Keep the dream of going to school alive.

Amidst the worries of providing for their families, many children start working at a young age. They become accustomed to hardship and learn to save every penny so they can attend school.

Growing up surrounded by lottery tickets.

Under the scorching midday sun, a tall, thin girl, clutching a stack of lottery tickets, weaved her way through the shops and restaurants, patiently soliciting customers. Seeing a customer park their motorbike in front of a shop, she softly said, "Sir/Madam, please buy another lottery ticket from me…" Each time she sold a ticket, she carefully smoothed out the banknotes and tucked them into her pocket. That girl is Danh Thi Kim Chi, a fourth-grade student at Thu Ba 1 Town Primary School in An Bien commune. At an age when many children are still being driven to school by their parents and are glued to their phones or running off to play, Kim Chi is accustomed to standing in the sun for hours to help her mother earn money.

Danh Thi Kim Chi sells lottery tickets on the street. Photo: Bao Tran

Kim Chi's mother sells lottery tickets on the street, and her father works as a porter at the Tac Cau fishing port. On days when many boats dock, her father earns a few hundred thousand dong; on days with few boats, he earns almost nothing. Kim Chi's youngest sibling, only 3 years old, also has to accompany her mother on these journeys. Kim Chi grew up amidst these trips. When she was little, she followed her mother around because there was no one to look after her at home. As she got older, she learned to hold a stack of lottery tickets and offer them to customers. By the time she started first grade, she could sell them on her own around the market. "At first, selling alone was very scary, I was afraid of the traffic and people yelling at me. Now I know all the stalls by heart, I know which places and times are busy to sell," Kim Chi smiled, her small, dark eyes sparkling with intelligence.

Having started school a year late and faced life's challenges early, this fourth-grade girl is more mature than her peers. During summer vacation, Kim Chi spends all her time selling lottery tickets to help her mother. During the school year, her schedule is almost packed: Early in the morning, she goes to school like everyone else. After school, Kim Chi quickly eats a bowl of rice and then takes about 50 lottery tickets to sell during lunchtime. In the early afternoon, she rushes back to school. After school, her mother gives her another 50 tickets. On slow days, she has to go further to sell them all. Only at night does Kim Chi return home to diligently study.

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Despite the hard work of selling tickets, Kim Chi didn't forget about her studies and still excelled academically. However, she couldn't help but feel hurt when her friends teased her: "Some friends called me 'poor girl,' calling me 'the little lottery ticket seller'... Sometimes I would cry. When I met familiar friends while selling, I would hide somewhere else. Sometimes I wanted to ask my mother to let me stop selling because I was ashamed, but I was afraid I wouldn't have enough money for school. I just wanted to sell quickly so I could go home and study hard, so my friends wouldn't look down on me."

Carrying a hoe before class.

Not only Kim Chi, but many other students are also sacrificing playtime for strenuous labor to continue attending school. While her classmates begin their day with books, Mai Vu Linh, a student in class 11A2 at Dong Thai Junior and Senior High School, is already at the canal-side plot of land in Dong Thai commune before the sun even rises. The sound of the hoe striking the muddy ground echoes heavily. Linh bends down, shoveling layers of soil onto a wheelbarrow and struggling to push it to the collection point, her feet gripping the thick mud. In just a short time, sweat soaks her shirt.

Linh's family is classified as near-poor. Her father works as a hired laborer, digging and leveling land. Each day, when there's work, Linh and her father dig, shovel, and transport over 100 truckloads of soil, earning a few hundred thousand dong. When there's no work, he does odd jobs like construction work, mowing grass, and doing whatever he can find. "Seeing my father work so hard all year round, I asked to join him when I was in 9th grade. At first, I only helped push carts and gather loose soil, but I got used to it and now I can shovel and push carts. Some days I work from morning until noon, completely exhausted, but I still go to school. I'm afraid that if I miss school, I'll fall behind," Linh said.

Despite those strenuous workdays, the student consistently attended class with good academic results and excellent conduct for many years. His classmates, aware of his circumstances, were always ready to help him. “My friends are kind and always support me in my studies. Sometimes, seeing my friends have time for extra classes while I have to work makes me feel sad, but my parents work so hard, so I try to help them as much as I can,” Linh shared.

When asked about the future, the student hesitated for quite a while before saying, "I don't dare dream too far ahead. I just hope to finish high school, learn a suitable trade, and get a stable job to help support my family."

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BAO TRAN

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/giu-giac-mo-den-truong-a488285.html