Nguyen Thi Huong, a 7th grade student, now has to be a source of income due to the circumstances of her family.
We visited Huong’s house while she was working in the fields with her mother and sister. Her father cannot go to work because he is suffering from a brain disease after being involved in a traffic accident. The most precious thing in her house is probably an old rice bucket.
Huong (first on the right) and her family
Her father said, “I cannot go to work. Huong is the main bread winner of my family. My wife can only help her sometimes because she suffers from kidney and gall stone diseases. Huong learnt how to work at the fields since when she was in 1st grade.”
She is studying at Nguyen Thi Dinh Secondary School, Thuan Thanh, Bac Ninh Province situated to the east of Hanoi.
Despite the difficulties in her life, Huong has studied very hard and gained excellent results for 6 years. She wishes to become a teacher.
While we were talking to Huong’s father, she came back home. After the accident, her father was admitted to the hospital for treatment at the same time her mother was also taken to the hospital for an operation. She was forced to take care of the whole family. She had to go to the hospital to help care for her parents while watching after her 4 siblings at home.
During such difficult times, she would tell herself, “Don’t cry. I am a resilient girl.” She knows that after the rain, the sun will shine again. Her parents were discharged from the hospital but their health remains a difficult issue.
Huong shared her daily routine. “I wake up at 3am to study. Then I work from 6am to 7am. After class, I find time to work until 11pm.”
Huong’s mother told us, “No matter how difficult our life will be, I will never let my children leave school. But Huong, as the first daughter, works very hard to support the whole family.”
Before saying good-bye to us, Huong said, “I will try my best to learn and become a teacher to help my family and other people.”
It is not going to be easy but we hope all her dreams may come true.
Working after class
