Children of Kpaih Village in Gia Lai Province have had to swim across a fast-flowing river to get to school for over 10 years.
Teacher Dat and others use this raft to go to the village and teach
A new school year has begun. Children and teachers here once again have to cross a dangerous 50 metres across the Ayun river and then walk over 5 kilometres to get to school.
Ayun is one the most poverty-stricken communes of Chu Se District, Gia Lai Province. It hasn’t had any student pass the entrance exams for high school in 35 years.
Kpaíh Village, Ayun Commune has over 200 people but is isolated away from the whole commune by the Ayun River. Seeing adults and children crossing this river is a frightful sight. Regardless of the life-threatening dangers, people here cross the river daily to go to fields, the market or to school.
These risks make it seem that besides some officers of the commune or teachers, nobody wants to visit the village. Children here cannot contact children in other villages and they don’t have access to the national and official language of the country (Kinh language). They can only can communicate with their own ethnic language if they do not go to school.
Because it’s so dangerous for children to cross the river and concerns about the dangers for children, teachers take the risk upon themselves by crossing the river to go to the village to teach children who study under grade 3.
Teachers here are provided a raft and some cables to cross the river but it’s not enough to ensure their safety. “Teachers need not only enthusiasm but also good heath and good swimming skills to teach in Kpaíh village. Our raft has been swept away many times by the powerful current,” teacher Tran Van Dat said.
Children studying grade 4 or higher have to swim across the river to get to school.
Although children here desire to go to school, they sometimes do not have enough courage to risk crossing the river every day and none of them attend high school.
Duong Manh Man, Chairman of Ayun Commune, said that crossing the river to get to school or to Kpaih Village was always a concern. Locals wish to have a safe bridge but they do not have the funding.
Teacher Dat’s raft has been swept away by the river several times
Despite the dangers, many children still swim across the river to go to school
They swim with one hand and hold their books with the other hand
After crossing the river, they have to walk over 5 kilometres to reach their school
When they reach their school, their clothes are still soaked