Extraordinary willpower of armless teacher in Thanh Hoa

“Seeing my friends holding pens in their hands, I also held a pen between my left toes to practice writing. Because my right leg is shorter than my left leg, holding a pen to write is already difficult, but it is even more difficult. Many times my toes are scratched, blistered and very painful, causing me to be unable to sleep at night.”

These are the contents quoted from the emotional speech at the 75th Anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh's "Call for Patriotic Emulation" by teacher Le Thi Tham (residing in Dong Thinh commune, Dong Son district, Thanh Hoa).

The extraordinary determination of teacher Le Thi Tham to overcome her circumstances has touched many people. Ms. Tham is also a case of a teacher who was specially recruited to teach in the locality despite being disabled and having lost both arms. Her dream of standing on the podium has finally come true.

Tham lives in a ground-floor house at the end of a small alley in Doan Ket village, Dong Thinh commune, Dong Son district, Thanh Hoa province. She is the eldest sister, her younger brother is 19 years old this year. The small girl impressed everyone at first sight with her confident smile and clear eyes. Although she is 24 years old, Tham is only 1m4 tall and weighs less than 30kg. People often call her by the familiar nickname "penguin".

The day Tham was born, her relatives discovered that she was born without arms like other children. Fearing that Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tinh would not be able to overcome this shock, her relatives hid the baby by wrapping her in a diaper. A week later, when the whole family was working in the field, Mrs. Tinh opened the diaper to change it and discovered that her baby had no arms. She was speechless, tears streaming down her face.

She hugged Tham and kept apologizing to her child. She blamed herself for only visiting the health station for check-ups without getting a careful ultrasound when she was pregnant, because of her family's difficult circumstances. Mrs. Tinh did not have a stable job, and all family expenses depended on the meager salary of her husband, Mr. Le Xuan An, who worked as a construction worker.

However, Tham's innocent smile at that time helped her calm down. The poor mother vowed to devote all her love to make up for her daughter's loss.

Tham grew up in the loving arms of her parents and relatives. At the age of 4, due to the family's financial difficulties, her hard-working father could not support the family and pay for Tham's medical expenses alone, so Ms. Tinh had to send her child to daycare to go to work.

From here, the tiny girl demonstrated extraordinary willpower that everyone admired. Seeing her classmates with pens and notebooks, Tham also asked her mother to buy them, but she could not write with her hands, so she used her feet to draw scribbles. When she first learned to write, her feet were swollen from holding the pen so much that she could not sleep all night. Sometimes the pain was so great that she threw the pen down and cried, but after a while she picked up the pen and continued practicing writing.

At the age of 5, Tham surprised her teachers when she not only wrote the alphabet fluently but also read numbers and first grade books. The path to knowledge from there lit up her innocent mind. When she entered elementary school, in the first days, Tham came home and asked her mother: "Why don't I have arms like my friends? When will my arms grow?"

Knowing she couldn't hide it forever, Mrs. Tinh swallowed her tears, hugged her daughter and told her the truth. She encouraged Tham to continue drawing her own life with her own feet.

During her school years, besides the joy, Tham also experienced many difficulties and humiliations of a person "without arms".

“Seeing my friends happily playing Chinese checkers and jumping rope while I could only sit alone, I felt very sad. Some friends even pointed at me and said, “Oh, the one-armed boy,” “There’s a penguin,” so all I could do was go home and cry to my mother,” Tham said.

The young girl clearly remembers her mother's words that motivated her to move forward until today. "You have to try harder. If an ordinary person tries once, you have to try 20 times harder. In this world, there are many people who are more disadvantaged than you, you have to try to become a useful person for society."

Mom is also my second teacher. Besides helping me with everything, she also gives me the best advice to help me become better and develop more in the future," Tham choked.

During the 12 years that Tham went to school, Mrs. Tinh did not mind the sun or rain, taking her daughter to school on her old bicycle. The little girl proved to her mother and everyone the saying "disabled but not useless". During the 12 years of studying, she was an excellent student and received many excellent awards in the calligraphy and drawing competitions of Thanh Hoa province.

On the day of the university entrance exam, Tham's poor health and pressure caused her to faint twice, and Ms. Tinh had to take her to the medical room to recover. When she woke up, Tham wanted to take the test again but did not have enough strength. As a result, Tham did not have enough points to pass.

Seeing her daughter sad, Mrs. Tinh took a risk and went to the university to meet the principal to talk about her daughter's dream of becoming a teacher. Impressed by Tham's studious spirit and extraordinary determination, at that time, Mr. Nguyen Manh An - Principal of Hong Duc University specially accepted her into the English Pedagogy Department, university system.

After graduating in 2020, Tham returned to her village and began to pursue her dream of standing on the podium. The tiny teacher's classroom is less than 20 square meters wide, built next to her yard, and is fully equipped with a projector and electric fans. This summer, Tham teaches 35 students from grades 2 to 9.

Tham thought of teaching the village children for free for a few sessions, but unexpectedly, more and more parents sent their children to extra classes to improve their knowledge. Tham decided to open a tutoring class at home, then asked her parents to buy more equipment to facilitate teaching. Just like that, Ms. Tham's class attracted more and more students from the village.

“In the countryside, most students come from difficult circumstances, their parents are farmers. When opening an extra class, I always keep in mind to help the children first, to help them with their studies.

When I was in school, I also received a lot of help from teachers and friends. Now I have to share it, it is also a way for me to thank those who have helped me in the past. I do not charge tuition for many students who are in difficulty," Tham said.

Mrs. Tinh is happy that her daughter has fulfilled her dream of standing on the podium, but deep down she is still worried about her daughter's health. Tham's health is poor and she often gets sick when the weather changes. Three years ago, she had to have some of her hand joints amputated. Tham suffers from weak bones and degenerative spine disease and has to take medication regularly.

Every time the teacher was sick, the whole class would miss school and the students would call her. Many students would go to her house to buy her milk and urge her to eat and drink to get well soon so she could continue teaching English to the poor children in the village.

From the next school year, Tham will be able to stand on the podium, observe, teach students in class and contribute in an educational environment. The young girl will have the opportunity to fulfill her life's dream.

"Before the sun rises is the darkest time. Future friend, don't forget your present self. Just walk towards the sun, the darkness will fall behind you. Now, wherever you are, don't forget that you will always move forward," Tham shared.

Source: https://vtc.vn/nghi-luc-phi-thuong-cua-co-giao-khong-tay-o-thanh-hoa-ar799849.html