The poorest female student in the neighborhood wants to go to college to change her fate

Performed by: HA DONG - NHA CHAN - DIEM HUONG

The day Nguyen Thi Dinh received the admission notice to the auditing major at Hanoi University of Economics and Technology, she felt like it was a dream.

The future is blurred in mother's eyes

Nữ sinh nghèo nhất muốn học đại học thay đổi số phận - Ảnh 1. — Photo: HA DONG

For her peers, going to school is a normal thing. But for Dinh, a female student who is in dire need of support to go to school, the journey to find knowledge is very difficult. The mother and daughter have lived with Dinh's grandmother since she was born in a makeshift house of only 20 square ^meters .

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Cu, 55 years old - Dinh's mother - has been sick and ill for many years, working hard all year round with 5 sao of rice fields and a garden in the countryside, saving every penny to send Dinh to school. In 2017, Dinh's grandmother passed away. Mrs. Cu's eyesight gradually became blurry, and when she went to the hospital, she was diagnosed with retinal detachment, cataracts and inflammation in both eyes.

The money the mother and son had saved for many years to send Dinh to high school and university was spent on eye medication for the next two years. When the family was bankrupt, Mrs. Cu's eyes were still dimming with age and prolonged illness.

Every time he saw his mother staggering in the dark as if she was about to fall, Dinh's tears fell in confusion and worry.

Grade 10 has helped sell at a shop to earn money

Nữ sinh nghèo nhất khu phố muốn học đại học thay đổi số phận - Ảnh 2. — Ms. Nguyen Thi Cu advises and encourages her daughter before entering school - Photo: HA DONG

Feeling sorry for his old and weak mother, every summer during his 3 years studying at Chu Van An High School, Sam Son City, Dinh asked for a part-time job helping sell breakfast at his cousin's restaurant in the Sam Son beach resort .

Dinh treasured and gave the monthly salary her cousin paid her to her mother to pay for her medicine. Those were the days when she treasured her labor and the time she spent working to earn money to help her mother.

After the summer tourist season, Dinh and her mother farmed 5 sao of rice and took care of the vegetable garden so that her mother could sell each bunch to earn money for her to go to school.

Sympathizing with Dinh and her mother living in poverty and loneliness, the neighbors in Phuc Cuong neighborhood often shared and supported them. Any family that bought a new table, chair, or cabinet would bring their old table, chair, or cabinet for Dinh and her mother to use.

"The tables, chairs, wooden cabinets and some other essential items in my family were all donated by relatives and friends in the neighborhood. Old or new, we just need to clean them and they will still work well" - Ms. Nguyen Thi Cu shared.

Help to go to school: Borrow 10 million VND to go to university

Nữ sinh nghèo nhất khu phố muốn học đại học thay đổi số phận - Ảnh 3. — Nguyen Thi Dinh has been familiar with farming since childhood - Photo: HA DONG

While some of her peers in the countryside chose to work abroad after finishing high school, or work as factory workers in Thanh Hoa City, Nguyen Thi Dinh was determined to study auditing at the Hanoi University of Economics and Technology, with a total admission score of 24 points.

Poverty and family circumstances could not overcome the will to succeed in life and study of the petite female student with intelligent and agile eyes.

Mr. Nguyen Phu Lam - Dinh's homeroom teacher at Chu Van An High School, Sam Son City - said: "Dinh's family situation is very difficult, so the teachers at school always help him in his studies. The teachers wish him to always be confident when entering university, overcome all difficulties to reach the horizon of knowledge."

Mr. Nguyen Huu Hoan - Secretary of the Party Committee of Quang Tam Ward, Thanh Hoa City - confirmed that the situation of Mrs. Nguyen Thi Cu's family in Phuc Cuong neighborhood is one of the most difficult families in the ward.

Despite her difficult circumstances, Mrs. Cu always paid attention to her daughter's education. Nguyen Thi Dinh was a good citizen, actively and enthusiastically participating in the local Youth Union movement.

"The day I told her I had passed the university entrance exam, tears welled up in my mother's eyes. She was very happy because her daughter was determined to study to escape poverty. But she was also worried because she didn't know where to get the money to send her daughter to university.

The monthly state subsidy for single mothers raising children was 360,000 VND. My mother had saved for many years, combined with the income from 5 sao of rice fields and a vegetable garden, and suddenly, it was used to pay for her mother's eye treatment.

Many nights, my mother tossed and turned, unable to sleep because she was worried about not having enough money to support her child's dream of going to university" - Nguyen Thi Dinh confided.

Before her daughter started school, Mrs. Cu decided to borrow 10 million VND from the bank so her daughter could pay for the first school year.

"Thank God for my health, I can still fumble around in the fields and garden. That way I can take care of my daughter. Next time, I will apply for a loan from the Social Policy Bank as a poor household to have funds for Dinh to pay for university," she said.

Invite you to join the School Support Program

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With the motto "No young person can go to school because of poverty", "New students encounter difficulties, there is Tuoi Tre " - as a commitment to support new students in the past 20 years of Tuoi Tre .

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