Teachers - kind mothers of Dan Lai students

(Baonghean) - In the great Pu Mat forest, there are villages of the Dan Lai ethnic group, thanks to the Party, that are rising up to catch up with the new life; their children in difficult circumstances have gradually developed a "desire for knowledge". It is touching that there are young female teachers, with their love for the profession and love for the poor Dan Lai students, who have become kind mothers to them...

It has been more than 10 years since dozens of Dan Lai households at the headwaters of Khe Khang settled in Mon Son commune (Con Cuong) under the Project "Preservation and Development of Dan Lai Ethnic Group" - enough time to make many changes, Dan Lai people have become familiar with farming and raising animals; corn fields have produced corn, rice fields have yielded several harvests... In particular, Dan Lai children have been able to go to school with the care of "sowing letters" of the community and society.

Teacher Vi Thi Cuc (Mon Son 3 Primary School - Con Cuong) guides students in doing homework in class.

Located in Cua Rao village, Mon Son 3 Primary School has invested in building a fairly spacious infrastructure system, green - clean - beautiful campus. This border school has met national standards, is the pride of Muong Qua land. Mr. Tran Xuan Hung - Principal of the school said: The school has a total of more than 300 students, of which Dan Lai students make up the majority. This is the main school, in addition there are 2 satellite schools at the source of Giang river in Co Phat and Khe Le villages. Dan Lai students are very poor, their parents are still busy making a living, not paying much attention to their children's education, so it requires a very high responsibility from teachers... The Party cell and the school's Board of Directors have launched a movement to help students in difficult circumstances, considering this a specific and practical action in response to "Studying and following the moral example of Ho Chi Minh".

Vi Thi Ha's (middle) lunch at teacher Tran Thi Thanh Nga's house.

Most of the teachers at Mon Son 3 Primary School have registered to help and tutor poor students, so that they can avoid the risk of dropping out of school. The teachers all support the students with clothes, shoes, books and pens. From the movement, typical examples emerged, full of love for students. That is teacher Vi Thi Cuc (born in 1976). In the 2013-2014 school year, in Khe Le and Co Phat, there was still a situation where students in the same class had differences in age and level, causing difficulties and inconveniences for both teachers and students. Among them, there were 7 students of the same age who were decided by the school leaders to study at the main school so that they could have the opportunity to interact, make contact and study more conveniently. But if they were to go to the main school, where would they eat and stay when the school had no dormitory and no staff? And what if they suddenly got sick...? The school board was struggling to figure out how to arrange things, when teacher Vi Thi Cuc volunteered to take all 7 students to stay at her house.

Ms. Cuc's family in Kim Da village (Luc Da commune) is more than 5 km away from the school, and the road is still very difficult, so taking care of the children is a challenge. She shared: "I have been attached to the Dan Lai children at the headwaters of Khe Khang for nearly 20 years, so I fully understand the hardships, deprivations and disadvantages of the children. When these 7 children went to the main school and had no place to stay, I discussed and got my husband to agree to take the children to live at home, take care of their food and accommodation." Ms. Vi Thi Cuc and her husband have 2 children, the husband is a farmer, their life is just enough to eat, taking 7 Dan Lai children to live at home has somewhat disrupted the family's life, especially in daily activities. Having more people means having to add more beds, buying bigger pots, buying more bowls and plates. Cooking and shopping therefore become more complicated. Not to mention guiding the children in personal hygiene, bathing every day, and drying clothes on rainy days... At night, Ms. Vi Thi Cuc also took the time to guide the children in studying and doing homework to keep up with their classmates. Her and her husband's house at that time was like a miniature classroom. All the expenses for raising the children to study were paid by her family; the parents rarely went to school to visit their children.

Teacher Vi Thi Cuc still cannot forget the times when a student in her house had a fever and cough, which then spread to other students, even to her own children. So in the middle of the night, asking a colleague to come and watch the house, she and her husband climbed Bu Ong slope, more than 10 km to town to get medicine. When they got home, they had to coax each child to take the full dose, and it took several days for them to get better. When the student recovered, Ms. Cuc also got sick... Another time, a child had a skin infection, this disease spread very quickly, and in no time the whole family was sick. The teacher had to meet the elderly to ask for medicine, then go to the forest to find leaves to boil water to bathe each child. On rainy and windy days, she and her husband took turns taking the children to class on muddy, slippery roads, through deep streams with strong currents. Those were truly silent but very great deeds, showing the boundless love of Ms. Vi Thi Cuc and her husband for the children of Dan Lai. In the 2014-2015 school year, the school has mobilized the parents of 7 students in Khe Le, Co Phat to send their children to their relatives in Cua Rao village, Tan Son in the form of boarding school. To ease the hardship, Ms. Vi Thi Cuc continues to help 2 students in difficult circumstances, La Thi Anh (grade 5) and La Thi Bay (grade 5) by supporting them with clothes, books and pens.

Teacher Tran Thi Thanh Nga (born in 1981) also used to teach at the headwaters of Khe Khang. She still cannot forget the days when she taught at Co Phat school, there were children from Dan Lai who came to class in the morning without anything to eat, and by mid-session they were exhausted. She had to stop teaching, go into the kitchen to boil water and make instant noodles for them to eat... From then on, every time she returned home, Ms. Nga always brought a few boxes of instant noodles with her, in case a student was hungry in the middle of class. It was also a regular occurrence for her to spend money to buy notebooks and pens for the children. This school year, teacher Nga adopted Vi Thi Ha (grade 5) from Khe Le village. Her husband worked far away, so she alone took care of two small children, the eldest son was in grade 4, the youngest daughter was in preschool. School work, class work and taking care of the children took up most of her time, but she did not hesitate to help poor students. We went to Ms. Nga's house in Thai Son village (Mon Son) after school, she was busy preparing meals. There were only 3 people at lunch, Ms. Nga, Ha and her eldest son, the youngest daughter was staying at the kindergarten. During the meal, Vi Thi Ha - little Dan Lai was innocent and happy with her teacher; it seemed to her that her teacher was a real mother.

Mr. Tran Xuan Hung added that not only Ms. Cuc and Ms. Nga helped poor students, but all the teachers at Mon Son 3 Primary School helped the students with practical actions, showing love and responsibility towards their students. After saying that, he showed us the registration form for good deeds of the teachers, which stated: Ms. Ha Thi Thu Giang helped Ha Thi Hoai (class 2B); Ms. Vi Thi Bao supported clothes and books for La Van Dung (class 2A); Ms. Dinh Thi Hoa supported clothes for La Van Moi (class 5A)...

Article and photos:Cong Kien