Sowing letters in the most difficult place of Lai Chau

Part 1: The hardship of carrying letters to the great Tua Sin Chai forest

Tua Sin Chai - where teachers quietly cross mountains and clouds, carrying each letter to children in remote villages. There, despite the many hardships, they - the teachers in remote villages still choose to sacrifice their privacy, hold back their tears to overcome the steep slopes, bringing letters to children with all their love, responsibility and dedication.

Leaving the center of Tua Sin Chai commune, we followed the teachers to the school in Phi En village. We traveled nearly 20km of newly opened dirt road, although the roadbed was not yet stable, but for the teachers, it was very convenient. Previously, if we wanted to get to this school, it would take more than half a day on foot, and nearly 60km by motorbike. However, the road was only convenient for half of the way, the rest still had to be traveled by motorbike along the trail.

For teachers here, the concept of convenience is simply understood as "just being able to ride a motorbike", no matter how you ride it, whether it's a dirt road or a buffalo's back road, it's still a road.

The way to Phi En school of teachers in the village during the rainy season

After more than an hour of traveling, we finally arrived at Phi En kindergarten. This school is nestled under the hillside with three simple prefabricated houses, a makeshift kitchen, a toilet surrounded by tarpaulin, a seesaw made of carved wood, and another wooden slide that was nearly half broken due to time. The above facilities were built with the support of benefactors, and the contributions of teachers and parents in the village.

The school has four female teachers managing two mixed classes: 2-3 year olds with 32 children and 4-5 year olds with 43 children. All the teachers stay at the school in a prefabricated room with a few simple beds.

It was the middle of the week when we arrived, but only three teachers were present at the school. One teacher had just asked for leave to go home and take her child to the hospital because he had a high fever for many days. Her husband worked far away, and she lived in the village, so her child, who was not yet two years old, had to stay at home with her grandparents.

Homemade toys of the school

Talking to Ms. Liu Thi Diu - a "brand new" teacher at the school, we learned that she graduated in 2017, but was not able to take the entrance exam for the industry until 2024. At Tua Sin Chai Kindergarten, she was assigned to work at Phi En school.

Although she is a native of Lai Chau (Giay ethnic group), Ms. Diu never thought that there would be schools so far and difficult. The first time she went to the school, she had to ask for directions dozens of times before she could get there. When she got there, she looked at the school and the students and suddenly burst into tears.

“I just started working far away, I miss home and my children a lot. The signal here is weak, the network is poor, to call to see my husband and children I have to find a 4G spot, I can call but it is also unstable. Because I live in the village and rarely come home, my children are not close and affectionate, it is not as good as being with them often, at times like that I feel so sad that I can only cry...”, Ms. Diu shared.

The temporary accommodation is considered the office of the kindergarten teachers at the school.

Also "brand new" like Ms. Diu is Ms. Hoang Thi Huyen, who graduated in 2012, struggled to work part-time, taught on contract in her hometown ( Yen Bai province) but still could not find a stable job, so she decided to go to the difficult area of ​​Sin Ho to start a business.

When she was recruited in 2023, she excitedly went to Tua Sin Chai with her husband and children to work. Knowing that it would be difficult here, Ms. Huyen did not imagine that it would be so difficult in the village. A village with six residential areas located 4 to 5km apart.

The temporary kitchen of four kindergarten teachers also serves lunch for 75 students.

Ms. Huyen shared: When I was recruited, my husband and I went to Tua Sin Chai with our children. Thinking that we could rent a house, my husband found a job in the commune center to be close to our children. But when we went to the village, we could only come home once a week in the dry season, and once a month in the rainy season.

My husband's job as an electrician in the commune center also had no work, so he had to move to Lai Chau city to find work. I live in a remote village, my husband lives far away, so the youngest child had to follow him to the city, the oldest child had to be sent to live with his grandparents in the countryside. Now I just hope that the road is convenient even in the rainy season so that I can go home to my children every week.

Ms. Lu Thi Xe, who studied preschool at Lai Chau Community College, graduated in 2017 and was assigned to work in Tua Sin Chai. Since then, she has been stationed in most of the commune’s difficult villages. Some have walked, some have ridden motorbikes, and some have broken their legs because of the difficult roads.

She used to camp in Tha Giang Pho village, 7km from the center of the forest, and had to walk for three hours to get there. Then she moved to Thanh Chu village, which took six hours to walk during the rainy season. Now she camped in Phi En village, where she could ride a motorbike, which was less difficult.

In addition to teaching all day, the teachers also have to prepare and serve lunch for 75 students - a somewhat overwhelming burden.

Ms. Xe’s situation became even more difficult when she had been married for nearly five years but had no children. The couple worked far apart, she lived in Sin Ho while her husband was a border guard stationed in Pa U (Muong Te district), more than 200km away. Later, her husband moved to Vang Ma Chai (Phong Tho district), which was closer, and the school board created conditions for her to teach at the center for a year so that she could return home to be with her husband.

After much effort, Xe and her husband finally had good news. However, the joy was short-lived when the doctor told her that she had an ectopic pregnancy and that the baby could not be kept. After that disappointment, after a check-up, the doctor said that if she wanted to have children, she would have to undergo medical intervention. She confided: "It's very sad not having children. Sometimes looking at the students makes me feel sad. If everything went well, my children would be as big as these kids by now."

Clip of the arduous journey of a teacher in Tua Sin Chai

Teacher Lo Van Quy, a teacher at Tua Sin Chai Primary School, who has been in the village for 7 years, commented: "In the village, male teachers are already hard, preschool teachers - mostly female - are even harder. They both teach and cook for the children. Many schools lack teachers, one teacher has to look after a class of 30 children from 2 to 5 years old."

During his time in the village, Mr. Quy also witnessed many silent sacrifices of female teachers, especially those from the lowlands. The husband brought his wife to work, encouraged her to stay and do a good job, then quietly returned to her hometown to take care of the children. After a long time apart, the feelings gradually faded, and they broke up with regret.

Although when asked about their income, most teachers just smile wryly: "It's enough to live on." But behind those smiles are many hardships and silent sacrifices that only those who truly love their job can overcome to stay with the class and the children.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/geo-chu-o-noi-tan-cung-kho-cua-lai-chau-post880913.html