Hoi Co Dawn
(Baonghean) - The elderly in Huoi Co said that: no one in the village has ever seen the dawn. Since the Huoi Co people have lived on Pha Danh peak, the village has been covered in clouds. The sun only appears above the baskets of corn and cassava in the late afternoon, when the villagers return from the fields. The life of the Mong people in Huoi Co has been like that from generation to generation... Until one day, the children came down the mountain and carried letters back to the village. The Huoi Co people realized that this is also the light, the dawn of Huoi Co village.
After crossing 5 mountains and walking for more than half a day, the Huoi Co people reached the center of Nhon Mai commune (Tuong Duong). On this trail, only the ancient trees witnessed the footsteps of the Mong father and son Va Chia Chu and Va Ba Tua half a lifetime ago. Now, Va Ba Tua has become a doctor at Nhon Mai Medical Station, but every time he returns to the village to visit his relatives, the ancient ban trees bring him back to old memories.
In those days, the Huoi Co people were so miserable that each child in the village only had one set of clothes. When bathing, they had to go naked and wander around the fields with the adults. When they were old enough to lift a machete, they officially joined their parents in labor. Life was like that, day after day, month after month, year after year. All contact with the community outside Huoi Co village was almost cut off by the Pha Danh mountain range and the long distance. Poverty made the young and old, men and women work hard all year round, rolling around in the mountains and forests, worrying about having enough to eat. But how could they be full when the land for farming was gradually drying out, and wild animals kept running into the deep forest. On days when there was a shortage of rice to eat, the Mong people in Huoi Co had to eat corn and men men to get through their meals... Hunger and poverty seemed to seep into the flesh of the entire community here. Why do our people live closest to the sky but still suffer from hunger? The elderly in Huoi Co say that it is because of the ghost hiding under the clouds on top of Pha Danh. Because the people of Huoi Co rarely see sunlight.
Until one day, there was a man in the village who climbed mountains, waded streams, and crossed forests to reach the faraway Hoa Binh Town (Tuong Duong). That was Mr. Va Chia Chu. Going down to the lowlands, to the town, Va Chia Chu realized that their people were richer than the Mong people in Huoi Co, they had delicious food and beautiful clothes. He was curious to find out and heard people say it was thanks to literacy. He did not know what literacy was, but if literacy could be exchanged for rice for his family and the villagers, he had to find it. So Va Chia Chu trudged hand in hand with his son Va Ba Tua for 4 days, from Huoi Co down to Nhon Mai and then to Hoa Binh, to school, asking the teachers to let his son learn to read and write. And Chia Chu confided: “The teachers also loved and cared for Ba Tua very much. Later, they sent him to study in the province, and he became a doctor. Now life is different from before. Ba Tua is no longer poor, and the people of Huoi Co village are also different from before. I am very happy.”
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| Students of Huoi Co Secondary School build a dormitory to study. |
And Ba Tua became a doctor after more than 16 years of searching for knowledge. He used knowledge and skills to cure the Mong people, he was better at chasing away the ghosts of illness in patients than a shaman. If Ba Tua were better than a shaman, the villagers would have to think again. It was a long time to learn to read and write, but Ba Tua was already literate, his parents were able to build a new house, raise more buffaloes and cows, and Ba Tua's children had more clothes to wear than the villagers. So one or two people in the village asked Ba Tua how to learn to read and write.
The news that Va Ba Tua went to school and became successful was spread by the Mong people in Huoi Co. The Va family was very happy, everyone was proud because no one in the upper or lower villages had been like that. The Mong children began to hope to be like Tua. The adults in Huoi Co thought: Studying takes a long time, takes a little effort, but they have to study, they have to send their children to school to change their lives, otherwise they will suffer like their parents. The Huoi Co people went into the forest to get wood to build classrooms, built schools and welcomed teachers to the village to teach them. The number of children going to school increased day by day. During the day, children studied, at night, adults lit lamps to teach literacy. Determined not to lose to the children, adults also had to study. Some days, teachers taught classes, other days, border guards stationed in the village joined in teaching the people. Learning to read and write was harder than holding a knife to clear the fields, harder than holding a bow and arrow to shoot wild animals, but everyone felt happy. Not learning to read and write, not knowing the common language was very shameful.
