The feelings of a teacher in a remote village

“LOOK UP AND SEE THE SKY, I MISS YOU”

That is a poem by a teacher of Muong Ai Primary School, Muong Ai Commune, Ky Son Border District, instead of a confession about the memories kept in his heart during the years of teaching in this high mountain and deep forest. Muong Ai Kindergarten has nearly 20 teachers, all of whom are female. Muong Ai Commune is located on the border with Laos, a remote and dangerous area. In order for the children to be cared for and educated, the school has many separate locations in remote villages. There are villages like Ai Khe that are more than 20km from the center of Muong Ai Commune. Because of the remoteness and difficult roads, the people of Ai Khe rarely have the opportunity to interact and contact with the outside world, especially women. Therefore, most of the women in Ai Khe, the older women, do not know how to speak Kinh.

Teacher Nguyen Thi Ngoc and her son. Photo: Hoai Thu

Ai Khe Kindergarten is located right next to the main road with two small classrooms, just enough for a class of about 15 children and a small corner for the teacher to live, eat and sleep right here. Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc is one of the teachers who has been attached to Ai Khe school for many years. Born in 1994, in 2016 Ngoc gave birth to a child, although the child was still young, but in a remote border area, she loved and took care of the child, Ngoc said: "Although it is hard, being with the child is a boundless happiness". But the joy of reunion between mother and child Ngoc did not last long, because of work requirements, Ngoc could not keep the child in the mountains and forests, and her son, who is over 1 year old, also needed to study and be raised in a place with less difficult conditions. Therefore, she and her husband decided to send the child to live with his grandparents in Hoa Thanh commune (Yen Thanh).

Not only Ms. Ngoc, at Muong Ai Kindergarten, most of the teachers from districts such as Do Luong, Yen Thanh, Con Cuong, Anh Son... who come here to teach have to leave their children at home, far away from their husbands and children. Therefore, the verses of poetry that were born from the mother's longing have become a comforting phrase, soothing the longing of the teachers from far away:“Looking up at the sky, I miss my child/ At night, the wind blows in gusts/ I curl up to keep warm”.

For Ngoc, in addition to missing and loving her son, she also constantly worries about her little son when she discovered at the age of 4 that he was slow to speak, showing signs of withdrawal, and had little communication with strangers. Sobbing while talking about her son, Ngoc said: "Maybe it's because he misses his mother and is away from her that he is sad and becomes like that." To help her son be happy again, for more than half a year now, her grandmother and Cu Bin have taken the bus from Hoa Thanh commune to Dien Chau town every day to attend a class to improve communication skills. During holidays and Tet, Ngoc hastily takes several bus trips, traveling nearly 300km from Ky Son to visit her son. Every day, outside of class, to fill the void of missing her son, Ngoc can only look at the photos of her son saved on her phone. When the phone signal is stable, she calls to talk to her son... At the end of 2020, Ms. Ngoc was transferred to teach at the main school in the center of Muong Ai commune, "the distance to her son has been shortened by dozens of kilometers," Ngoc shared.

A teacher working in Muong Tip commune (Ky Son). Students of Muong Tip Primary School (Ky Son) practice outdoor activities. Photo: Hoai Thu

Next to Muong Ai commune is Muong Tip commune. Teachers and students here are "equally divided" into 4 schools, of which 3 are in remote villages such as Pha Noi, 20km from the commune center. The Huoi Khi village school is 14km away from the main school on a mountainous road. The school in Na Mi village is closer, 2.5km from the commune center. In the schools in remote villages, there are all female teachers "staying in the village", said Mr. Nguyen Quoc Tri - Principal of the school.

At Pha Noi village school, among the 6 teachers stationed here, there are 2 female teachers, in charge of 5 classes. “Ms. Huong is from Anh Son, Ms. Anh is from Que Phong and has been teaching here for a long time. They have families and small children and have to send them to their hometowns. The teachers have to stay temporarily in a few thatched and bamboo houses, with wooden planks. In winter, the cold wind blows through the cracks in the door, in summer the sun burns the skin. Being far from home, away from husband and children, it is also very difficult in many ways,” said Mr. Tri.

At Huoi Khi school, there is only one combined class for first and second graders, taught by Ms. Kha Thi On alone. Ms. On is from Huu Lap commune, Ky Son district. However, she married a man from Con Cuong, her first child is in kindergarten and lives with his father. She is alone, away from her husband and children, to teach in Muong Tip, a distance of nearly 100 kilometers, and rarely gets to go home to take care of her child.

