There was a teacher named Ha…

For five years, he has quietly devoted himself to caring for his "little children" who live and eat with him, providing a support system to nurture their distant dreams. This extraordinary teacher is Tran Thanh Ha (51 years old), a teacher at Tra Bui Ethnic Boarding Primary and Secondary School in Ca Dam commune, Quang Ngai province.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 1. — Teacher Ha is in charge of cooking meals for his students.

Everyone chooses the easy path; who will take on the hard work?

The persistent sunshine of early April 2026 seemed to slightly lessen the muddy conditions of the winding, single-lane dirt road leading to Tang village, Ca Dam commune; however, the traces of the landslides that buried the road during the 2025 rainy season are still clearly visible.

This route has been all too familiar to teacher Ha for the past five years, since 2021, when he volunteered to go to the remote Tang village school to teach literacy to the poor children of the Cor ethnic minority.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 2. — Teacher Ha is in charge of cooking meals for his students.

After a couple of missed appointments, I finally had the chance to accompany Professor Ha as scheduled. At 4 a.m. one April morning, I arrived at the former headquarters of the Tra Bui Commune People's Committee (now Ca Dam Commune) after a nearly hour-long journey up the mountain. Professor Ha and a colleague were waiting at the meeting point to greet me. Professor Ha was carrying a heavy bag on his shoulder.

Seeing me staring intently at the backpack, Mr. Ha smiled and said, "Besides lesson plans, this is rice and food for the children at the school. Those kids up there are so pitiful." Then he gestured for me to head straight towards the mountain. My car had gone about 5 km when it couldn't go any further because the road was blocked by a landslide. Mr. Ha helped his colleague, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Tuan (52 years old), push the motorbike up the hill, then we quickly ate the box of vegetarian noodles we had brought, and walked straight to Tang village.

"This road has been blocked by landslides since October 2025. Since then, I've mostly been walking. It takes almost two hours to get from here to Tang village. At the end of 2025, it took almost three hours to get from here to Tang village, not to mention the danger of landslides threatening my life," Mr. Ha recounted as he walked, sweat beginning to drip from his brow.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 3. — Teacher Ha is in charge of cooking meals for his students.

I was exhausted after 50 minutes of following Mr. Ha. I asked him, "Teaching is so hard, why did you volunteer to come here?" Mr. Ha turned his head, smiled kindly at me, and replied, "Everyone chooses the easy job, who will take on the hardship? Besides, I see that the students here come from very difficult families, lacking food and their parents don't care about their children's education. As a teacher, I have a responsibility to endure hardship; how could I not volunteer? I have to go for the sake of the children's education."

After nearly two hours of walking, Mr. Ha and I finally arrived at the Tang village school. Mr. Ha quickly took off his boots and pulled out rice, fish sauce, salt, noodles, vegetables, and fruits from his bag. He said that today was the full moon day, so he would make vegetarian noodle soup for the children for lunch. Taking advantage of the time before class started, Mr. Ha diligently peeled carrots, washed the dried noodles, and soaked them to cook for the students closer to noon before going to the podium for the first lesson of the week.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 4. — To have money to support his students, Mr. Ha sets aside funds from his salary and receives support from charitable organizations.

At the school where Mr. Ha is located in the remote village, there are two classes, Grade 1 and Grade 2, with a total of 14 students. Mr. Ha is in charge of one class, and his colleague is in charge of the other. Today's class is full. Every Monday, if any student is absent, Mr. Ha rides his motorbike around the village to "gather" them back to the school to teach and care for each child until the end of the week.

During the students' break time, Mr. Ha went to the back of the classroom, next to the staff quarters, to light a wood-fired stove to cook rice noodles for his students' lunch. "On Mondays when I come to school, the students bring their clothes and books to stay with me for the whole week. At the end of the week, when I go home, they go back to their parents' homes. I cook three meals a day for them. I have to wake up at 4 a.m. to cook porridge. At lunchtime, I give them rice noodles, and in the afternoon, when I have more time, I cook rice for them," he said.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 5. — Ho Van Vinh is the fourth student that Teacher Ha has adopted.

