The hard work of 'carrying' letters up the mountain

(Baonghean) -In the new school year, we hear about Huoi Moi, Huoi Xai, Nam Tot, Muong Long, Pa Khom, Huoi Luong... the names of remote villages in the border commune of Tri Le (Que Phong).once "famous" version 3 no, 4 no.

On the eve of the new school year, following the teachers to inspect the facilities of the schools, we can somewhat understand the hardships of the journey of "carrying" letters up the mountain.

The journey uphill

From Vinh City, we traveled nearly 250km to the Tri Le border area. The clouds were heavy along the way, and when we reached Tri Le Kindergarten, the jungle rain poured down. Teacher Le Thi Minh - Principal of the Kindergarten said: This season here is like that, sometimes sunny, sometimes rainy. The heavier the jungle rain, the faster it stops, but the roads to the schools are still very muddy.

“The 6 satellite schools are where students from 8 Mong villages study: Huoi Moi 1, Huoi Moi 2, Huoi Xai 1, Huoi Xai 2, Nam Tot, Muong Long, Pa Khom, Huoi Luong. If it had been sunny for a few days, I would have taken the journalist to all the schools, but with the rain like this, we would have had to go to many places, and we might not be able to get out in time... Let's just go to Pa Khom" - teacher Minh decided.

Pa Khom School, Tri Le Kindergarten (Que Phong). Photo: Phuoc Anh

Sitting on the back of the motorbike of two teachers who were considered the most confident drivers in the school, we began our journey to the precarious Pa Khom, located at an altitude of 1,000m above sea level. “Hold on tight!” - Miss Bé, the Vice Principal, repeatedly warned. There were countless slopes leading to the Mong ethnic minority villages, and it seemed that every slope was called “slope number 1”.

It was called that because the motorbike climbed the hill and only focused on first gear and... crawled up, the sound of the engine rumbling echoed throughout the deserted forest road. On one side was a deep abyss, on the other side was a precarious cliff, the wind blew so hard that the distance to travel became shorter and shorter. Teacher Be walked and told a story intermittently: "The weather up here is very harsh, the summer noon is scorching hot but in the afternoon the wind changes immediately, even in the summer nights we have to cover ourselves with cotton blankets."

Teachers in the village said that the road to Pa Khom is now much “better”. Because more than a year ago, the movement to open the road to the Mong village by the youth union members of Que Phong district has opened up a new arm’s length for the steep and winding roads.

It was just that, the jagged rocks, slippery potholes waiting to trap people, the red dirt tracks rising and falling along the slopes seemed to be as bad as before. While driving, the teacher's car carrying her colleague in front fell down the cliff. "Luckily, there was a traffic trench to hold her back" - her colleague reassured her.

Sweating, she struggled to get up from the bike and the whole person. Luckily, some Mong parents passing by on their way to the fields helped her. “Are you scared, journalist? We encounter this often. All the teachers have scars on their arms and legs from the forest road. As for the motorbikes, we have to change chains, tighten brakes, and change tires all the time because we climb up the hill a lot,” said Ms. Be, the Vice Principal.

"Call" students to school

20km from the main school, Pa Khom Kindergarten has two lonely huts on the top of the mountain. One hut is for students to learn to read and write, the other is for the teacher to rest. It is said that the second storm that swept through a few months ago blew away both huts, so the teacher mobilized parents to contribute bamboo, thatch, and wood to rebuild them.

Before school started, students were still following their parents to the fields, the mist seeped through the gaps in the wooden walls into the classroom, causing the musty smell of the damp ground after the rain, and the musty smell of the bamboo thatch all around to rise up. The Vice Principal struggled to open the classroom door - a door made of four shabby wooden planks. "There's nothing valuable to keep, so I closed the door to keep the chickens and pigs of the surrounding villagers from breaking into the room, and also to avoid some of the wind and rain on this Pa Khom peak."

Poor facilities inside Pa Khom school. Photo: Phuoc Anh

The classroom is only about 15 square meters, a place for 10 children to study. There is a small wooden table for teaching aids, a wooden cabinet with a broken bottom for some children's supplies, a dozen green plastic chairs lying around, two rocking horses were gifts from a volunteer group a few years ago, now the screws are loose and lying tilted.

The simple classrooms are only a short walk away. Pa Khom school is a typical example of the three no’s: no road, no electricity, no clean water. Without electricity, the afternoon classes of teachers and students here are often obscured by fog. Without clean water, the Mong children rush down to the stream next to the school to drink. After so many years, the hardship has become familiar.

The road up to Pa Khom is bumpy, steep and slippery. Photo: Phuoc Anh

While at this time, in the city kindergartens, there is a bustle of drawing lots, choosing schools and classes for children, in the most remote schools like Pa Khom, teachers are still diligently knocking on doors to encourage students to go to school. To mobilize students, they have to go at night, because the Mong people work in the fields far away, and during the day, no one is home.

The forest path is deep, with only the light from the flashlight and the footsteps of the village teacher. Here, at the beginning of the new school year, it is common for teachers to spend their own money to buy books, clothes, and go directly to the students' homes to complete the admission paperwork. In recent years, teaching in the Mong villages has become more convenient, because some schools have assigned Mong teachers to the villages.

“Convenient in terms of language, customs and practices, better communication with students and parents. Currently, Tri Le Kindergarten has 3 Mong teachers assigned to teach at 3 school locations, still lacking 3 more teachers, we are looking forward to this year's staffing” - Principal Le Thi Minh said.

Phuoc Anh - Chu Thanh