The teacher's "One Heart" overcomes adversity

Overcoming adversity

Ms. Tam is currently a master's degree holder in Mathematics and is teaching at Thien Ho Duong High School (Cao Lanh City, Dong Thap Province). She currently lives with her elderly mother in a ground-floor house in Hamlet 5, Ward 6, Cao Lanh City.

Ms. Tam (middle) awards Nhat Tam scholarships to students in difficult circumstances.

In 2008, Ms. Tam graduated from university and was assigned to teach at Tan Thanh High School, Tan Hong District, Dong Thap Province. In 2009, Ms. Tam unfortunately had a serious accident while mobilizing students to attend class. “After the accident, I woke up and found out that my left leg was crushed beyond repair, so I had to have my knee amputated. I am an orphan, my mother is old, the two of us depended on each other, but before we could overcome the difficulties, the incident happened,” Ms. Tam said.

After recovering, she got used to her new life and transferred to Thien Ho Duong High School near her home to teach. Overcoming adversity, she still completed her teaching duties excellently and continued to study and improve her teaching skills.

In 2015, Ms. Tam founded the Nhat Tam Volunteer Group with 21 members participating, sharing, and helping those in difficult circumstances, especially those in the same situation. She constantly spreads the spirit of compassion through volunteer activities.

With the spirit of “helping as much as possible”, the Nhat Tam volunteer group initiated by Ms. Tam has helped hundreds of disadvantaged students with health insurance cards, tuition fees and scholarships. To date, Ms. Tam has raised more than 7 billion VND, supporting hundreds of poor students to continue going to school and helping many patients in difficult circumstances to receive treatment. She is an exemplary teacher who has overcome adversity to excellently complete her teaching duties. She is also one of the pioneers in registering to donate organs.

Expanding scholarship fund, fueling the journey of knowledge

Nhat Tam Scholarship is the brainchild of a group founded by Ms. Tam in 2023, awarding an average of 20 to more than 60 scholarships per year to students in difficult circumstances but with the will to overcome difficulties, aspiration and desire to study. This source of funding is mobilized by Ms. Tam from philanthropists. In addition, Ms. Tam also connects with student groups to teach foreign languages for free to students.

“This is the third year I have implemented the Nhat Tam scholarship program, giving each child 5 million VND. In the first season, I gave 21 gifts; in the second season, 42 gifts; now in the third season, it has increased to 65 gifts. In addition, the children get free English lessons and specialized activities to learn skills. They are given books and write their feelings. The Nhat Tam scholarship aims to provide financial support and spiritual encouragement, hoping to help the children love life like Ms. Tam or even more than Ms. Tam,” Ms. Tam shared.

Cao Tien Phat (19 years old, living in Cao Lanh City) has a difficult situation, his father is often sick, the Nhat Tam charity group gave Phat a scholarship with a cash package of 5 million VND when he was in grade 12. Moved by Ms. Tam's kindness and the spirit of "giving early to share clothes" spread by the charity group, Phat volunteered to join the charity group. "I received the scholarship in December 2023. The scholarship helps me a lot in covering expenses, I also have less to work so I have time to study. I admire and respect Ms. Tam very much, despite the accident, she still rose up strongly", Phat shared.

Ms. Tam said that from the reality of students who have received scholarships and participated in volunteer work to help those in difficult circumstances. In the near future, she will organize a contest "I love kindness". Participants are students who have received Nhat Tam scholarships. They will share the kindness stories they participated in to spread positive values to everyone.

In the coming time, Ms. Tam will continue to promote volunteer activities, help the needy, especially spread the Nhat Tam scholarship fund, join hands with philanthropists to help children go to school and fulfill their dreams.

“Currently, the scholarship fund mainly focuses on supporting middle and high school students. However, when they enter university, it is a new journey with many challenges. I want to continue to accompany them. That is why I am trying to connect with other scholarship funds, typically the Co May scholarship, so that they have more opportunities to continue pursuing their dreams,” said Ms. Tam.

Ms. Tam's work has been recognized by central ministries, branches, Dong Thap province and Cao Lanh city and has been awarded many noble prizes such as the 2022 National Volunteer Award presented by the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union; the 2020 Shining Vietnamese Will Award presented by the Vietnam Youth Union; the KOVA Award in the category "Living Beautifully" (2022)... Recently, on April 14, Ms. Tam was awarded a certificate of merit by the Minister of Education and Training for her efforts to overcome difficulties and inspire positivity in the education sector.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Tam is a model of a teacher who overcomes difficulties, is compassionate, resilient and inspires a beautiful life to the community and young people.

Article and photos: Nguyen Trinh

Source: https://baocantho.com.vn/-nhat-tam-cua-co-giao-vuot-qua-nghich-canh-a186981.html