Bicycles of love

Practical work

Tan Lac town of Quy Chau mountainous district was scorching hot in the early days of May. After more than 2 months off school to prevent the Covid-19 epidemic, students here started to return to school in early May. The weather was harsh, but little boy Dinh Huu Nghia, a 3A student at Tan Lac town Primary School, still wore a bare head, a bright smile, wearing a short-sleeved shirt and pedaled his bike despite his red face from the heat. "Since the soldiers at the Quy Chau District Military Command gave him this bike, he has been very happy, likes going to school more and is less sad when thinking about his mother," said Mr. Dinh Van Du, Nghia's grandfather.

Officers of the Quy Chau District Military Command presented a bicycle and encouraged Dinh Huu Nghia to excel in his studies. Photo: Hoai Thu

This year, Mr. Dinh Van Du and his wife, Mrs. Tran Thi Binh, 68 years old, are weak and have blurred vision, but for nearly ten years, they have taken care of and educated their two grandchildren, Dinh Huu Nghia and Nghia's younger sister, who is in kindergarten this year. Since his wife left, Nghia's father left his son to his grandparents to take care of when he was just over 1 year old to work as hired laborers everywhere. Stroking his grandson's sunburned hair, Mrs. Tran Thi Binh recounted the days she took care of her grandchildren on behalf of her son, tears welling up in her eyes.

Since childhood, the two brothers Nghia lacked the love and care of their mother, and were rarely close to their father. Therefore, when mentioning their parents, Nghia's eyes were sad, and he could only shake his head at the questions. From the first days of going to school, from kindergarten to primary school, Nghia was taken to school by his grandfather, sometimes on foot, sometimes on an electric bicycle that could no longer be charged. The house was about 3km from the school, the road was quite winding, so when it rained or when Nghia's grandfather was sick, he had to walk. Many days he had to go to school hungry because the family ran out of rice to eat. All living expenses depended on the money Nghia's father sent home from working for hire. Therefore, "I was very happy to receive a bicycle from the soldiers. I cycled to school by myself, I liked going to school more", Nghia smiled and whispered, his hands still tightly holding the handlebars, his bare feet still resting on the pedals, then Nghia said "I thank you very much, soldiers".

The house where Luong Tuan Hiep lived with his grandparents was completely empty, with no furniture, only a bed, Hiep's desk, and a bicycle given to him by the soldiers. Hiep's grandfather was born in 1969 but had been mentally ill for many years and was unable to work. His grandmother was 3 years younger than him and suffered from stomach pain and a herniated disc, so she could not do heavy labor. She just stayed at home, raised a few chickens, and took care of her sick husband. Hiep's mother had contracted a sexually transmitted disease from her drug-addicted husband for many years. Her health was poor, so she worked for hire to earn whatever she could.

Officers of the Quy Chau District Military Command visited the family of Luong Tuan Hiep, class 4A2, Chau Hanh Primary School. Photo: Hoai Thu

“Luckily, my youngest daughter is working in Dong Nai and occasionally sends money back to support her parents and grandchildren. Otherwise, we would have starved to death a long time ago,” said Mrs. Mac Thi Hai, Hiep’s grandmother, sadly. Then, Mrs. Hai added that a few years ago, Hiep often had to walk to school, sometimes full, sometimes hungry, which was very pitiful, but his grandparents did not know what else to do. When the soldiers at the District Military Command gave him a bicycle, Hiep was very happy and liked going to school more, so his academic results improved day by day. Last year, he was also awarded a certificate of merit, and he always told his grandmother that “when I grow up, I want to become a soldier like you guys.”

The bicycles for Dinh Huu Nghia and Luong Tuan Hiep are among 20 bicycles that in 2019, the officers and soldiers of the Quy Chau District Military Command gave to disadvantaged students in the district. To get bicycles for the students, Lieutenant Colonel Le Xuan Son - Political Commissar of the Command said that the Quy Chau District Military Command launched the "Bicycles for Children" movement by asking for used bicycles from the families of officers and soldiers in the command and their relatives, then repairing and renewing them themselves. Each bicycle was carefully checked by the soldiers themselves, meticulously repaired or replaced damaged and worn parts. Taking advantage of their free time, officers and soldiers here work hard to disassemble and assemble, expressing their feelings of sympathy for the plight of poor students, mainly concentrated in remote, isolated, and disadvantaged communes of Quy Chau district such as Chau Hoan, Chau Nga, and Chau Binh.

Sponsoring disadvantaged students to strive for good academic performance

Major Nguyen Toan Thang - Head of the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Military Command said that in addition to the Quy Chau District Military Command, many other units also donated bicycles to poor students in the stationed area. For example, the Do Luong District Military Command donated 4 bicycles to 4 poor students who overcame difficulties in Tru Son and Dai Son Primary Schools; the Tan Ky District Military Command donated 3 bicycles to 3 students with especially difficult circumstances in Nghia Hoan and Dong Van communes...

Implementing the model "Helping children go to school", from 2017 to early 2020, local units not only donated dozens of bicycles but also sponsored 31 students with difficult circumstances to overcome difficulties and excel in their studies.
At the Quy Chau District Military Command, in addition to donating 20 bicycles to poor students under the "Bicycles for Children" program, the unit also sponsors 5 students every year with a support of 200,000 VND/student/year, helping them to reduce their difficulties and gain more motivation to study well.

