The school is beautiful as a dream, the teacher is excited to teach the children

Điểm trường Lùng Vài nhìn từ trên cao hệt như một đám mây - Ảnh: THẾ QUỲNH — Lung Vai school seen from above looks like a cloud - Photo: THE QUYNH

With the new school, the children here go to school more regularly, and their parents feel secure going to the fields to grow corn and vegetables to improve their lives.

"Giant mushroom" in the mountains and forests of Ha Giang

Amidst the green patches of the mountains and forests, Lung Vai school, part of Minh Tan Kindergarten, stands out with its white, curving roof, looking from afar like a cloud hovering over the mountain top. There are days when the entire school is hidden in the clouds, blending into the majestic mountains and forests.

Looking at the children absorbed in each letter, Ms. Ly Thi Ut - principal of Minh Tan Kindergarten, Vi Xuyen District, Ha Giang - recalled that Lung Vai school had difficulties in everything before. When building the school, all materials were transported by human strength.

"The previous school was just an old classroom made of wooden planks and roofed with cement panels, which did not ensure a warm space in the winter and a cool space in the summer for the children to study. In the winter, the fog was so thick that the children could not study until noon," Ms. Ut recalled.

Now, on the foundation of the old school, a "giant mushroom" has grown with three classrooms, a teacher's lounge, a kitchen, toilets, and a playground on a total area of about 600 square meters.

The classrooms wind towards the valley, where there are green terraced fields and in the distance are jagged mountains hidden in the morning mist.

Mr. Sung Chinh Xuan - head of Lung Vai village - confided that the whole village has 57 houses. Previously, the roads were difficult to travel, many children were not sent to school until they were 5 years old, and it was also difficult to mobilize children to go to school.

"Now that there is a new school, the roads are paved with clean concrete, more children can go to school. Especially since the boarding class was established, everyone feels secure in sending their children to school. The children do not have to go to the fields with their parents anymore. Every day, people feel secure in sending their children to school, and only have to pick them up late in the afternoon," Mr. Xuan was moved.

Lớp học mới khang trang do chính tay các cô giáo ở điểm trường trang trí - Ảnh: NAM TRẦN — The new, spacious classroom was decorated by the teachers at the school - Photo: NAM TRAN

More motivation to carry letters up the mountain

After the rain, the road leading to Lung Vai kindergarten (Minh Tan commune, Vi Xuyen district) became even more distant. Many dirt roads were left with zigzag motorbike tracks, and the slippery road challenged even the most skilled drivers.

Yet this is the path that teacher Be Thi Tuyen walks every day to bring letters to the seeds of the Mong village. It has been more than 2 years since Ms. Tuyen came to Lung Vai school.

Living in Ha Giang city, every day Ms. Tuyen travels more than 20km to the school where she teaches. It's far but she gets used to it, and after a while she loves the school and the children who don't want to go home.

"Falling off your bike on rainy days is normal, but getting up and continuing on after falling. This morning, I also fell off my bike and got all my clothes dirty. Luckily, there were some clothes to change into at school.

At first, it was difficult and tiring, but when I put my heart into teaching my children, they got used to it and became familiar with it. I also got to see the results of my own hand-made decorations and flower planting, and sometimes I didn't want to go home until evening," Ms. Tuyen confided.

Recalling the early days, the brand new school had no trees, flowers and leaves as beautifully decorated as it is now. Ms. Tuyen herself, along with the teachers at the school, and the Mong women and mothers, leveled the ground to create a flat surface, then collected flowers and ornamental plants to plant.

After more than a month of working together to beautify the school, the extra classes are lovely with small study corners, the school yard is greener with trees and flowers blooming.

Pointing to the pretty flower vine on the edge of the door, Ms. Tuyen smiled and said: "I also asked for these flowers. That day, I passed by a coffee shop and saw that the flowers were still beautiful after they had been thrown away, so I asked for them to bring back to school to decorate my children's classroom."

Amidst the cool green space of the mountains and forests are the mumbling sounds of Mong boys and girls reading, and the caring voice of a young teacher sowing green seeds of hope on Lung Vai peak.

Inspire learning

The lovely school is more attractive because of the arrangement and organization of the teachers. This is the art corner, the study corner, the nature corner, the construction corner and the children's products corner. Each small corner according to the learning topic is decorated vividly by the teachers, helping the children get excited. After singing, the children gather around the alphabet, the older children read first and the younger children read after like a choir of forest birds.

Multiple awards

Lung Vai School (Minh Tan Commune, Vi Xuyen District, Ha Giang) was built in 5 months with a cost of 1.7 billion VND, thanks to the help of charitable organizations. Lung Vai School has received many prestigious domestic and international awards for its humanistic meaning and skillful combination of local culture into architecture in the categories: "Joining hands of the year" Ashui Awards 2022; "School" category IAA Chicago Awards 2023; "Education " category Archdaily Building of the Year Award 2024.