Young teachers are devoting their lives to teaching in Van Kieu, a remote village in the Quang Tri Province.
Pa Nang is one of the poorest communes of Dakrong district. The head of Pa Nang commune, Pa Binh said, “Being the poorest commune in the district, we have a high level of illiteracy therefore we appreciate these young teachers who are devoting their time in teaching us.”
Pa Nang Secondary School lies at the top of the hill.
The people of A La ward can still remember the flood at A La Bridge on a night in October 2007 during which one of the teachers drowned. Nguyen Tan Quang had to travel up stream to Ta Rec to teach a class. He was determined to get to his lesson despite being warned by the villagers of the apparent danger.
Ho Van Thinh, Secretary of the commune recalled, “We had already rescued Quang’s colleague that night, and the following morning we found his body between 2 large rocks, 5 kilometers away from A La. When I saw his body I was moved to tears.”
“I was going to tell him about his promotion on the morning I heard of his death. In such a remote area, there are very few Kinh people so we love and care for each other like brothers. Quang was one of the first volunteers who came here. He was liked by everyone. However, we felt more sympathy for his wife as they were only married two months before his death,” said Ho Ngoc Song, Principle of Pa Nang Secondary School.
A La stream where Quang lost his life.
Due to the unfortunate tragedy of a teacher like Quang, we are concerned for young teachers who volunteer to teach ethnic minorities. Tran Van Trieu, Manager of Ta Rec teaching staff said he has lived here for over 10 years. Several years ago he had to cross streams and rivers with a buoy to get to school.
Trieu told ú: “During a flood, we had to visit each family to persuade them to let their children to go to school. We also had to provide them with food so they didn’t go hungry. It was only then they would trust us and allow their children to attend classes. Van Kieu children are not familiar with books and pens so they are very difficult to teach. We have had to adjust our ways of life in order to understand them better and gain their trust.”
There are still only few pupils even though the teachers go to each family to persuade them to attend class.
When asked about families, the teachers just kept silent. Trieu pointed at the door where he had hung his mobile phone with a string and said, “That is the only place Viettel’s signal can be received, and even that is not very strong. There are only male teachers here, Van Kieu girls get married at the age of 13 or 14 and tend to work in the fields.”
When the volunteers first arrived in the village they did not understand the Van Kieu language and no one could communicate with them. I had to persuade the villagers to allow their children to go to school. I had to ask children working in the fields or playing at the streams to attend classes. Now we have some students who have gone on to further studies at universities.” said Ho Van Hoa, Deputy Secretary of the Commune and assistant to teaching staff.