Male engineer spent 10 years carrying bricks and trekking through forests to build schools for children in mountainous areas

In mid-January 2024, Ong Binh school (Tra Don commune, Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam ) was completed and officially put into operation. The first class at the new school was filled with laughter and happiness of teachers and students after many days of excitement and anticipation.

From a makeshift school deep in the mountains, Ong Binh school has become a solid, spacious school.

The first class of students at the new school Ong Binh

This is the 17th school that Mr. Nguyen Binh Nam (head of the Friends Club) and his colleagues have mobilized to build for students in the most disadvantaged mountainous areas in Quang Nam, Quang Binh, Quang Ngai, and Kon Tum .

The new modern school was built to replace the previous makeshift, dilapidated school.

"Fairy tale" schools

The idea of ​​building a school originated from electrical engineer Nguyen Binh Nam during a volunteer trip to the highlands during Tet in Nam Tra My district (Quang Nam) 13 years ago. The pain of witnessing teachers and students at Nuoc Ui school having to study in a wooden classroom, with holes on all four sides and a muddy ground motivated him to start reinforcing the school. The new school was inaugurated after 2 months at a cost of more than 200 million VND thanks to contributions and appeals via social networks.

With the motto "Go far - where it is difficult - go to the place - deliver to the hands" for over 10 years, Mr. Nam and his colleagues have crossed forests, waded through streams to clear dozens of temporary schools for students in mountainous areas. The new schools, in addition to classrooms, also have rooms for teachers, kitchens, and restrooms. The cost for a school is from 400-500 million VND, in some places up to nearly 1 billion.

Mr. Nam shared that building a school in the mountains is a difficult journey, not easy at all. Some schools take almost a year to complete because the roads are extremely difficult, most of the materials have to be transported by hand.

Ong Binh School (Tra Don Commune, Nam Tra My District, Quang Nam) before changing its uniform.

For example, at Ong Deo school (Nam Tra My district), the road to the site is very far and dangerous because the trail is very small, with a cliff on one side and a deep abyss on the other. Without the support of local people, it would be very difficult to complete.

“At that time, people had to carry sandbags, bricks, corrugated iron, steel… on their backs for 2 hours, climbing over two or three mountains to reach the gathering point. The process of transporting materials alone took more than 4 months. After nearly a year of hard work, the school was completed, providing nearly 100 preschool and primary school students with a spacious place to study,” said Mr. Nam.

The roads to the schools are far away and difficult to travel.

The most recent new school, Ong Binh, took 4 months to complete at a cost of nearly 1 billion VND.

“In 2017, we climbed mountains and waded through streams for nearly 5 hours to reach Ong Binh school. I didn’t think that after 6 years, we could build a school on that mountain. A place without national grid electricity or phone signal now has a new, modern school with everything. The school has a solar power system, lighting, fans, televisions, refrigerators, etc. Seeing the new school built in the middle of the green forest, not only the children but also the adults were moved to tears of joy,” Nam confided.

Volunteers, teachers and local people carry bricks to build the school

In addition to building schools, Mr. Nam's club also organizes programs such as: Mountain Meals, Mountain Bookcases, Mountain Milk, Mountain Swallows; Teaching in the Mountains... to help children in remote schools have less difficulty and go to school more regularly.

In particular, the program "Mountain Meal" has been maintained from 2014 to present. The club sponsors each school with a lunch with meat and fish every week.

Meals with meat help children eat well, eat well and go to school more often.

In September 2022, Mr. Nam launched the "Going to school in the mountains" program to help orphans and children in especially difficult circumstances. The project has so far helped 360 children in 6 mountainous districts of Quang Tri, Quang Ngai and Quang Nam with a total amount of more than 2 billion VND/year.

The Going to School in the Mountains project has supported 360 poor and disadvantaged students with 500,000 VND per month to help them confidently go to school.

He called on friends and donors in the city to sponsor each child with 500,000 VND/month. Every month, teachers receive money from the project to buy clothes, books, and necessities to support the children and their families. The project promises to support the children until they finish grade 12.

Mr. Nguyen Binh Nam - Head of the Friends Club

Recently, Mr. Nam’s club organized the program “Young people from the highlands go to the city” to bring the children to visit Da Nang City. It is like a spiritual gift, helping the children have more motivation to strive and try to study.

“The children who go to the streets are special because they come from difficult circumstances and are shy. It is the first time they go to the beach, watch fireworks, watch movies… Looking at the tall buildings and sparkling lights, they are surprised and so happy that they can only exclaim, “How beautiful!”

When going to the beach, the children asked Uncle Nam, “Why is the water so salty? Can I take this plastic bottle of salty water back to the mountain?” Their naive questions made the adults tear up,” said Mr. Nam.

The children were happy when they went out into the street for the first time.

“I hope that when you go out into the streets and see the vast world, you will try to go to school and study hard. Only studying and writing can help you change your future and change your homeland,” said Mr. Nam.

Sharing his plans for the near future, Mr. Nam said that he is preparing to start construction on another school in Nam Tra My district. This is the 18th school for children in remote areas.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/nam-ky-su-10-nam-cong-gach-bang-rung-xay-truong-cho-tre-vung-cao-2245132.html