Beautiful drawings by teachers in remote areas of Tuong Duong district

Luong Minh Kindergarten, Tuong Duong district has dozens of beautiful paintings. After investigation, it was found that these paintings were drawn by the school's teachers.

Kindergarten teachers are completing a drawing of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Photo: Khac An

And painting has become their familiar and annual work. All the paintings, from fences to walls, from main points to individual pieces, not only this year but also many years ago, no professional painter had the opportunity to practice because everything was "self-directed and self-performed" by the hands of the girls.

Honestly, I don’t have much knowledge about painting, but with my innate sense of art, I can say that it is “so beautiful”. So beautiful that it is unbelievable that it is the work of “reluctant painters”.

In addition to creating a lively space, murals also contain interesting stories and messages about life. Photo: Khac An

The world of children is a world of fairy tales, colors and sounds. In addition to creating a lively space, murals also contain stories and messages that will sometimes follow children throughout their lives. The liveliness and eye-catching of murals will stimulate vision, creating excitement for children every day at school, helping them to be close to and love the world around them.

As important as it is, not every school can afford to hire professional artists, especially in mountainous schools like Luong Minh. “Necessity is the mother of invention”, paintings are indispensable but money is also lacking, so the teachers roll up their sleeves and get to work. Studying while drawing, drawing while studying, one by one, pure, beautiful and meaningful murals appear through the hands of “artists” like Hoa My, Luong Nham, Van Anh…

Vivid drawings at the farthest school in Luong Minh commune. Photo: Khac An

Teacher Vi Thao, Vice Principal and “main artist”, confided: “Everyone in our school knows how to draw, even Principal Bui Be Le rolled up her sleeves to join everyone. Activities like this are emotional and fun. We found the models online, some of which we created ourselves. The “main artist” sketched, the “assistant artist” colored. If we hired someone to do this, each square meter would cost several million VND. If we didn’t draw it ourselves, where would we get it? When we have free time, we draw, when we’re tired, we rest, when we’re sad, we tell jokes, when we’re hungry, we make instant noodles… we’ve done it regularly and painted hundreds of meters of murals.”

I asked: “You are not professionals, how do you draw so beautifully?” The “main artist” happily replied: “Maybe it is because we draw out of love.”

A corner of the vivid paintings. Photo: Khac An

Luong Minh is one of the poorest communes in the district. The school has 250 students, mostly children of Thai, Kho Mu, Ka Tu, and O Du ethnic groups, with 21 teachers and staff, but they are distributed among 8 schools. The nearest school is 17 kilometers from town, and the farthest school, Cham Puong, is nearly 50 kilometers away. To get to the farthest school, the teachers have to use all 3 means of transport: motorbike, boat, and... walking. Although life is full of difficulties, outside of teaching hours, the teachers also participate in other activities, which are truly touching and worthy of respect.