Photo of teacher carrying female colleague across fierce stream to school causes 'storm' on the internet

Ms. Tran Thi Kieu Oanh (born in 1988) said that a few days ago, she shared on Facebook pictures of her and her colleagues going to Cat and Tria schools (belonging to Huong Son Primary and Secondary Boarding School) in Huong Son commune, Huong Hoa district.

Teacher Ho Van Thanh carried teacher Tran Thi Kieu Oanh across a dangerous stream.

Photos of teachers crossing the flood to get to school attracted hundreds of likes and comments, with admiration for the journey of spreading knowledge in "the sacred forest and poisonous water".

In the series of photos, 4 teachers went to Cat and Tria schools together, including Mr. Ho Van Thanh (born in 1980), Mr. Ho Xuan Sinh (born in 1981), Ms. Tran Thi Kieu Oanh (born in 1988) and Ms. Tran Thi Minh Hang (born in 1996). Cat and Tria schools are dozens of kilometers away from the center, making travel very difficult.

To get to the school, Ms. Oanh (in Cam Lo district) had to travel more than 40km. Ms. Hang, Mr. Sinh (all in Vinh Linh district) and Mr. Thanh (in Tan Thanh commune, Huong Hoa district) had to travel more than 80km.

The stream on the way to Cat Tria school is fierce in flood season.

But the hardships do not stop there. Teachers also have to cross many dangerous streams. Recently, due to the effects of prolonged rain and floods, the flood water rose so high that many bridges were broken. Teachers had to wade through these bridges. In some places, the water level was more than half a person high.

It has been a week since she had to cross that rapid stream, and even now, when she thinks back, Ms. Oanh still feels scared. She confided that she teaches a combined class of 1 and 2 at Tria school. As has become a tradition, every Monday morning, she and her colleagues pack their bags to go to class. The teachers stay at school until Friday afternoon to go home.

“Thanks to Mr. Thanh carrying me, I was able to cross that dangerous stream. Thinking back now, I am still scared. The distance was about 20m and the water level was more than half a person high. Even though we knew the danger, if we didn’t cross, we wouldn’t be able to return. Because the water level had already risen along the path we had crossed and there was no way back,” Ms. Oanh confided.

After crossing the fast-flowing stream, the teachers had to go through 6 more broken bridges to reach their classrooms. There were some points that could not be crossed due to the high water level, so Ms. Oanh and other teachers had to take shelter at nearby residents' houses for 2 days and 2 nights. At 9am on Wednesday (November 14), the teachers finally arrived at Cat school.

Ms. Oanh added that she has been teaching at this school since 2019. Every time it rains heavily, the road to school is flooded, making it difficult to travel. However, this time the flooding was the worst.

Encourage each other to reach students

Teacher Ho Van Thanh (born in 1980), who carried the female teacher across the dangerous stream, said that it was raining heavily that day, all 6 sections of the bridge leading to the school were broken, so the whole group had to wade across the stream.

“We knew it was dangerous, but we encouraged each other to try to wade across the stream to get to class with the students. That day, there were four of us in our group. Without the support of the parents, we would not have been able to cross the stream.

In addition to supporting the two female teachers, I also helped carry 6 motorbikes of colleagues and parents across the stream. However, our group was then stuck at another overflow bridge point," Mr. Thanh shared.

The joy of teachers and people after crossing the dangerous streams.

Teacher Nguyen Dinh Sam - Principal of Huong Son Primary and Secondary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities, added that these are schools far from the center, with many difficulties in teaching and learning conditions. There are 88 students with 7 teachers. Of which, 100% of the students are Van Kieu ethnic people.

“The images that are being circulated are very familiar images of teachers in the highlands here. Receiving sympathy and understanding of the hardships and difficulties of many people, those in the profession like us feel very happy and proud,” said Mr. Sam.

(Source: Vietnamnet)

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