March 8 is an occasion to show gratitude to the other half of the world - women. At Thai Giang Pho Kindergarten, this special holiday takes place in a very unique way.
Thai Giang Pho Kindergarten is 70km from Lao Cai province, 3km from Bac Ha district center, in a commune in the 3rd area of special difficulties of Bac Ha district. The school was established in 2004 with 1 main school and 6 satellite schools, the nearest satellite school is 6km away, the farthest satellite school is 22km away in Sin Chai - Ngai Thau village.
Halfway up the mountain, Thai Giang Pho Kindergarten, Ngai Thau branch, is surrounded by the green of the old forest. The school is designed with 2 classrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 storage room, 1 toilet and a playground system. Under the careful hands of the teachers, the school is always clean and beautifully decorated to welcome students to class.
Come to the most remote school, meet and learn about the story of the profession of "sowing letters, nurturing the future" of two teachers Lam Thi Khoa and Vang Thi Day. Although the two teachers are different in age and teaching experience, they both share a heart that loves the profession, loves children, and has an extraordinary determination to "stick to the village to teach".
The teacher devoted his youth to taking care of children in the highlands.
With more than 16 years of working at different schools in difficult areas in the North, Ms. Lam Thi Khoa returned to her hometown Bac Ha and joined Thai Giang Pho kindergarten.
Sharing about her journey of “carrying letters up the mountain”, she said that the first time she came to Bac Ha to teach was the time when she felt the most difficult. Difficult in all aspects: the road to the school is 22km long and is a dirt road - one side is a landslide, the other side is a steep cliff; the students are Mong - causing a language barrier; mobilizing parents to send their children to school was also not easy...
Yet, the teacher still persevered, getting up at 6am every day, riding her motorbike for about 2 hours, overcoming the bumpy, bumpy road of 22km to get to the school to teach. “When I first came here, I was not used to this road, the road was so bad that I fell into a ditch and lay there, my leg stuck and I couldn’t pull it out. I lay there until a cowherd passed by and they lifted the bike up for me. After that, I had to use crutches for months, it was so hard!” - Ms. Khoa laughed as she shared.
Talking about the hardships, the teacher is not afraid of bad roads, not afraid of slow learning, but afraid of having no students in the class. Ms. Khoa said, when she first started teaching, the school had very few students, a class had only a few students that could be counted on the fingers. She and other teachers had to go to each house around the school to persuade parents to let their children go to school. This was a challenging job, the distance between houses was quite far, and the ideological work with parents was even more difficult.
Because the households around here are busy making ends meet, poverty and deprivation make them not interested in learning. But Ms. Khoa is not discouraged, "They don't know what knowledge is, but I do, so I have to be a pioneer." That teacher has faith in her mission, she does not stop but continues to persevere in encouraging students to go to school. Thanks to that, from a class with only a few students, now her class is crowded with up to 25 students.
For Ms. Khoa, the students who come to her are her greatest joy. Although she faces difficulties in teaching, because she speaks Mandarin while the students speak Mong, as long as the students are willing to go to school, she still has the motivation to teach.
Teaching children here requires a lot of patience, because they often communicate in their ethnic language with their families, so it is difficult for them to learn the common language. There are rhymes that seem easy to recite for other normal children, but for the children here, it is very difficult, they have to be taught over and over again. Not to mention, there are children who speak slowly, have a lisp, and are shy to speak, so the teacher has to patiently sit and teach them carefully, which takes more time.
Ms. Khoa also has her own life, she also has a small child, but she spends more time at school than she does with her family. That is probably a great sacrifice when she comes to teaching in this mountainous area.
She shared that there were times when she wanted to give up because this job was too hard, sometimes when her children were sick she couldn’t even be there to take care of them, making them feel sad… But every time like that, the image of the children in patched clothes walking through the forest every day to class appeared in her mind. “No matter which teacher is from which school, as long as they see me riding a motorbike with a school bag, the children will greet me loudly. That’s all I need to motivate me to teach!” - Ms. Khoa choked up.