Now, the State has opened more roads to make travel easier than before. Many examples of determination to learn to read and write have appeared in Huoi Co village. Huoi Co village chief, Mr. Va Khua Do is a typical example. Now, with the ability to read and write, his family's life has also changed. In the resolution of the Party cell's activities, Khua Do and the party members in the cell continue to focus on promoting the learning of Huoi Co's children. The village chief always considers the children's learning to be the top priority. Because 10 years ago, he was the one who overcame all his complexes to board with his two children to study at Nhon Mai Primary and Secondary School. There are few Mong people who are as eager to learn as he is. And Khua Do smiled and shared: “I also feel ashamed, but if they let me go to class, I will go. I only know how to read and write for myself, not for them, so no matter how much I am scolded, I have to go to class to learn how to read and write for myself, to educate my locality, to know how to do business and live in my locality. If I study less, I will not be able to do anything”. That is not only the saying of the exemplary village chief Va Khua Do but also the thinking of the households living in the poor village, covered in clouds all year round on Pha Danh peak. Therefore, for Mong students in Huoi Co today, after finishing primary school, they pack up and go to the commune center to continue studying at secondary school. And as if understanding the hearts of adults, despite the long and difficult journey, despite their poor families, they still persevere in going to school. On weekends, groups of secondary school students return to visit the village, and on Monday morning, people see them going down the mountain slope, eagerly carrying bags of rice and bundles of upland vegetables. All of that is a package of dreams for the life ahead.
Now, the classrooms are more spacious than before. Ethnic minority students studying at Nhon Mai Boarding High School have better learning conditions than their fathers and brothers when they were boarding in thatched houses. However, compared to the living and learning conditions of students in the lowlands, they probably never dared to dream of it. By the flickering fire every morning, Mong students in Huoi Co gather around to cook rice and enjoy the familiar dish of white rice with water and salt. Only then can we see how extraordinary their efforts are. In their journey to find letters, Huoi Co students have written miracles for Nhon Mai Boarding High School. Just last year, two female ninth grade students from Huoi Co village surpassed tens of thousands of students in the same grade in the whole province to go to Vinh City to compete in Geography with hundreds of excellent students from Nghe An province. That is And Y Di and And Y May.
Also on the way to school, many students in Hoi Co have gone to town, to the city to continue studying high school. Half a day walking, half a day by boat and bus, they get to school. Their lives are not only difficult because of the journey from home to school of hundreds of kilometers. In contact with classmates from other ethnic groups, especially Kinh people, they are inferior in every way. In terms of accommodation, living conditions, and education from childhood... Mong students are always the ones who suffer the most. But perhaps no one has as great a determination as they do. Therefore, despite living and studying in a new environment, Hoi Co students still achieve many good academic results. Understanding the hardships and difficulties of their parents in the journey of raising their children, Hoi Co students are always obedient, hard-working and very confident.
The adults in Huoi Co village understand their children's dreams and determination, so they have devoted all their efforts and sweat to raise their children to study. The plodding steps into the forest and the heavy loads of firewood have made them hungry and miserable all their lives. Now the whole village will no longer be hungry and poor if each person tries a little harder. The reality in Huoi Co has proven that: Only the path of finding knowledge is the only way for the Mong people in Huoi Co to escape poverty. That's why in the village, like Va Chia Xa's family, although the couple works hard all year round, their children have studied very well. Currently, his two eldest children are studying at university.
114 students in Huoi Co of school age have all been to school. Of these, 10 are currently studying at university, 4 are studying at colleges and vocational high schools. In a village with only 42 households and more than 290 people, this number is perhaps the clearest evidence of the Mong people in Huoi Co about the spirit of learning and the extraordinary ability to overcome difficulties of the children. Adults go without food and clothing, sell buffaloes, cows, chickens and pigs to earn money to send their children to school. The whole village has established a scholarship fund to support and help poor students. Any family in the village whose children study well receives attention and support from the whole community. Huoi Co village has become a typical village of the Mong people in Nghe An in the movement to encourage learning and talent. Mr. Va Gia Xua, Secretary of the Party Cell of Huoi Co village, said that in the 2014 school year, the village had 2 students taking the university entrance exam, this year, 3 students are taking the exam, and the whole village is waiting for good news. Mr. Kha Duong Tien, Secretary of the Party Committee of Nhon Mai commune, said that the people of Huoi Co village have built a very good learning movement. Families follow each other's example, and students also compete in their studies. "This is truly something to be proud of.
However, there are still countless difficulties when people in Hoi Co pursue their aspirations of going to school. Due to difficult circumstances, many students in Hoi Co have had to drop out of university. A cadre of Hoi Co village said that some children of Hoi Co have dropped out of school to work in the fields. Even his son, Va Ba Co, who is in his third year at the Faculty of Literature, Vinh University, had to drop out because his family was too poor. This is also something that departments and branches should pay attention to and help.