Siu Hril (left)
Siu Hril was born in a poor family in Brel Village at Ia Der Commune. He worked since he was very young to help his family survive, which motivated him to study to improve his life and help the Jrai.
After graduating from Dalat University, he spent most of his time studying English, which helped undertake an MA course the University of Hawaii.
He received several job offers from domestic and foreign employers after finshing his overseas study in the US, which he declined.
“I was born in the Central Highlands region where everyone still rather poor, especially those from the Jrai ethnic minority group. I really want to teach them reading, writing and preserving cultural identity," he said.
He started up by organising a free English class for Jrai ethnic children. He also holds a class to help preserve Jrai traditional brocade making.
His English class
He is already wrestling with problems, such as a suitable venue for his classes amid a shortage of funding for teachers, but decided to use his own home and has some 20 students in his English classes, while his uncle agreed to host the brocade classes at his stilt house. They hope to sell the brocade made by students to foreign visitors and friends to raise more funds for more classes.
Brocade making class
“In 2015, I intend to organise a class to teach how to make sepulchre statues, and I want to write a Jrai-Vietnamese-English dictionary to preserve Jrai ethnic language,” he added.