Indeed, to be able to maintain the noble mission of bringing knowledge to children in remote mountainous areas, that teacher had to be so brave and have such a loving heart for children.
Young female teacher wants to change the future for children in the highlands
Ms. Vang Thi Day is considered a 'newbie' at Thai Giang Pho kindergarten, she has only worked at the school for 2 years. However, the children here love her very much, considering her as their second mother.
Sharing the reason for coming to the teaching profession, Ms. Day said that it was her dream since she was a child. She was born and raised in Bac Ha, she is also a Mong ethnic child living in poverty. Therefore, she always longed to learn to read and write, to gain knowledge and change her life as well as that of her ethnic compatriots.
The young female teacher always focuses on the children, taking care of them from meals to sleep, closely following them down to the smallest details. Different from other teachers, Ms. Day can communicate fluently with the children in the ethnic language, thanks to which teaching them is a little easier.
The beginning is always the most difficult time, like other teachers, Ms. Day has a terrible fear of the road to the school. When she first started teaching, she did not dare to ride a bike but had to walk through the "unshaped" roads, while others took 2 hours to get there, she needed nearly 3 hours of struggling.
But after a while, Ms. Day did not allow herself to be late to school because there were children waiting for her at school. "So no matter how scared I was, I gritted my teeth, held the steering wheel tightly and drove through the landslides and mud. I accepted the fall, but if I had to be careful, I would never get there." - she said with a smile.
For her, that was not the most difficult thing, the biggest challenge she had to face, which was motivating students to go to school. Remembering when she first entered the school, every day she had to walk up the hill to people's houses to do ideological work. Sometimes they refused, sometimes they closed the door and refused to receive her, she felt sad and frustrated because the effort and time she spent did not get results.
The teacher said, “Sometimes I feel discouraged, especially when I try to persuade students to go to school but fail. But because I love my job, love children, and because I was born here, I want to help them gain knowledge and have a better life, so I still stick with this job.” More than anyone, Ms. Day understands the suffering and circumstances of the children here, because she was like that when she was a child. Therefore, she longs to contribute her efforts to raise them, help them gain knowledge, and guide them to a brighter future.
The female teachers at Thai Giang Pho Kindergarten each have their own story and reason for joining the profession, but their common aspiration is always to change the future of children. Because their hearts beat together with love for children, love for their homeland, and the desire to devote themselves to the cause of educating people.
When mentioning March 8, the teachers at the school all burst out laughing. For them, it is also a special day, but for the children here, it is just a normal day like any other.
The village here is completely isolated from the urban area, surrounded by mountains and forests. The innocent children do not even have three meals a day, so how would they know what March 8th is? But since they started going to school, they gradually learned more about the world, thanks to the teachers who taught them. Thanks to that, they gradually learned that International Women's Day is an opportunity to express their feelings for their beloved women, including their teachers.
In this remote highland, lacking in many things but full of humanity. Every year on March 8, teachers from different schools in the village often gather at a certain school. They organize activities to connect teachers such as: volleyball competitions, traditional games between teachers and students,...
In addition, the unique gifts that the children of the village school gave to their teachers were also an unforgettable highlight - simple and common things such as: wild flowers, sweet potatoes, cassava, etc. containing respect and love for their teachers. All of that created a truly meaningful International Women's Day.
The children of Thai Giang Pho Kindergarten are between 2 and 4 years old. Although they are very young, they are all very obedient and listen to their teachers. Every day, rain or shine, they still diligently wake up early to go to class, never missing a day. Perhaps, this comes from the sincere feelings that the children have for their teachers.
Although they are ethnic minorities, there are many common words that they do not know how to say or express their situations, but their feelings for their teacher are always pure and precious. Their eyes sparkle with joy every time they come to class, their tight hugs when saying goodbye to their teacher at the end of the day, all are proof of the love they have for their devoted teacher.
On the occasion of March 8, the children of Thai Giang Pho Kindergarten sent their feelings in silly wishes to thank the teachers who have been taking care of them.
Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/ngay-8-thang-3-binh-di-cua-cac-co-giao-noi-ban-xa-post1019413.vnp
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