She was recently voted by Forbes Vietnam magazine as one of the 20 most inspiring women - the category of beautiful living, typical examples in society in 2021 and is one of 3 Vietnamese women in the list of 100 outstanding women in the world in 2017 voted by the British news agency BBC.
Mrs. Tran Thi Kim Thia (also known as Mrs. Sau Thia) was born and raised in a poor rural area in Hamlet 6, Binh Xuan Commune, Go Cong District, Tien Giang Province. Out of 8 siblings, 5 participated in the revolution and 3 of them died in the fierce battlefield. Mrs. Thia participated in the revolution as a liaison. After the reunification, her parents passed away one after another, and Mrs. Thia went to Ho Chi Minh City alone to earn a living. But she was not well off, and with the guidance of her friends, Mrs. Thia returned to live in Hung Thanh Commune, Thap Muoi District, Dong Thap Province with many difficult jobs that only men could do such as: bricklayer, hired cajuput tree cutter, rice transplanter, weeder...
The simple daily life of Mrs. Sau Thia after hard working hours
Photo: TGCC
With a simple lifestyle and not wanting to be tied down, she has remained single until now. Being hard-working and diligent, Mrs. Sau Thia has done any job to have a peaceful life. Her family is poor, she has to earn a living by selling lottery tickets and many other jobs, but she always has extraordinary determination, joy and optimism about life.
More than 3,800 children are taught to swim for free
Perhaps it was fate that in 1992, Ms. Thia was encouraged by the Women's Union of Hung Thanh commune to participate in the work of the Women's Association of the hamlet. The allowance was not much, so she found an extra job to do, enough to cover her daily expenses. In 2002, when Hung Thanh commune implemented a project to popularize swimming for children, Ms. Sau Thia was invited to be a "teacher" to teach swimming. Ms. Sau Thia shared that at first, she encountered many difficulties, partly because she had never been trained to teach swimming, did not have much experience, and partly because households were still skeptical about the "level" of teaching swimming of a hamlet woman. She had to "go to every alley, knock on every door" to persuade families to let their children attend free swimming classes.
The story of Ms. Thia's swimming class is a process of going from one difficulty to another. At first, the number of students participating was not much, only 10 - 15 students/class. The equipment for the swimming class was also very simple, it was wooden poles, bamboo pieces tied together and surrounded by a net to form a gathering area along the riverbank. Above was an empty land for the children to warm up before swimming. Without any training, Ms. Thia's way of teaching swimming was also "unique". At first, there were greetings such as: "Have you had breakfast?", "Do you like to join the class?", "How old are you this year", "Whose child? Whose grandchild?"... Those questions seemed meaningless but in fact, they were a way for the children participating in the class to feel closer and more confident. After the greetings, there was a warm-up with hands, feet, and some interesting gestures. Mrs. Thia also led the children to sing familiar songs to create a fun atmosphere before starting swimming lessons.
It is because of the sincerity and closeness of the students as if they were grandchildren in the family that in just a few days the children can learn to swim, quickly in 3 days, at the slowest in 7-10 days. Each swimming class has 30-40 children/class, on average there are 7-8 classes each year and the study is concentrated in 2-3 months during the summer. Children participating in the class are from 7-15 years old, younger children are still allowed to participate to get used to the environment. Every day, Mrs. Sau Thia lets the children study 2 sessions: morning from 8-10 am and afternoon from 3-5 pm. After the course, all children passed the test of the Thap Muoi District Culture and Sports Center and were granted certificates.
The rewards are priceless gifts to her.
Photo: TGCC
The good news spread far and wide, and many parents started sending their children to swimming classes taught by Ms. Sau Thia. Ms. Thia's swimming classes were also special because she did not charge any fees from parents. Ms. Thia confided that every time she watched TV and saw many cases of children drowning, she felt very sad. In river areas like Dong Thap, the risk was even higher if children did not know how to swim. She learned the knowledge of swimming from watching TV, but she did not have any talent, but with her heart and love for children, every child quickly learned how to swim.
In addition to teaching swimming and working for women in the hamlet, Ms. Sau Thia also participated in many local volunteer social activities and worked as a population collaborator for many years. No matter what job or task she was assigned, she always completed it excellently.
Nearly 20 years of teaching free swimming to more than 3,800 children in Hung Thanh commune - those are the numbers that can be counted, but no one can weigh or measure the great contribution of Mrs. Thia. At the age of nearly 70, she still works hard every day to teach children to swim. Confiding in me, Mrs. Thia expressed: "I just hope to find someone to "pass on" the free swimming lessons to children in the commune, but I have not found anyone yet. Now, as long as I have health , I will continue to teach swimming to the children."
With her kindness, loving heart and noble deeds, Ms. Sau Thia received remarkable awards such as: Third-class Labor Medal (2020), Certificate of Merit from Dong Thap Provincial People's Committee...
Source: https://thanhnien.vn/nu-di-nhan-dat-sen-hong-va-lop-day-boi-doc-nhat-vo-nhi-1851097997.htm
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