“CARE FOR STUDENTS MORE THAN CARE FOR CHILDREN”

Ms. Vi Thi Quy and her class in Huoi Pun village, My Ly commune (Ky Son). Photo: Hoai Thu

Children in the border areas, in remote villages, would surely live in poverty forever, especially in spirit and knowledge, if there were no teachers in the remote villages. During a visit to the class of teacher Vi Thi Quy in Huoi Pun village, My Ly commune (Ky Son), listening to the whispers of a first grader here, I could fully understand the sacrifices and contributions of teachers who are responsible for teaching in remote villages.

“The teacher bought notebooks, pens and books for me to study. She asked for warm clothes for me to wear. When it rained and the road was slippery, the teacher came to my house to pick me up to go to school,” little girl Cut Thi Vy said softly. After saying that, little Vy looked up at teacher Quy and smiled innocently, her eyes looking at her affectionately. When the teacher gave the signal to study, the whole class obediently picked up chalk and carefully practiced writing on the small boards.

Ms. Vi Thi Quy and her husband are both from Tuong Duong, but they started their careers in Ky Son. After graduating, the couple went to Ky Son to work. “I have been attached to Ky Son for 24 years, taught in many villages in this border area, and am used to hardship,” Ms. Quy confided. Her husband is also a teacher, currently teaching in Muong Long commune. The couple work in two different locations, hundreds of kilometers apart, so they rarely see each other. Therefore, far from home, far from her husband and children, all her love is for her young students.

"Ky Son district has 71 schools of all levels, including 126 schools in remote villages. Out of a total of 2,196 teachers, there are more than 1,300 female teachers. Teachers in remote villages, especially female teachers, are all people with strong will and love for their profession, for the sake of their beloved students, so they can stay in remote places and excellently complete their tasks" - Mr. Phan Van Thiet - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Ky Son district.

“In 2020, new textbooks were introduced, each set costing nearly 1 million VND. That amount of money is too much for the people here. Sometimes a household’s income is only half a year, so people cannot buy enough books for their children to study. All costs for buying books are currently being temporarily paid by teachers out of their own pocket so that the children can start the new school year in time and have books to study,” said Ms. Vi Thi Quy.

Ms. Lu Thi Dua and officers of Keng Du Border Guard Station receive gifts from sponsors to give to students. Photo: Hoai Thu

Teachers in remote areas spend more time taking care of students than their own children, so many teachers consider students as their children, taking care of them as if they were their own children. There are winters when the temperature is below 10 degrees Celsius, students are huddled in thin clothes, teachers buy warm clothes, and ask for warm clothes for students to cope with the cold. There are sick students whose parents do not know how to treat them, so teachers go to their homes to take them to see a doctor and get treatment. In some cases, students are seriously ill, and teachers even sleep at home to take care of them. For students here, teachers are also their second mothers, loved and cherished by them. Therefore, the students listen to all the teachers' instructions and study obediently.

Also in the area with a large population of Khmu ethnic people like in Huoi Pun, we had the opportunity to visit the school in Khe Linh village, Keng Du commune, Ky Son district. This is the farthest commune of this border district, 70 km away from Muong Xen town by steep and dangerous mountain forest road.

Teacher Lu Thi Dua. Photo: Hoai Thu

From the center of Keng Du commune, one must cross 15km of mountainous roads to reach Khe Linh village, where there is a combined preschool and primary school. Ms. Lu Thi Dua, not yet thirty years old, from Con Cuong district, was transferred from a school in Chieu Luu commune to Khe Linh to teach for more than a year. Away from her family, Ms. Dua and two other teachers take care of and teach 34 preschool children and 28 primary school students here. The solidly built four-room house with 3 classrooms and 1 activity room for teachers is nestled in the middle of the mountains and forests, close to the border with Laos.

With 100% of the population being Khmu ethnic group and nearly 100% of the households being poor, the students here lack both material and spiritual things. Khe Linh village chief Lo Van Son said that thanks to the teachers, their children are able to learn to read and write better than their grandparents and parents.

Teachers and students of Muong Ai Kindergarten (Ky Son) participate in experiential activities. Photo: Hoai Thu

According to information from the Department of Education and Training, Nghe An has nearly 42 thousand teachers at all levels, of which more than 34 thousand are female. In districts 30a such as Ky Son, Tuong Duong, Que Phong, there are more than 4,100 teachers, of which more than 2,900 are female. Among them, thousands of people have been and are diligently teaching in remote villages. Female teachers in remote villages, they are not only teachers, but also second mothers of students.

Their presence in the mountains and remote villages has brought to many generations of children the light of knowledge and love as if it were their own children. They accept being far away from home, away from their children and family to cultivate the noble career of educating people./.