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| Mid-morning activities for teachers and students at Nam Xay 2 Kindergarten and Primary School. |
As someone who loves to travel and particularly enjoys challenging experiences, I always make plans to visit remote and difficult areas whenever I have the chance. This time, I was determined to go to Ma Sa Phin, a place I'd planned to visit many times but never had the chance. It was late autumn, early winter in the lowlands, but the weather up there was already freezing. Worried about my driving skills and unfamiliarity with the roads, the teachers at the District Education and Training Department arranged for a motorbike and the best driver in the region to take me up the mountain.
Leaving Khanh Yen town, the car sped westward along the smooth road through the communes of Lang Giang, Hoa Mac, Duong Quy, Tham Duong, Minh Luong, before turning left towards Nam Xay commune. The journey from the district center to Nam Xay, over 30 km, took us 40 minutes, before continuing another 15 km to Ma Sa Phin. Teacher Hoang Ngoc Son, the Vice Principal of Nam Xay 2 Kindergarten and Primary School, put on an extra layer of raincoat and said, "It's foggy and cold up there." I asked, "How do you know the weather up there?" Teacher Son chuckled and pointed to the mountain range hidden in the gray-white clouds ahead: "Looking at the clouds and mountains, I know immediately; I'm a teacher who lives in the mountains."
The locals were right; after crossing a long mountain pass with steep slopes, leaving the village center below with its tiny buildings, we were immediately drenched in drizzle. As we climbed higher, I felt the fog even more intensely, and my turn signals flashed continuously to warn oncoming vehicles and avoid potential collisions. The journey seemed shorter thanks to the stories of the teacher in the highlands. Teacher Son graduated from teacher training college, has been teaching for eight years, and has spent that same amount of time in Ma Sa Phin village. The story was constantly interrupted by the treacherous and difficult road, the teacher's swerving, foot-stopping, and "dancing" maneuvers on the road, leaving me breathless and trying to stay calm... while my heart raced. In all my previous trips to remote villages, I had never encountered a route as challenging as the one to Ma Sa Phin.
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| The joy of going to school. |
In Mr. Son's memory and the stories that have become legends, the road to Ma Sa Phin used to be much more difficult. Once, a teacher named Xuan, stationed in the village, was thrown off his motorbike into a ravine. The entire school was mobilized, and villagers were asked to search for him. Luckily, vegetation miraculously saved the teacher's life. The most haunting experience for the teachers was the Bo Doi slope, a few hundred meters long that took an hour to traverse. Some sections were muddy up to their waists, requiring them to use planks to drag their motorbikes across the mud. A striking feature for first-time visitors is the Hunger Cave, a name given by the teachers themselves. Back then, walking from the commune to Ma Sa Phin village took from morning until early afternoon. Upon reaching the cave entrance, there was a flat area to rest, and by then, they were exhausted and hungry, hence the name.
"Those who went to open up the mountains"
Teacher Son's story transported me to a fairytale land, only it wasn't a fairytale land of princesses and princes, but rather the hardships of modern times in Ma Sa Phin village. Listening to the story, combined with my experience of the "easy" path now, as the teachers described it, I could imagine the old path and secretly admire "those who pioneered the way through the mountains."
It took us a full hour to travel from the commune center to Ma Sa Phin village, 15 km away. Nam Xay 2 Kindergarten and Primary School is located on the highest peak in the area. When we arrived, it was recess time, so the little children were running and jumping all over the schoolyard. Some were playing catch and hopscotch, others were jumping rope and jumping jacks... all lively and boisterous. Seeing the teachers and visitors, the students stopped playing and greeted us loudly.
Nam Xay 2 Kindergarten and Primary School has a main campus and two satellite campuses, with a total of 27 teachers. Some have been dedicated to this area for a decade, while others have been here for a few years. Most are very young, belonging to the 80s and 90s generations, but with passionate hearts and a fervent desire to contribute and build, they have been devoting their youth to this highland region, bringing hope and building new villages.
Teacher Hoang Thi Xuyen left teacher training college four years ago, and for the same number of years she has been attached to this land. Born and raised in Bao Thang, one of the more prosperous regions of the province, Ms. Xuyen had never known the hardships of places like Nam Xay. Recalling her early days here, she confided: "Back then, the roads were difficult; we had to walk all day to get there, and only when we were lucky would we get a ride from someone. Living and working conditions were extremely difficult."
Because the roads are difficult, the teachers all stay at school during the week. On the first day of the week, everyone is like going into battle, carrying backpacks and bags filled with everything from food and supplies to personal items. Meals in this remote area, while still having fresh meat and fish on the first days of the week, become a monotonous cycle of dried fish, shrimp paste, and roasted peanuts on the weekends. Despite the hardships and shortages, Ms. Xuyen and the other teachers here all smile brightly: "Even though it's difficult, we have to think optimistically. The lives of the people here are much harder."
This is typical of the highlands; it's past 5 PM but still feels like night. Teacher Xuyen braved the rain and fog to go outside, carrying a bundle of firewood to light the stove. The fire blazed brightly on the dry logs. Teacher Xuyen said that during this season, the rain and fog are constant, day after day, and clothes take a whole week to dry. Only by drying them by the fire can they have clothes to wear. That weekend's dinner was simple, consisting of a few vegetables from the garden, some fried eggs, and roasted peanuts.
Suddenly, a voice called out from the yard. A middle-aged man came to offer the teacher a bag of vegetables from his home garden. It was Mr. Giàng A Chú, 54 years old, from Mà Sa Phìn village. He and 19 others from the village were students in a three-month literacy class taught by the school's teachers. Attending two to three sessions a week, Mr. Chú was very happy because he could now read the alphabet, spell words, and do simple addition and subtraction on paper. Mr. Chú confided, "In the past, my family was poor, and transportation was difficult, so I couldn't afford to go to school. Now the school is near my house, and the teachers are dedicated, so I'm trying hard to learn to read and write. Literacy helps me in many ways."
Following Uncle Ho to the classroom, it was the off-season for farming, so all 20 students were present. The young teacher, Phan Thi Vinh, wrote the pristine white letters "Ao - oa - oan - oat" on the blackboard. Below, calloused hands began carefully tracing each stroke, and everyone chanted along with the teacher in clear, strong voices that echoed throughout the valley. Outside, the crescent moon rose above the mountain peaks, casting its light down into the valley, shimmering with silver light…
Source: http://laocai.edu.vn/hoc-tap-lam-theo-tam-guong-dao-duc-ho-chi-minh/f673451605ac8ea80edeeaec3afdba62-423578
![[Photo] Thousands of people participate in a run to show their support for the campaign "Sharing a common determination to build drug-free communes, wards, and special zones".](https://vphoto.vietnam.vn/thumb/1200x675/vietnam/resource/IMAGE/2026/06/27/1782554475933_0673e2a3df7b5e25076a-8283-jpg.webp)
