Sung A Po's journey of overcoming difficulties

The way to Ta Com village is by boat across Ma river.

The "word finding" road is bumpy

In the thick fog of the early morning in the core area of ​​Pu Hu Nature Reserve, Ta Com village (Trung Ly commune, Muong Lat district, Thanh Hoa) seems to be still immersed in the deep sleep of the great forest. But in the middle of that "remote mountain" place, there is a fire that is still burning and never goes out - the fire of the desire to master knowledge, to master life. And there is a Mong man who dares to cross the mountains and forests to find "letters", to become a launching pad to change his life and the life of the entire poor village. That is Sung A Po - the first Mong man in Ta Com village to set foot in a university lecture hall.

Born in 1992, Po still remembers clearly that when he was 2 years old, his parents took him by the hand and left his hometown Phu Yen (Son La) by boat down the Ma River, crossed dozens of mountains, waded through the forest for dozens of days to reach the core of Pu Hu, where there were only dense forests, mosquitoes and makeshift tents. That was 1994 - the beginning of his family's life in the middle of the jungle.

Four years later, in 1998, following the government’s encouragement, Po’s family and many other households moved to settle in Ta Com village. At that time, the first kindergarten and primary school was built from bamboo panels and bamboo fences in the middle of the deep forest. That was also when the journey to find letters of the Mong ethnic children began, including Po.

The life of people in Ta Com village is still facing many difficulties.

But after finishing primary school, Po’s way to school became longer and more dangerous. In middle and high school, he and his friends had to walk 50km of forest road to the center of Trung Ly commune, crossing dozens of steep slopes, deep streams, and even wild animal forests. Once, on the way to school through Ca Giang village, Po and his friends had to hold their breath and hide behind an old tree for an hour because a tiger was tearing a wild buffalo to pieces right next to the trail they often passed.

Each trip away from home, I only had a few old clothes, white rice, salt and crushed chili. When I was hungry, I would go to the forest to dig bamboo shoots and pick wild vegetables to cook for the day. Yet those small steps never faltered.

Po’s family was poor and had many children – 9 siblings. With a lack of food, studying was extremely difficult. But his father – a Mong man with little education but many aspirations – always repeated one thing: “Even if it is hard, we must send our children to school”. It was this determination and belief that kept Po on the path of studying until the end of high school.

In 2015, a small, stocky Mong boy, carrying all the hopes of Ta Com village, passed the entrance exam to the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanities, majoring in Social Management. He became the first person in the village to know what a lecture hall, a lecturer, a library were, becoming a role model and an inspiration for a young generation in a remote village to dare to dream.

Not only Po, his siblings also followed in his footsteps on the path of knowledge: one studied at the University of Medicine, one studied at the intermediate medical school, one went abroad to work... The family used to be the poorest in the village, but now it is one of the most economically stable and knowledgeable households in Ta Com.

Sung A Po was the first person in Ta Com to go to university.

Inspiration in the wilderness

After graduating from university, instead of choosing the city, Po chose to return to the village where he grew up to work. From Secretary of Kham village, to Vice Chairman of the Commune Farmers' Association, and then in 2023 becoming Chairman of the Trung Ly Commune Farmers' Association, Sung A Po gradually affirmed his role as a "cadre of the people's hearts". He not only performs the task of managing, mobilizing, and propagating policies, but also acts as a trusted bridge between the government and the Mong people. During his visits to the village, he always uses the Mong language to converse, to explain, and to sow seeds of trust.

Now, every time he looks up at the dark mountains covered in clouds all year round, Sung A Po silently thanks his parents – the ones who lit up his dream of studying in the deep forest. Thanks to his teachers, who came to teach in the poor village with dim oil lamps. Thanks to the days of crossing streams and wading through forests, so that today, from that very place, he can become a guide for his people to overcome hunger, ignorance, and backwardness.

Mr. Thao A Su, Head of Ta Com village, shared: "People here trust Po very much. People often call him "cadre Po". Po's family is a shining example for the villagers to follow. Many families plan to let their children drop out of school, go to work in the fields, and get their daughters married early... when they hear that local cadres and border guards will come to propagate and mobilize, and all use evidence from Po and Po's family to mobilize."

Ta Com village is 100% inhabited by Mong ethnic people.

In a remote and isolated land like Ta Com - where poverty and hunger still exist, and where education is still very difficult, Sung A Po is a living proof that changes the thinking of many people. Po's life story - from a Mong boy in patched clothes, bare feet, rice balls with salt and chili, crossing the forest to go to school, now a young, dynamic and knowledgeable cadre..., has become a "torch" to guide and spread the spirit of desire to study, work and rise up of many young people in Ta Com today.

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/hanh-trinh-vuot-kho-cua-sung-a-po-1745807036984.htm