Since coming ashore, Nguyen Thi Ngoc Khuyen has had her own study corner.
Memory
Ashore. Just two short words, but they are an extension of happiness. This happiness cannot be expressed in words. Ashore has changed lives and from here, the story of settling down opens a “new page”...
Let's start with the children. The children of the former fishing village with a jumble of memories, but the most indelible are still the days drifting on the water. There, the boat deck was a study table with a dim light... Occasionally, on low tide days, some children would cross the monkey bridge, on high tide, they would row their own boat to go ashore to school or maybe not go to school at all...
Letters. Of course, for children in fishing villages, finding letters is many times more difficult than for children on land. In the memory of teacher Trinh Thi Loan, Principal of Dinh Tien Primary School (Dinh Tan commune), about 3 years ago, for children in fishing villages, universal education was very difficult. Principal Trinh Thi Loan recalled: "The difficulty is that life on the boat is here today, there tomorrow, so the children also follow their parents here today, here tomorrow... Life is so hard that it is very difficult to take care of the children to go to school. But there are also children who, when they go ashore to go to school, some of them have to stay back in class because they cannot guarantee the required study time, especially after holidays and Tet holidays, some children take 1-2 months off...".
When a student drops out of school, the teacher has to go find the student. In 21 years of standing on the podium, teacher Hoang Duc Long, a teacher at Thieu Vu Primary School (Thieu Tien commune), has spent 18 years teaching students from fishing villages. Those 18 years were filled with many worries. “I remember a few years ago, my class had a number of students from fishing villages, including a student who was a problem because he could not read or write well, and was very slow at calculating...” Teacher Long said. “On some afternoons during the week, I gave this student free tutoring. But in order to teach, the teacher had to go find the student...”.
This teacher's way of finding students was also very special. He drove down to the fishing village, rain or shine, to take students to class. The reason he had to go looking for students was because their parents could not send their children to school. They were still struggling to make a living on the river... There were days when teacher Long had to call to ask where the students' families were fishing, then drive to the place to take the students back to school. Teacher Long confided: "Living on a boat is already a disadvantage. If you can go to shore to go to school, you have to give your children a "bright" education, better than their grandparents and parents..."
That's right, if we don't "strengthen our children's lives", we will continue to have a generation... that is illiterate. Because, the illiteracy of a part of the people in the fishing village in general is the story of their grandfathers, fathers, and years of drifting on the river. A cultural officer of the commune pensively recounted: "The men and women of the fishing village who come to receive subsidies from the commune almost have to fingerprint, even the young men who go to receive on behalf of their parents also fingerprint. There are days when the fingerprints almost cover the page."
But, for the children of the fishing village who go to shore to study, studying is still a painful... task. Why? Because when the boat is home, life is still cramped and confined. On that boat, parents are still busy with their daily lives, making "difficulties limit their intelligence" and forgetting to care for their children... So, sending their children to shore to study is a responsibility, but sadly, the responsibility is not yet fulfilled.
The general assessment from the schools where students from the fishing villages study is that most of them are well-behaved, gentle but shy, especially lacking in weight and height, and most of them have poor academic performance. A teacher was startled when in a class of 4 students from the fishing village, all 4 were not tall and heavy enough for their age, such as a 3rd grade female student (9 years old), only weighed 18kg with a height of 1m...
Going ashore is the best solution to change the lives of the people on the water. And more than that, it is the “door” that opens the future for the children of the fishing village.
The road to school... is long
It can be affirmed that the "Campaign to support housing for people living on the river" implemented in 2022-2023 is a correct policy with profound humanity of the Standing Committee of Thanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee. In this campaign, the whole province mobilized investment and resettlement construction for 183 households.
Road to the resettlement area of Thieu Vu fishing village in Lam Dat village (Thieu Tien commune).
So, the dream of settling down has come true for the people of the fishing village. A “new page” has opened or as the people jokingly say: “Life has blossomed from here”.
From here on, the scene is over, water is no longer land, boats are no longer houses. Houses are now concrete, steel... The road home, to school, for children, is now wide open...
“The resettlement area is “as beautiful as a picture”, I never imagined it would be so beautiful!”. When she moved to her new home in the resettlement area of Lam Dat village (Thieu Tien commune), Ms. Tinh exclaimed. Once ashore, her child and other children in this resettlement area had a more peaceful and fulfilling life.
At 4:30 p.m., Lam Dat village road was filled with the chatter and laughter of children returning from school. Truong, Thuy, Dung, Hoa, Khuyen,... the children of the former fishing village leisurely rode their bicycles on the asphalted road. The children in the resettlement area happily boasted, "Once we get to shore, we can ride our bicycles right into our yard."
Lam Dat Village Secretary and Head, Mr. Le Tien Tho, was also excited, saying: “More than 60 households in Thieu Vu fishing village have been granted land and built houses in this resettlement area. They are all Catholics. On shore, the relationship between Catholics and non-Catholics is very good. Children in the fishing village enthusiastically participate in many recreational activities...”.
As for the Parish Priest of Khanh Linh (Dinh Tan Commune), Mr. Nguyen Duc Hung, after some contemplation, his eyes also lit up with joy, saying: “Getting ashore means the journey on the river has ended. Looking back on that journey, the parishioners of the fishing village are more sad than happy. Every year, on the boat, there are a few children who drown, and their studies are also unfinished... Getting ashore, the people of the fishing village have pushed away the difficulties...”.
And the school is also filled with joy, the most important thing being the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning. "Going ashore means being away from the water, students go to school more diligently...", teacher Trinh Thi Loan, Principal of Dinh Tien Primary School (Dinh Tan commune) frankly admitted. "Going ashore, there will be closer coordination between the school and parents. And from there, they pay more attention to their children. In the past 2 years, universal education has been more effective and there is no longer the phenomenon of students repeating a grade, which is the target of children from fishing villages."
Coming ashore, a big turning point for the people of the river. The story of settling down is no longer just a dream but has become a reality. That place is clear and peaceful. Houses are no longer boats. Houses are now concrete, steel... And the road to school for children is... wide open again.
Article and photos: Bang An
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/sang-bung-con-chu-bai-1-nbsp-len-bo-269207.htm
Comment (0)