Bring the words back, Oh Oh, Old Man Hop

(Baonghean) -Every time the teacher Ha Van Tam is mentioned, the people of the two villages of O O and Gia Hop, in Tuong Son commune (Anh Son) always express their respect. For nearly 20 years, teacher Tam has quietly contributed to bringing literacy to the children, to change the life of the village.

Teacher Ha Van Tam and students of O O village.

Teacher Tam was born in 1963 in Tam Son commune, a remote commune of Anh Son district. After finishing high school, this young man of Thai ethnicity joined the army. After 7 years in the army (1982 - 1989), Ha Van Tam returned to his hometown to work and produce. At that time, the lives of ethnic minorities in Anh Son were still facing many difficulties, many children of school age could not go to school because of the lack of schools, classes and teachers. Faced with this situation, Ha Van Tam decided to take the exam to enter the Mountainous Pedagogical School to become a teacher in the future, bringing knowledge to children in remote villages. After 2 years of studying Pedagogy, in 1996, Ha Van Tam graduated and was assigned to Tuong Son Primary School. At that time, the two villages of O O and Gia Hop were still lacking teachers, so teacher Tam volunteered to teach here.

Until now, Mr. Tam still cannot forget the difficult years, having to walk about 10 km of forest road, following the trails along streams to find his students. The life of the Thai ethnic people in O O and Gia Hop is still extremely poor, most families are facing food shortages, few people care about education. The first thing Mr. Tam did when he arrived here was to go to the village chief's house to ask people to contribute paintings, bamboo and wood to build a classroom. Not having a place, Mr. Tam persuaded the village chief to agree to build a classroom right in his garden. Like that, every new school year, Mr. Tam took care of mobilizing people to build classrooms and schools, and it was not until nearly 10 years later (in 2005) that O O and Gia Hop were able to invest in building a school. The next thing Mr. Tam did was go to each house to persuade children to go to school.

At first, there were parents who did not want to send their children to class because they had to spend money on books, pens, and ink, and there was no one to help take care of their children so they could go to the fields or look after the buffaloes and cows. Faced with this situation, Mr. Tam kindly advised the people to gradually understand the benefits of sending their children to class. Compared to students in the central area, the receptive ability of students in O O - Gia Hop was slower, Mr. Ha Van Tam determined that he had to be patient and dedicated in guiding the children to write each stroke and handle each calculation. At night, he and the village chief went to each student's house to check on their studies at home, learn about their family circumstances, and grasp the thoughts and wishes of their parents.

Up to now, life has changed somewhat, the road to the village has been paved, but compared to other areas, people in O O and Gia Hop still face many difficulties and hardships. Teacher Ha Van Tam continues to be attached to the children here. In addition to teaching, he also spends time going everywhere to mobilize donations of books and school supplies so that his students can have the best possible learning conditions. Teacher Tam shared: "Compared to the main school, students here are more disadvantaged, so I hope to have a bookshelf to serve their studies, to serve the needs of improving knowledge and entertainment, especially during the summer."

Talking to us, Mr. Nguyen Duc Vinh - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Anh Son district said: "We acknowledge and highly appreciate the sense of responsibility of Mr. Ha Van Tam. He has made great contributions in maintaining the number of students, helping the department to do a good job of management, advising on teaching and learning in O O and Gia Hop villages...".

Tuong Anh