“Finding letters” for poor children
Mr. Tran Lam Thang was born into a poor family in Long Buu neighborhood (Long Binh ward, Thu Duc city, Ho Chi Minh city). In 2009, after completing his military service, he started his first job as a neighborhood security guard.
His chance to join the charity class began 13 years ago, while working, Mr. Thang encountered a fight between teenagers. He stepped in to resolve the situation and asked them to write a report, only to discover that the children were illiterate. “After that, I thought a lot about the fact that 14 and 15 year old children could not read or write. I had the idea of opening a literacy class for poor children who did not have the opportunity to go to school,” Mr. Thang recounted.
With the desire to “find letters” for children, Mr. Thang was determined to establish a “zero-dong class”. The seemingly distant dream of letters for the migrant children has now come true thanks to the charity class of him and his fellow Union members.
For the past 13 years since January 9, 2010 - the Long Buu charity class was established, there has not been a day when Mr. Thang's mind has not stopped worrying about the literacy of the students in this class.
The initial classroom was only 24 square meters, lacking both human and material resources, so he and the Youth Union members had to mobilize to organize the class. Finding every piece of chalk, board, desk, and chair for poor students, he and his friends also mobilized parents to bring their children to class, so that the students would "stay" with the letters.
Initially, the class was opened in a small neighborhood near the central headquarters, close to a rather dangerous road. Later, the Secretary of the Long Binh Ward Youth Union asked to move to a new, safer and more spacious location. Thanks to the government's support, he had 5 more classrooms, each grade at the elementary level had its own room.
To earn more money to pay for the class, Tran Lam Thang works as a worker at a company in Bien Hoa during the day, and at night he becomes a teacher for the students. After class, he puts on his night shift security guard uniform for the neighborhood.
Mr. Thang confided: “Sometimes when it gets too hard, I think about giving up. But every time I do, I think back to the reason why I started the class. As the one who founded and maintained the class, calling on the children to come and study, I cannot abandon them. Just like that, I became fond of the children and have been teaching them until now.”
In particular, volunteers are the ones who always accompany and support him in teaching the children. Cao Huu Nhan (2nd year student, University of Transport - Ho Chi Minh City branch) shared: "Thanks to Mr. Thang, I have the opportunity to accompany children in difficult circumstances.
Mr. Thang treats the children here like his own children, always gently instructing them even though they are sometimes naughty and do not understand things. This class was founded out of his love, so he also wants to maintain the class with that same love."
Every difficulty will be overcome.
The "security teacher's" special class is open every evening from Monday to Saturday. Tuition, books, and uniforms are all provided free of charge. The only requirement he sets is that the students must attend class regularly and study hard.
Because his main job is a worker and neighborhood security guard, Mr. Thang is not used to teaching in class, and does not know how to teach so that students understand the lesson. “At first, I did not know how to stand on the podium, did not know how to speak so that students would listen. I learned from seeing how students taught. Later, when they no longer teach, I can still teach. Now, I am very familiar with the podium.”
Mr. Thang said that the youngest student in the class is 7 years old, the oldest was born in 1996. They are all students who have to "rush" into life early, working hard during the day to help their families make a living, and coming to class at night. Some of them really want to go to school but because of circumstances they have to drop out, now they still come here to visit the class but cannot study. That is something that Mr. Thang always worries about.
At the end of a long day, Mr. Thang did not rest immediately but spent time learning more knowledge online, he often jokingly called himself “Uncle Google”. He studied and read more information, researched exercises and solved them in many different ways, then found a way to convey them to the students in the easiest way to understand.
Having been attending the charity class for 4 years, Nguyen Thi Tuong Vi (11 years old, 2nd grade student) considers this place as her "second home".
“I came here to study because I was illiterate. In the countryside, I only stayed home to take care of my younger siblings and couldn’t go to school. Here, Mr. Thang taught me Vietnamese and Math. He always told me to write properly and not write badly. He was kind and never yelled at us. Thanks to him, I learned to read and write.”
There was a time when Mr. Thang wished he could… quit teaching, but the reason he quit was so that his young students could all go to school like their peers.
“I just hope that the children can go to school properly and receive formal training. At that time, I will be satisfied and ready to disband the class. Because this is a happy farewell, not because of difficulties or lack of teaching ability,” he confided.
Looking back on his 13-year journey of teaching, there have been successful students, but there are also children who still have to struggle with a life full of difficulties. Each student has their own story, but the children's determination is the motivation for him to continue to stick with the Long Buu charity class, to continue to be a warm "protective teacher" in the children's hearts.
Thu Phuong - Khanh Ly
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