One year after the flood, many teachers in the mountainous district of Nghe An still cannot 'settle down'

Still have to stay temporarily

On the eve of the new school year 2023-2024, we returned to Ky Son district to meet teachers whose houses were swept away or collapsed in the historic flood in October 2022.

One of them is the case of Mr. Mua Ba Tua - a teacher at Huoi Tu Primary Boarding School and Ms. Denh Y Do - a teacher at Huoi Tu Kindergarten. On the night of the flood, the family of 5 of this Mong ethnic minority teacher couple was fortunate to evacuate in time, but the house next to the stream and all the furniture was swept away by the flood.

After the flood receded, with the help of border guards and young volunteers, Mr. Tua's family cleaned up the mud, soil, and rocks and built a temporary house made of corrugated iron on the old ground.

Talking to us in his house, which was hot under the August sun, Mr. Mua Ba Tua said that last year's flood caused his family to suffer a loss of nearly 140 million VND. After the flood, his family was one of the households in Ta Ca commune and Muong Xen town that had to be urgently evacuated, because their house was located right next to Huoi Can stream, the ground was weak, and there was a high risk of landslides during the rainy season. However, until now, the teachers and the children still have to stay in a temporary house with only a few essential items that they bought with support money from the government, the education sector and some benefactors.

In Hoa Son village, Ta Ca commune, Ms. La Thi Van - a teacher at Bao Nam Kindergarten and Ms. La Thi Coong - a teacher at Chieu Luu 2 Kindergarten were also teachers who lost their homes in the flood. After her husband passed away, Ms. La Thi Van raised 2 children alone. In 2022, she borrowed 300 million VND to build a brick house with a corrugated iron roof. After only 3 months of living there, the flood came and swept away all her belongings, leaving only 2 crooked walls. As for Ms. La Thi Coong's family, the flood swept away not only the entire house but also the land on which the house was built. The old house is now located in the middle of the stream. Since mid-October last year, the two teachers have had to temporarily stay in the old Kindergarten of Muong Xen town.

In addition to the Thai and Mong teachers, among the teachers whose houses and properties were damaged, there were many teachers from the lowlands who had come to Ky Son to work and had built solid houses to settle down in the highlands. However, the flood came suddenly, and the teachers' settlement became precarious.

For example, Mr. Dinh Nho Thanh (Ky Son High School), from Hung Tay Commune (Hung Nguyen), has been working in Ky Son since 2004. In 2009, Mr. Thanh married Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoai - a teacher at Nam Can 1 Primary School, from the same hometown, who has been working in Ky Son since 2007. During 12 years of living together, this teacher couple has diligently saved up to build a solid house in Hoa Son village.

During the 2022 flood, although the teacher's house was not directly affected by the flood, it was severely damaged, forcing the whole family to evacuate urgently. After staying temporarily with some friends and colleagues, from the end of October 2022, the teacher's family moved into the teacher dormitory of Ky Son High School.

Teacher Ngu Thi Bich Ngoc (from Hung Dao commune, Hung Nguyen) followed her husband, who is from the same hometown, to work in Ky Son district since 2017. During the flood in 2022, the family of this teacher from Ta Ca Kindergarten had a house, 2 plots of land along the roadside and a chicken farm in Son Ha village, all of which were swept away by the flood. For nearly a year, her family of 4 has been living in a room less than 30m2.²of Ky Son District Party Committee collective housing area.

“After the flood, my family as well as the families of the teachers affected in the district received both material and spiritual support from the education sector, agencies, units, organizations and benefactors. However, the family’s greatest wish is to have a new safe place to live so that my husband and I can work with peace of mind,” Ms. Ngoc confided.

According to statistics from the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district, after the flood in October 2022, the whole district had 80 families of teachers whose houses were damaged, including 79 teachers from kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and 1 teacher from Ky Son High School. Of which, up to 24 houses of teachers (mainly in Hoa Son and Son Ha villages, Ta Ca commune) were swept away by floodwaters or completely collapsed, accounting for nearly half of the whole district (54 houses); the rest had water and mud flowing into their houses, were swept away by water or had part of their property damaged.

To help teachers feel secure in their career of "growing people"

According to a preliminary survey by the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district, before the new school year 2023 - 2024, out of 24 teachers whose houses were swept away or completely collapsed by floods, only 2 cases have now stabilized their accommodation: Ms. Lo Thi Trang - teacher at Huoi Tu Kindergarten and Ms. Lo Thi Lai - teacher at Tay Son Kindergarten.

