The 'walking and falling' way to school for teachers in Dien Bien

Dien Bien in August, the ground is still cracked after the flood. The road to the village is like a fragile thread hanging over the mountainside, just one more rain and the rocks will fall down again. But in the midst of that dangerous scene, old motorbikes still struggle to climb the slope, on the saddle are the figures of kindergarten teachers - the ones who spread knowledge, risking their lives to cross the flood to get to class.

For the female teacher living in Dien Bien, every time she goes to class she has to overcome many dangerous roads.

Ms. Ca Thi Ha, a teacher at Huoi Nu 2 school (Nam Nhu Kindergarten, Na Hy commune), has just returned to school after a leave of absence. The distance from the commune center to the village is only over 10km, but for her it is a difficult journey.

“One day, I was walking from school to a remote location when I fell down, my face was covered in mud, and I fell again after walking a short distance. But maybe God was still merciful, luckily I didn’t break any limbs… I’ve fallen so many times that I’m used to it, it happens every year. The village road is called the ‘legendary road’ but it’s full of rocks and potholes, if the wheel slips, I will fall into the abyss,” Ms. Ha shared.

Teacher Lo Thi Thao, Hoa Ban Kindergarten (Tia Dinh commune), despite falling and getting wet, and being run over by a car, still tried to go to class because her students were waiting.

Not only Ms. Ha, Ms. Quang Thi Tham also “tasted” danger. On the way to Nam Nhu 3 village, she fell off her bike, her knee was swollen, had joint effusion, and had to be carried to class by her colleagues.

Or like Ms. Lo Thi Thoa, Principal of Nam Nhu Kindergarten, it used to take her more than 3 hours to get home after school, even though the distance was only over 10km.

“It was only 10km but it felt like hundreds of kilometers. The road was muddy and difficult to travel, it was dark, the forest was completely silent. Sometimes all we could do was start the engine to gain momentum and just keep going. No one could count the scratches on the teachers’ hands. But each scratch was a promise. A promise to the village. A promise to the innocent children waiting for her in the bamboo and leaf classroom. A promise to ourselves that we would not back down,” Ms. Thoa continued.

Many teachers on the way to teaching fell and suffered scratches and joint effusion but still tried hard for the students.

On the red dirt road leading to Hang Lia A village, teacher Lo Thi Thao, Hoa Ban Kindergarten (Tia Dinh commune), which has just experienced historic flash floods, struggled to fix her fallen bike in the rain. In her red backpack were books and gifts for her students. “The flood at the end of July not only damaged teaching materials but also made the road to school slippery as grease. I fell down, my books and notebooks were soaked, but I still had to go to class because my children were waiting for me. No one thought about missing school,” Ms. Thao shared, choking up.