Officers of the Quy Chau District Military Command presented gifts to support sponsored students in Ta Lanh village, Chau Hanh commune (photo above, left); Officers of Regiment 764 presented bicycles to students of Nghi Duc Primary School (photo above, right); Officers and soldiers of Regiment 764 helped Nghi Duc Primary School to renovate the campus. Photo: Hoai Thu

Teacher Tran Thi Binh, homeroom teacher of class 2B at Chau Hanh Primary School, said that Mac Dinh Nam is one of the students with especially difficult circumstances compared to his classmates. Nam lost his father at birth, and his mother has a serious illness so her health is weak and she cannot take care of him. He lives on the care of his elderly grandparents. Nam's grandfather was infected with Agent Orange when he was fighting in the army, so he is not able to do heavy work. All family expenses mainly depend on his grandfather's 2.1 million allowance. Due to poverty, Nam is much smaller than his peers. Every day, his grandfather still regularly takes him to school, and on windy days, he asks neighbors or teachers to help. "Fortunately, the soldiers at the District Military Command took care of him and provided him with some money, so my grandparents felt more secure and Nam was better taken care of so he could continue his studies," said Mr. Mac Van Dien, Nam's grandfather.

Not only in the mountainous areas, but also in the lowlands, many students in difficult circumstances have received timely attention and assistance from units under the Provincial Military Command. "Many military units have established twinning relationships with schools in the area where they are stationed, creating a bridge to help students in difficult circumstances and supporting schools to promote exchange and twinning activities to better serve teaching and learning," said Major Nguyen Quoc Chien - Propaganda Department of the Provincial Military Command. For example, in Nghi Duc commune, Regiment 764 established a twinning relationship with Nghi Duc Primary School, Nghi Duc commune, Vinh city, sponsoring 2 students each year with a monthly support of 300,000 VND. In addition, Regiment 764 also donated 6 bicycles to 6 poor students worth more than 7 million VND. In the 3 years from 2016 to 2019, in addition to helping disadvantaged students, Regiment 764 also donated books and gifts worth more than 17 million VND; helped with more than 600 working days to repair classrooms, build landscapes and donated more than 900 kg of rice and 1,200 kg of vegetables to the school's canteen.

Spreading learning and following Uncle Ho

In addition to implementing the model "Helping children go to school", to create a widespread effect in implementing Directive 05-CT/TW dated May 15, 2016 of the Politburo on studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and lifestyle, the Provincial Military Party Committee has directed the Standing Office to deploy and guide Party Committees and grassroots Party cells to register to implement models to create a clear change in "studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality and lifestyle" associated with 4 contents of the Campaign "Promoting tradition, dedicating talent, worthy of Uncle Ho's soldiers" for agencies and units to refer to, select and register to implement. Typical models include: "Self-reflection, self-correction"; "One focus, two breakthroughs"; “Implementing 3 diligence, 5 exemplary; “Saving for yourself, leaving for the needy”; “Model growing garden”; “Helping children go to school”; “People's army”; “Kind deeds”; “One address, one heart”; “Saturday, Sunday for the people”; “Connecting love between religion and religion”; “I love my Fatherland”; “Creative youth”,… Among them, some models of activities have quality and effectiveness such as: “Helping children go to school” of Regiment 764, Technical Department, Military Command of Quy Chau, Que Phong, Nam Dan districts; “Model growing garden” model of Military Command of Nghia Dan district; “Saturday, Sunday for the people” model of Military Command of Nghi Loc, Ky Son, Tan Ky districts; “One address, one heart” model of Military Command of Vinh city...

Major Nguyen Toan Thang - Head of Propaganda Department of Provincial Military Command

In the first days of May, the scorching sun could not stop the joy of Nghi Duc Primary School students rushing into the school yard right after the bell rang to signal recess. After more than two months of school closure due to disease prevention, all the students were excited to return to school. The same was true for two boys, Le Duc Dung, class 5C, and Duong Trong Hoan, class 5B. Both are students with extremely difficult family circumstances, and are regularly cared for by officers of Regiment 764 as well as the school. The two students were also given bicycles and books. Boy Duong Trong Hoan happily said, "In 2019, I was able to participate in the reporting ceremony with the soldiers of Regiment 764 in Uncle Ho's hometown, to report to Uncle Ho about the good deeds that my friends and I have done, and about the many things that the soldiers have helped us with." Duong Trong Hoan's mother passed away more than 3 years ago, his father works as a security guard for a small hotel in Vinh City. Hoan also has a 5-year-old brother. Before receiving the bicycle, Hoan had to walk to school. Only on days when his father did not have to go to work early would he be taken by his father. "Since receiving the bicycle, I go to school by myself, and he also takes me to kindergarten to help my father. My grandmother in Thanh Hoa only visits me once in a while. Having her around makes us feel less sad," Hoan shared.

Mr. Le Dinh Nho - Principal of Nghi Duc Primary School said that, in addition to giving bicycles and sponsoring poor students to study well, Regiment 764 also regularly supports the school in many other activities, creating bonds and solidarity between the army and the people, helping generations of students understand more about the image and good qualities of Uncle Ho's soldiers with many practical activities such as organizing extracurricular activities "1 day as a soldier" for 3rd grade students. During the extracurricular activities, the school also coordinated with Regiment 764 to organize a ceremony to admit team members for 3rd grade students right at the military barracks, creating excitement in training for the students.

The implementation of the model "Helping children go to school" for many years by officers and soldiers of the Provincial Military Command and other units has contributed to "supporting" hundreds of poor students and students in difficult circumstances to have more motivation and confidence to continue going to school, helping them continue to write their dreams that may have been left unfinished due to poverty and illness. "The actions and models that have been and are being implemented throughout the force will contribute to spreading the spirit of studying and following Uncle Ho, continuing to build the image of "Uncle Ho's soldiers" with simple, sincere actions but containing deep love for people and having a wide influence in the hearts of the people", Major Nguyen Toan Thang affirmed.