'Godmother' of students in Nghe An

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The cabbage beds, celery plots, lettuce and custard apple gardens... only have a few off-season fruits left and 2 sao of rice fields are the main income of Mr. Nguyen Van Nghinh's family in Tan Thanh commune (Yen Thanh).

At the age of nearly 80, when he should be at the age of retirement and being taken care of by his children and grandchildren, Mr. Nghinh and his wife still have the burden of raising their grandson Nguyen Van Hai - a 10th grade student at Bac Yen Thanh High School.

12 years ago, Hai's father was a worker at Construction Company 47 in the South. Unfortunately, he had a work accident and passed away when he was only 30 years old. At that time, Hai's parents were divorced, so Hai was living with his grandparents in the countryside. After his father passed away, his mother remarried, and Hai continued to live with his grandparents. In addition to the income from the fields and gardens, the company where Hai's father worked supported the family with about 2 million VND each month.

Teachers and students of Bac Yen Thanh High School came to celebrate Tet early with Nguyen Van Hai's family. Photo: My Ha

Growing up in such special circumstances, although he studied well and worked hard, Hai was quite quiet and spoke little. That was also the reason why, almost halfway through the semester, his homeroom teacher and classmates learned about Hai's difficulties.

Since then, Hai has always received help from teachers and the school. In addition to receiving support from benefactors, he also often receives gifts from the school on holidays and special occasions.

As Hai's homeroom teacher, Ms. Phan Thi Hue has visited his family many times to inquire about his situation and encourage his grandparents. She connected with her friends in Ho Chi Minh City to call for support and find long-term scholarships for him... Near Lunar New Year, the homeroom teacher, teachers, school administrators and classmates made an appointment to go to Hai's house early to give Tet gifts to Hai and his grandparents.

Receiving this help, Hai's grandfather was very touched. Hai was also very happy, because since entering high school, with the care of teachers and friends, he seemed to have less inferiority complex and gradually became more sociable, and had the motivation to try to improve his studies.

Happy traditional New Year. Photo: NL5

Bac Yen Thanh High School has a recruitment area located in 11 difficult communes of Yen Thanh district, so the number of students in difficult circumstances in the school is quite large, with more than 10 cases beingorphan student, there are children who are orphans of both parents, there are cases like Vo Thi Binh Yen, because of family circumstances, her parents had to go to work in a foreign country. But then the Covid-19 epidemic broke out, her father got sick and died in a foreign land... leaving Binh Yen feeling unstable and lost.

In that difficult situation, Binh Yen always received help from teachers, friends and many scholarships came to her in the past year. Overcoming difficulties, Binh Yen has constantly tried, worked hard, was obedient and was an excellent student.

Bac Yen Thanh High School gives Tet gifts to sponsored students. Photo: My Ha

Teacher Ta Van Cuong - Vice Principal of Bac Yen Thanh High School said: "Over the years, our school has always paid attention to volunteer activities and focused on students in difficult circumstances. Through many different forms, we have called on benefactors, former students and many teachers who have voluntarily donated part of their salaries to help orphans and disadvantaged students.

During this Lunar New Year, we plan to give 70 gifts, each worth 1 million VND, to the children, along with some other gifts. At school, the children are also exempted from tuition fees and many other contributions."

This year's Tet, student Tran Thi Nhi - Grade 11, Nghi Loc 5 High School, was somewhat relieved of the feeling of emptiness even though last year was a very painful year for Nhi and her family, because at the same time, Nhi's 5 siblings lost both their father and mother. Nhi still remembers that it was the 3rd day of Tet, when due to difficult family conditions, Nhi's mother went to work as a short-term maid for a family in Vinh. However, disaster struck when the gate of the house where Nhi's mother worked collapsed, causing her death. Nearly 10 months later, her father was having dinner with the family when he suddenly died...

Since the day her parents left, Nhi's family has been divided into two, three. Nhi herself lives with her aunt sometimes, because her brothers and sisters are all in difficult circumstances and have just started working and cannot support them. Knowing Nhi's situation, before the Education Trade Union launched the "Godmother" Program, Nhi has regularly received support from teachers and the school. After the program was launched, she continued to receive help from the school, the Education Trade Union and Vilaconic Joint Stock Company. From now until she graduates, Nhi will receive tuition support of 5 million VND/school year.

Education industry union connects with businesses to give gifts from the godmother program to students of Nghi Loc 5 High School. Photo: My Ha

Nghi Loc 5 High School is also one of the units that sponsors the most orphans with 7 cases. The support levels focus mainly on tuition support, extra study support and some cases of additional living expenses support.

Meaningful activities

Although it has only been implemented by the Education Trade Union for a short time, the “Godmother” Program has quickly spread to schools and nearly 50 orphans have received support from schools, the Trade Union and some businesses with a total amount of nearly 400 million VND. In addition to regular support, hundreds of other orphans in difficult circumstances also regularly receive help and care from units.

Some units such as Con Cuong district, the district's Department of Education and Training also implemented the "Finding a godmother" program for orphaned students and from there connected with a number of philanthropists, businesses and many teachers who volunteered to sponsor the children. Currently, this program has sponsored dozens of cases with a total amount of money raised each year of tens of millions of VND, partly helping the children overcome difficulties and hardships.

Students and teachers of Nghi Loc 5 High School celebrate the traditional Tet holiday. Photo: CSCC.

Helping, caring, and sharing not only demonstrate the spirit of mutual love and affection, not only demonstrate the humane spirit of the “Godmother” Program, but also contain the hearts and feelings of teachers for their students, of those who are willing to do good deeds. And that is also the way for schools and teachers to educate about compassion, love, care, and write touching, authentic, and profound stories about the teacher-student relationship.