"Where do you get the money to provide for them?" I asked. "I take it from my salary and ask for more from friends and acquaintances. I accept whatever anyone gives me," said Teacher Ha, then he called his students to bring out bowls and he scooped out bowls of vegetarian noodle soup, distributing them to each child.

4 adopted children

"You must be well-behaved and study hard," Mr. Ha said, patting the head of his fourth adopted child. Each student he adopts comes from a very special background and comes from a very poor family. Ho Hoang Vinh (6 years old) is Mr. Ha's fourth adopted child. His father passed away, and his mother remarried, so Vinh lived with his grandmother from a young age. His grandmother is now bedridden with illness, so Mr. Ha decided to adopt Vinh in his first year of first grade.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 6. — Teacher Ha quietly sows the seeds of knowledge in the remote highlands with boundless love for his students. (Photo: Vo Minh Huy)

Whenever Mr. Ha receives meat, fish, rice, fish sauce, and salt from charitable groups, he never forgets to bring them as gifts to Vinh's grandmother. Since Vinh became his adopted son, Mr. Ha has cared for him as if he were his own child. And from then on, a poor child like Vinh gradually began to smile, surrounded by the loving embrace of this special father figure: Mr. Ha!

Mr. Ha's first adopted child is Ho Van Thoi (16 years old). Sixteen years ago, during a volunteer trip to Que village, Ca Dam commune, Mr. Ha witnessed villagers carrying Thoi's mother down the mountain in a hammock to take her to the hospital to give birth to Thoi. Unfortunately, Thoi's mother passed away just after giving birth. After hearing this news, Mr. Ha felt compelled to reach out to Thoi. Love, professional ethics, and compassion led him to decide to adopt Thoi and care for him until now. Currently, Thoi is studying metal cutting at the Vietnam- Korea College in Quang Ngai. When talking about Mr. Ha, Thoi said that he loves him very much and he loves Mr. Ha very much too. "When I went down to the city to study, Mr. Ha also took care of my food and all other expenses. Without Mr. Ha, I don't know what my life would be like now," Thoi confided.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 7. — Teacher Ha was loved by the villagers.

Besides Vinh and Thoi, Mr. Ha also adopted Ho Van Huy (16 years old) and Ho Van Toan (16 years old). Toan and Huy are also children of ethnic minorities. Huy's father suffered a stroke, and his family is poor. Toan's parents abandoned him, and he has lived with his grandmother since he was very young.

"Huy, Toan, and Thoi all attend vocational school. Every month, I provide them with a total of 4-6 million VND. Seeing how the children are doing, people also contribute a little along with me. Everything I do is simply to ensure that while they are with me, they don't go hungry, and that after graduation they find a trade to earn a living and escape poverty. That would make me very happy," Mr. Ha confided.

There's a teacher named Ha… - Photo 8. — The journey to teaching is full of hardships, but Mr. Ha does not lose heart because of his love for the profession.

Teacher Nguyen Thanh Tuan said that no other teacher has been as dedicated and hardworking as Teacher Ha. "Early in the morning, I should have slept in a little longer to feel refreshed, but Teacher Ha woke up early to cook for the students. I help him with a few tasks around the house, but I can't do as much as Teacher Ha. I feel very happy and proud to have a colleague like Teacher Ha," Teacher Tuan said.

"Why don't you come down from the mountain to teach and get some rest?" I asked. "I'll come down whenever I want. But it would be easier for me down there, though it would be harder for the children!" Teacher Ha said.

We invite you to participate in the 6th "Living Beautifully" contest, with a total prize pool of 400 million VND.

Entering its sixth season with the theme " Journey Without Limits ," the "Living Beautifully" contest organized by Thanh Nien Newspaper continues to expand its scope in seeking and honoring positive values in daily life. The contest includes a Writing category (essays, reports, notes) and a Photo category, with a total prize value of 400 million VND.

Entries should be sent to the email address: songdep@thanhnien.vn , or by mail to the Thanh Nien Newspaper Editorial Office: 268-270 Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street, Xuan Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City (please clearly indicate on the envelope: Entry for the 6th "Living Beautifully" Contest - 2026. Note: This only applies to the Article category).

Submission deadline: From May 7th to October 31st, 2026.

See the detailed contest rules at thanhnien.vn

Tim's mother and her philanthropic journey in Vietnam - Photo 7.