Children in the highlands of Nghe An travel thousands of kilometers to reunite with their parents this summer.

Journey of thousands of kilometers

For nearly a week now, traveling along National Highway 7 through districts such as Ky Son and Tuong Duong, it is not difficult to see the image of students waiting for buses on the side of the road with bags in their hands and under their arms. In particular, at the bus stations in Ky Son district, every day hundreds of students come to catch a bus to the South. Among them, many are under 10 years old, but still go to catch a bus alone without an adult. Although they are about to embark on a journey of thousands of kilometers, full of hardship, the faces of all the students show excitement, because soon they will be reunited with their parents after a long time.

According to Mr. Le Hong Lap - Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Ky Son district, this has been a familiar image in recent years. "Starting from the end of May, when schools enter summer vacation, students also flock to catch buses to the South to reunite with their parents. What is worrying is that many children have to travel alone throughout the journey," said Mr. Lap, adding that the entire Ky Son district has a total population of only about 80,000 people, but according to statistics in 2022, there were more than 16,000 workers working in other provinces. Of these, most of them work for hire at rubber plantations of Army Corps 15 in the Central Highlands provinces as well as in the Southeast provinces.

“After Tet, the 15th Army Corps sends cars to Ky Son to pick up the workers, and then takes them home at the end of the year. Many families have both husband and wife, and their children are sent to their grandparents or relatives. Some children stay in boarding schools and are taken care of by teachers. They work far away all year round and only come home during Tet, so the children miss them very much. So as soon as summer vacation comes, the children rush to catch a bus hoping to reunite with their parents,” said Mr. Le Hong Lap.

According to Mr. Lap, the children traveling thousands of kilometers without relatives accompanying them is potentially risky. Therefore, the department has issued a document to rectify the situation, requesting the People's Committees of communes to take note, and at the same time requesting relatives to send someone to accompany them and take measures to ensure the safety of the children during the trip. However, despite the request, due to family circumstances, most of the children still have to trudge alone throughout the long journey.

With no other choice, during these days, the Ky Son District Police force and local authorities can only organize the distribution of milk, drinking water, and candy to the children. At the same time, they organize a list of children traveling this time, working with the bus companies to ensure safety during the trip. The bus companies also support the children with ticket prices, food, and beds.

Love Trips

Ms. Ha Thi Hanh is the owner of a bus that runs the Muong Xen - Mien Dong Bus Station route. According to Ms. Hanh, it is not new for students from the mountainous areas of Nghe An to visit their parents in the South during the summer. On some trips to the South, her bus company carries nearly 30 children to visit their parents.

"Once we take the children in, we have to take care of them. Normally, it's just my husband, my wife and a driver, but this time we have to hire 3 more people to help manage and take care of the children, especially when they go down to eat or go to the bathroom every day. The bus company takes care of the children's meals and bathing, while the older children can do it themselves or get help from the bus company staff," said Ms. Hanh.

According to Ms. Hanh, usually grandparents take their children to the bus station and provide additional information such as the name, phone number, and address of the parents. The bus company will record it in a notebook and regularly keep in touch with the children's relatives throughout the journey. For each "young passenger", the bus company only charges half the ticket price. Even for families in difficult circumstances, the bus company does not charge the children. To encourage the children, the bus company also buys candy as gifts so that the children behave well during the journey. Each trip lasts 2-3 days, so the children are quite tired. Many children are excited and happy, but some young children cry. The bus company has to contact the children's parents, continuously update the situation via social networks, record videos and take pictures of the children eating and drinking to send to relatives for peace of mind.

These special passenger trips start from around the end of May, when schools in the mountainous areas finish their school year, until around mid-June every year. In the opposite direction, the bus company will pick up children from the southern provinces to return in time for the new school year, with work finishing before September 5. Ms. Hanh also has special passengers who, for 8 years, regularly take the bus to visit her parents during the summer vacation, and then take the bus back to their hometown after the summer. The children are mainly from Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Anh Son districts..., whose parents work for hire in the southern provinces.

Mr. Xong Ba Lau (34 years old, in Ky Son district) said that he and his wife have been working as workers on a rubber plantation in Binh Phuoc for the past 5 years. During this time, he was only able to be with his children during Tet each year. Therefore, he missed his children very much, the oldest was only 11 years old, the youngest was not yet 8 years old. On May 29, when he learned that his children were on summer vacation, he immediately called the bus company to pick them up.

"My children are on summer vacation, but my parents can't come back, and I miss them so much. Seeing many people buying bus tickets for their children, I asked for the bus company's number. I called them and they said to rest assured, just need to bring them to Muong Xen bus station (Ky Son district), write down all the information, location, and contact information for the parents, and they will take them to the bus station, and they will also take care of the children's food and drink along the way," said Mr. Lau.

After "finalizing" with the bus company, Mr. Lau called home to tell his two children to prepare their clothes and tell relatives to take them to the bus station before departure. "I know it's dangerous, but there's no other way. It's all for a living, and Mong children are used to hardship," Mr. Lau said with a laugh.

According to the leader of the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district, there are currently no exact statistics, but the number of children who come to the southern provinces to reunite with their families during the summer is very large. Of these, most of them return to continue studying after the summer vacation, but some do not return.

“Some students go there to study because there is a school and a kindergarten there. But many students, especially those in middle or high school, drop out to work with their parents. That is also part of the reason why the rate of students dropping out of school at the beginning of the school year in Ky Son district is always high,” he said.