The first female student of Plao Sieng village said she is determined to study to change her life - Photo: TAM AN
From Buon Ma Thuot city, we had to travel more than 100km to reach Plao Sieng village (Ea Rbin commune, Lak district, Dak Lak province).
The stilt house of Sanh and her children is located in the middle of the village's rice fields. In the hot sun, the new student is picking vegetables and collecting firewood to cook lunch for the whole family before packing her bags to prepare to enroll in the Jrai language teaching program at Tay Nguyen University.
Lost father twice, father never gave birth but has a heart as big as the ocean
Ms. Ly Thi Pa (40 years old, Sanh's mother) lost her husband at a very young age and had to work hard to raise 3 children alone.
Overcoming difficulties, female student wants to finish university to change her life - Photo: MINH PHUONG
In the village, there was a man who also lost his wife. Seeing Ms. Pa's suffering, he often came over to help with the heavy work.
Perhaps because both fates suffered loss and understood each other, the two remarried.
“My sisters and I are very happy because our stepfather is very kind, diligent and loves us like his own children. No matter how hard it is, he always makes sure we have enough food, enough clothes and can all go to school,” Sanh said.
Talking about her stepfather, Sanh's tears welled up again because he was the one who supported her to continue her education, different from the opinion of most Mong people in Plao Sieng village: why should girls study so much, they should just stay home, get married and have children.
Female student Vu Thi Sanh wants to study and return to become a teacher to change the village's perception - Photo: TAM AN
“When I came back to live with my mother, then it became too difficult for the whole family to move to Lak district to get a birth certificate. So, my current family name is also my stepfather's family name, Vu A Pao.
In the new land, my parents had three more siblings. My father still encouraged all of us to study hard. I was the best student so my father also encouraged me to continue my studies and change my life,” Sanh recalled.
The joy was short-lived, Pao's father suffered from appendicitis but silently endured it and continued working. One rainy afternoon in 2019, Pao was in pain but tried to fix the corrugated iron roof to avoid the upcoming storm.
The roof was not yet repaired when he was so sick that he had no strength left. That night, everyone gathered around his bed, worried. The miracle did not happen.
That day was also the last moment that the children were with their father. Once again, Vu Thi Sanh lost the father who loved her so much, Sanh told the story with a choked voice.
And the second "mother"
After his father passed away, Sanh's mother was left alone with 3 fields of rice and 6 children. It was so miserable that her mother advised Sanh to quit school and work to help take care of his father who was still very young.
“At that time, I cried a lot even though I understood the difficult situation. I went to class to tell my story, said goodbye to my friends and my homeroom teacher (Ms. Pham Thi Hong, 33 years old, teacher at Tran Quoc Toan Secondary School - PV). But she advised me to try to overcome the difficulties to continue studying,” the new student who was in dire need of support to go to school recalled.
Ms. Hong takes her students to enroll at Tay Nguyen University - Photo: TAM AN
That afternoon, Ms. Hong came to Pa's house to encourage her to let Sanh continue to go to school, and that the tuition fees would be covered by benefactors. Thanks to her advice, her mother agreed to let Sanh continue to go to school and finish secondary school.
“But when I was in 10th grade, the school was more than 40km away from home, and it was almost hopeless for me to continue studying. At that time, Ms. Hong came to my house and asked my mother to let me continue going to school.
She called her colleague at Nguyen Chi Thanh High School (Krong No Commune, Lak District) to let her stay in the dormitory. Tuition fees were also waived and she provided additional support.
Thanks to her encouragement, I finished high school and determined to go to university to change my life," Sanh said happily.
The Mong girl has beautiful eyes and strong will.
Sanh said that during the days away from home to attend high school, Sanh applied to be a kitchen assistant in the school cafeteria.
Sanh sweeps the house, sets the table, and washes the dishes every day for his mistress, so he is given three meals a day. He doesn't have to worry about food, just focuses on studying to fulfill his dream.
When he passed the university entrance exam, once again, thanks to Ms. Hong's encouragement, Sanh had more motivation to move forward.
“Going to university is my biggest dream. But my family’s circumstances are so poor that my mother has been very worried these past few days,” Sanh confided, looking up at the rays of sunlight shining through the gaps in the wooden walls and corrugated iron roof onto the rows of certificates.
Saying "mom is very worried" but looking at Sanh's face, the person opposite knew that she was also worried no less than her mother.
Freshman Vu Thi Sanh
Many of my friends wanted to go to school like me, but their parents didn't allow them to, so they had to drop out. My family was poor, but luckily I finished high school and passed the university entrance exam. I want to return to become a teacher to change my parents' perception of studying. I also hope to help the poor younger generation like me, overcome their circumstances to study, to change, and to have a better future.
The first female student in Plao Sieng village to go to university
Talking more about her student, teacher Pham Thi Hong said she knew Sanh's situation since they were in middle school. She saw in Sanh a love of learning and an effort to overcome difficulties, but his family's circumstances were extremely pressing, always at risk of having to drop out of school.
“I am happy to have contributed to supporting and accompanying Sanh so that she can complete her high school program. Sanh is the first Mong girl in Plao Sieng village to finish high school and now go to university.
You are our hope in helping people in this village realize the role of education for development, so that in the future the village will have more students like Sanh," Ms. Hong confided.
For Vu Thi Sanh, Ms. Hong (in white shirt) is like a second mother because she has helped her overcome many difficulties and encouraged her to pursue her dream of studying - Photo: TAM AN
On August 25, Ms. Hong, carrying all sorts of things, accompanied her student Vu Thi Sanh to complete the admission procedures. Knowing that her student had no money, Ms. Hong proactively registered Sanh in a dormitory and paid all the fees online in advance.
“Luckily, I know many colleagues from my time studying at Tay Nguyen University and have received support, so the procedures are smooth. The most important thing now is that Sanh must be strong and make efforts to fulfill his dream,” Ms. Hong confided.
Mirror of the village
Talking about the circumstances of this new student, Mr. Dang Xuan Kien - Chairman of the People's Committee of Ea R'bin commune - confirmed that Sanh's family was in particularly difficult circumstances as her father had passed away, the family had many siblings, and little land.
In addition, because they migrated from the North without a household registration, Sanh's family, despite being very poor, could not register her as a poor household. Before Sanh graduated from high school, Mr. Kien had to send an officer to register her with another family and take her to the district to get a citizen identification card.
“Sanh has overcome the immediate difficulties to continue pursuing his studies.
Sanh is also one of two students in Plao Sieng village who completed high school and the only one who passed the university entrance exam. He is a role model for many families and young people in the area who are still facing many difficulties,” said Mr. Kien.
Invite you to join the School Support Program
Tuoi Tre Newspaper's 2024 School Support Program launched on August 8, expected to award 1,100 scholarships with a total cost of more than 20 billion VND (15 million VND for new students with difficulties, 20 special scholarships worth 50 million VND/scholarship throughout 4 years of study and learning equipment, gifts...).
With the motto "No young person can go to school because of poverty", "New students encounter difficulties, there is Tuoi Tre " - as a commitment to support new students in the past 20 years of Tuoi Tre .
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In addition, Vinacam Group Joint Stock Company also sponsored 50 laptops for new students with special difficulties and lack of learning equipment worth about 600 million VND, Nestlé Vietnam Company Limited sponsored 1,500 backpacks worth about 250 million VND.
The Vietnam-USA Society English Language System sponsored 50 free foreign language scholarships worth 625 million VND. Through the State Bank, Bac A Commercial Joint Stock Bank sponsored 1,500 books on financial education, instructing financial management skills for new students...
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