap metal to earn money to take care of my mother who has a heart condition. And more importantly, to earn more money to buy books and to fulfill my dream of going to school.

Ho Thi Thanh Nhan and her mother sort out the pile of empty bottles after she collected them. Photo: Thanh Quynh

I used to have a happy family, even though my family was the poorest in the neighborhood. My father was paralyzed, my grandmother was blind. All the burden fell on my mother. All the family expenses depended on the meager income from 3 sao of rice fields and my mother's clam digging sessions.

My mother borrowed money everywhere to pay for treatment, but the debt kept increasing and her and father's health did not improve. In January 2014, my grandmother passed away, and my father passed away 12 days later. At that time, my brother, born in 1995, became the only support for me and my mother. Although he was sick, my brother Nhan still had to work as a helper on offshore fishing boats to earn more money to take care of the family. Then, cruel fate took away that last pillar during a sea trip in 2017. Upon receiving the news, my mother almost collapsed.

The pain of losing her grandmother and father had not yet subsided, but now losing her son caused her mother's heart disease to relapse. At this time, her mother had to mortgage the family's land title to have money for treatment. Now, to maintain her life, her mother still has to take medicine every day as prescribed by the doctor. The heart attacks appeared more and more frequently, tormenting her, making her always afraid of losing her...

To earn money to support my life, every day after school, I go around the country roads and alleys to find scrap metal. I save the money I earn to buy medicine for my mother, and use the small amount left over to buy books (my family is poor so I am exempted from all tuition fees) to support my dream of becoming a village teacher.

Despite the hardship, Nhan is always diligent and strives to excel in her studies. Photo: Thanh Quynh

In the small house of the family hidden behind the deserted hills in Yen Tho village, every night the light of the incandescent lamp I use to study never stops before 1am. During the days of studying for exams, there were nights when I stayed up all night with only a pack of instant noodles to fill my stomach.

Although everyone advised that, now that I am poor and cannot find a job, it is best for me to go to work to support myself and my mother. But in my mind, although I know that university is not the only way to establish myself and make a career, the dream of becoming a student of a teacher training college always burns within me. To return to teach and help poor children like I was once supported by my teacher. Most importantly, that is also my mother's wish, when all her love and hope are placed in her daughter.

Over the years, despite my family's difficult circumstances, I have always been an excellent student, among the top students in my class. Last school year, I also won the title of Uncle Ho's Good Child.

Despite the hardships and worries that lie ahead, and even though her friends still tease her as a "junk girl", Nhan is more grateful for this job than anything else. Because the junk job has helped her and her mother have food, money to pay for her mother's medicine, and allowed her to fulfill her dream.