‘Miss, I have something to say’

“Teacher, I have something to say” – several late-night text messages Ho Thi Hue and Ho Thi Giang (Grade 11 at Tra Bong High School) sent to their old teacher Nguyen Thi Bich Thao (Grade 11 teacher) . Members of Tra Son Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities) with similar content. Then Ms. Thao had to call back in concern when the student on the other end of the line continued to stammer.

Ms. Thao and the teachers at Tra Son Secondary School have been “love barriers” for many years, extending their arms to the two students with tragic fates. The story of that teacher and student truly epitomizes the resilience and safety of those who teach literacy on the mountain.

Story of Giang and Hue

At noon, when it was sunny, Ms. Thao put a large bag of clothes on her motorcycle and drove straight down the steep slope to Giang’s house.

The last house bordering the forest is where Giang lives. The silent father is clearing fields for rent, and the mother is struggling with each log of acacia wood in the high mountains. Giang is the eldest sister, who stays at home to take care of her two younger siblings and cook pork bran.

Seeing Ms. Thao arriving, Giang happily ran out from the back of the house and welcomed her politely. Giang has lupus erythematosus, a disease she was diagnosed with when she was in 6th grade, and teachers at Tra Son Secondary School worked together to care for each pill. At the beginning of the new school year 2020-2021, Giang suffered a relapse, and her family had no money left to go to the hospital.

Ms. Thao, who was the homeroom teacher at the time, stood up to call for help. Jiang had to struggle for a whole month in Da Nang to find money for hospitalization. Jiang is released from the hospital and returns to the loving arms of the entire school.

Experiencing intense attacks, Giang was afraid of this rare disease, the Kor ethnic girl no longer dared to go out in the sun.

Giang said: “My father is deaf and dumb, my mother is in poor health. My family is very poor, teachers give me money whenever I go to the hospital. I don’t dare to go out in the sun, I Afraid that my illness will get worse and they will have to suffer.

We knew how supportive the teachers at Tra Son Secondary School were many years ago, but we really didn’t expect that when Giang entered 11th grade, his teachers from his old school were still with him. The relative who confides in Giang every day is Ms. Thao.

A month ago, Ms. Thao was full of emotion when talking about her student’s illness. Giang was no longer old enough to be examined and given medication at Da Nang Maternity and Children’s Hospital, and had to be transferred to Da Nang Hospital for examination.

Rich Jiang’s illness cost his family and school a lot of money for medicine. “Before, getting checked at the Obstetrics and Children’s Hospital and getting medicine helped. Now every time after getting checked, Giang has to buy special medicine worth about 4 million VND to take for a month. I don’t know why Where to get the money,” Ms. Thao said.

Hugh led a lonely life. When Hugh entered 5th grade his disabled mother died. His brother also died suddenly in the 9th standard. Hugh was alone, living with his grandparents, then in 10th grade, his grandfather was no more.

The shocks kept coming, Hugh’s grandmother was too weak, unable to do anything. Hugh became the main worker, taking care of her as well as taking care of herself. “I go to school and have allowances for minority students, and use that money to buy food for my grandmother. If I don’t have enough, I’ll ask Ms. Thao,” Huy explained.

On Vietnamese Teachers’ Day 2022, Huy once again impressed readers across the country when she tearfully brought flowers to the school to give to Ms. Thao.

love and protect

Hue and Giang are just two of the many difficult situations teachers at Tra Son Secondary School find themselves in.

After finishing 9th grade, Hue planned to quit school, but Ms. Thao encouraged Hue and advised her to continue attending school. As for Giang, he has low self-esteem because of his illness. Many times she receives bad words from others, due to which she breaks down. And Ms. Thao reappeared and took the game into a shaky part.

When both students entered 10th grade, Ms. Thao went to Tra Bong High School to explain that Giang’s illness prevented him from going out in the sun so that he could be exempted from physical education; As for Huey, she lives far away and works part-time. If he is late, he hopes that his teacher will not punish him and encourage him to be more organized. Unrelenting love has protected the lives of two students through countless ups and downs.

Today, Ms. Thao made an appointment in advance and asked Hue to go to Giang’s house and wait for her to deliver the Ao Dai to the school. Seeing Miss Thao putting on the suit on the student body and smiling, a feeling of happiness filled the house at the corner of the mountain.

Ms. Thao said that both of them studied well, but the biggest worry was that they would fall into childhood love and get married early, which would mean suffering throughout their lives. Therefore, she continued to encourage the “Don’t Have a Lover” game. And every time someone “flirts”, Hue and Giang tell him off, then promise to refrain.

Recently, Ms. Thao was a guest on a WeTV television program related to the beginning of the new school year. The touching story of friendship brought tears to the eyes of the crew and the host.

Today, sitting next to the two of you, Ms. Thao asked you all kinds of questions. Ms. Thao said humorously: “We were both riding a motorcycle and when we ran out of gas, we called out, “Miss, my car is out of gas.” I had to run to buy gas and bring it to you. When will we stop, miss?

It doesn’t matter if big or small.” Hue and Giang smiled, both of them having felt the love of Ms. Thao and their old school teachers over the past six years.

Hue’s home was far away, so Ms. Thao encouraged him to come to school several times to facilitate his studies. But the biggest hurdle is that relatives fear that if Hugh moves elsewhere, the allowance for Hill students “will not come home”.

Understanding this, Ms. Thao gave two choices: went to Hue Giang’s house or to Ms. Thao’s house, so that she could easily go to school and also take care of Ms. Thao’s food and drinks. As for the subsidy issue, Ms. Thao will come home to analyze it with her grandmother and relatives, and make sure that the subsidy will still go to the family.

There are very “hillbilly” feelings, state policies for students are sometimes the source of life for the entire family. It was a mountainous afternoon, the sunlight faded over the hills, a storm began to rise, Ms. Thao was filled with thoughts as she listened to the secret talk presented by the student.

Like Hugh, she cries whenever she talks about her mother, this is something Hugh has not been able to get over. Remember in eighth grade, the school started a writing competition about his mother, Hugh’s letter was read in front of the whole school and teachers from the Department of Education and Training participated.

That day, Hugh’s story “moved the entire schoolyard to tears”. Everyone cried because they were very emotional. All these concerns are resolved with love. Ms. Thao said: “As long as you are both determined to study, I and your old school will always be with you. Please treat me as your mother.”

young teachers who love volunteering

Every day, teacher Nguyen Thi Thuy Duy, driving 18 km from home to teach at Tan Quoi Trung A Primary School (Vung Liem District, Vinh Long), in addition to bringing lunch, often gifts to take advantage of breaks Also bring. Give to poor people.