Ms. Lo Thi Trang was formerly one of the most disadvantaged families in Hoa Son village, with her husband suffering from a traumatic brain injury, losing the ability to work, and a 5-year-old child suffering from congenital hemolytic anemia. During the flood, her wooden house and all her belongings were swept away. Knowing her difficult situation, volunteer groups from several districts such as Dien Chau, Do Luong, etc. called for support to help her build a new house in Keo Luc 2 village, Pha Danh commune.

Although part of Lo Thi Lai's house collapsed, fortunately they did not have to be relocated, so with the help of relatives and friends, they were able to repair the house and replace some of the items that had been washed away or damaged.

However, there are currently 22 teachers who are temporarily staying in collective housing areas, dormitories of some agencies and schools in the district or building temporary houses on old land while waiting for relocation. Except for the dormitory area of ​​Ky Son High School, most of the temporary accommodation places have cramped living conditions, lacking for families of 4-5 people. Some families of teachers are building temporary houses on old land such as the couple of Mr. Mua Ba Tua - Ms. Denh Y Do, Ms. La Thi Den Ca (Muong Xen Town Kindergarten), Ms. Nguyen Thi Danh (Ta Ca Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities), Mr. Nguyen Quoc Khanh (Muong Xen Town Primary School) ... are facing the risk of continued flash floods or landslides if there is heavy rain.

However, to prepare for the new school year 2023 - 2024, teachers are still staying at school, staying in class, actively doing the work to welcome students back to school. To prepare for the new school year 2023 - 2024, from the beginning of August until now, after teachers in the whole district returned to school, Mr. Mua Ba Tua and his wife, Ms. Denh Y Do, sent their children to Mr. Tua's parents' house every day, driving each other to and from school in the early morning and driving each other back in the evening, more than 30 kilometers between their home and the two schools in Huoi Tu commune.

In addition to cleaning and repairing school facilities, teachers also have the task of going to the villages to check and grasp the cases of students who are visiting their parents who work far away to make plans to propagate and mobilize them to return to their hometowns before the new school year begins according to the district's direction. "No matter how difficult it is, my husband and I still encourage each other to try to complete the tasks assigned by the schools," Ms. Denh Y Do confided.

Ms. Ngu Thi Ngoc said that although her family suffered heavy losses due to the flood, she never intended to leave the highlands, the village and the children here. She still teaches at Ta Ca Kindergarten, bringing letters to the children in the highlands. These days, she goes to school every day to clean, decorate the classroom, repair equipment and toys to prepare for the children to start the new school year. "I have never wanted to leave this land, the children here really need me. Although I have been here for more than 6 years, for me, this land is fate, is my career", Ms. Ngoc shared.

Most of the teachers who lost their houses or collapsed their houses due to floods all want to have a resettlement place soon to stabilize their lives. And that is not only the wish of the teachers but also the wish of 200 households of Ta Ca commune and Muong Xen town. It is known that since the end of December 2022, the People's Committee of Ky Son district has issued Decision No. 864/QD-UBND on "Approving the detailed planning at a scale of 1/500 to build infrastructure for emergency resettlement areas for people of Muong Xen town and Ta Ca commune". The total estimated investment cost of the project is about 94 billion VND, including support from the provincial budget of 30 billion VND, from the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the province of 25 billion VND, from enterprises of 10 billion VND and other legal capital sources.

However, up to now, after nearly 8 months, due to difficulties and problems related to the slow conversion of natural forests to residential land, disbursement procedures, etc., the project has not been able to be implemented.

According to the current needs of 3 levels of education, the Ky Son Education sector lacks more than 100 teachers. Therefore, to solve this problem, in addition to temporary solutions such as merging and consolidating odd grades... it is also necessary to pay attention to teachers in difficult circumstances, especially teachers who lost their homes and suffered heavy losses in the historic flood in October 2022, because up to now, after nearly 1 year, many teachers have not been able to "settle down". We hope that the resettlement project for people in flood areas will be implemented soon so that people in flood areas in general and teachers who lost their homes in particular can soon stabilize their lives, thereby feeling secure in their career of "cultivating people" in this mountainous district.

Mr. Pham Viet Phuc - Acting Head of Education and Training Department of Ky Son district