TP – Every Tuesday and Thursday evening, the free English class on the Hau River is filled with laughter. The class has participants of all ages, the youngest student is 9 years old, the oldest is 63 years old.
The class takes place at 6:30 p.m. every Tuesday and Thursday at the home of Ms. Le Thi Be Bay ("Mother Bay" as the volunteers often call her). At 5 p.m., the two youngest students, Phan Binh Minh, 9 years old, and Thanh Khiet, 11 years old, are taken to class by boat by their family. Then, Mr. Bay Bon (Ly Van Bon, 63 years old) drives the boat from the fish raft to the classroom. Nguyen Ngoc Tuong Vy, a volunteer and teacher of the class, said: "These are the three special students of the class, because the youngest and oldest always come to class regularly and arrive to class the earliest." Binh Minh said that he is in 4th grade this year, and his family has a longan garden serving tourists, so he wants to learn English to communicate with foreign guests.
The class has more than ten people, divided into 2 groups, each group has volunteers to support in addition to the main teacher. Bui Thi Cam Tu is a student. She volunteered to go to Con Son to teach English for free to the locals for nearly 2 months. Tu said that the content of today's lesson is vocabulary about dishes served to customers every day by the locals. Simple greetings along with fun games.
The students called the volunteer teachers "teachers" and the students called themselves "father" or "mother". The class was lively and filled with laughter until the end.
In the pouring rain, hearing the sound of a motorboat pulling up to the shore, an international volunteer named Kamiji Shota, currently working for JICA (Japan) in Can Tho city, wore a raincoat and entered the class, surprising everyone. Shota bowed and apologized to everyone for being late due to the rain and waiting for the boat. After that, Shota joined in supporting the class like the others in the group. Shota is cheerful and sociable, having lived in Can Tho for more than a year, so he can listen and speak Vietnamese quite fluently. “The people on the islet are very friendly and enthusiastic. The basic knowledge in English such as greetings, introducing names, occupations, places of residence, etc. taught by me and the members of the group was quickly absorbed and grasped by the people,” Shota shared.
Mr. Bay Bon is the oldest student in the class but is not shy or hesitant and always studies hard. He is a member of the Con Son Tourism Service Cooperative. His family has lived on the island for more than 30 years, raising fish and serving tourists. He raises dozens of species of freshwater fish, especially many rare species of the Mekong River. "When foreign visitors come to the raft, I want to share and introduce them in English, so I join this class," said Mr. Bay Bon.
Bui Thi Cam Tu (from Long An), a third-year student majoring in English at Can Tho University, took advantage of her summer break to teach English for free to the people of Con Son. Cam Tu said that before she knew about Con Son, she had never thought of taking on the role of a teacher, but everything gradually changed when she came here. “Every night, the whole family (the people on the island - PV) brought me positive energy, inspiration and sincere love,” Tu confided.
Cam Tu was impressed by the image of Ms. Be Bay who encouraged the whole family to come to the class, sharing the story of the volunteer. Tu remembered Mr. Tam cycling to class every night, bringing with him an abundant source of energy. And every time he saw the boatman, he spoke English to his children, even if it was just a simple greeting.
For Cam Tu, without knowing when, she has considered Con Son as her second home, and the villagers as her family.
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