Huong River welcomes new students to school: Poor mother stays up all night waiting for morning

5 students from Quang Ngai to Hue to receive the "Tiep suc den truong" scholarship. This time, 9 new students from Quang Ngai attended the scholarship awarding ceremony, including 5 students from Quang Ngai to Hue, 1 student from Da Nang and 3 students studying in Hue - Photo: TRAN MAI

New students receive scholarships to support their studies in Hue - Performed by: THANH NGUYEN - NHA CHAN - DIEM HUONG

Traveled 300 kilometers to Hue City in the joy of being selected for a scholarship

Two new students came to receive the "Tiep suc den truong" scholarship in Thua Thien Hue on the afternoon of October 9 - Photo: NHAT LINH

At 7:00 a.m. in Quang Ngai City, new students in Quang Ngai who received the "Tie suc den truong" scholarship began their 300 km journey to Hue City to attend and receive the scholarship.

New students Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan, Duong Thi Kim Duyen, Bui Thi Minh Thu, Nguyen Thi Trang, Nguyen Thi Quynh Thu have different lives but the same difficult situation. Each of them has tried their best to enter the lecture hall. About a week ago, the disadvantaged students in Quang Ngai heard that they had received scholarships, and they were all happy.

Kim Ngan got carsick on the way but was still happy. Ngan said that when she was 18 months old, her mother died of heart disease, and when she was 3 years old, her father also passed away due to complications from goiter. Ngan lived with her grandparents and aunt. Then her grandparents also left this life.

"I started living with my aunt when I was in 7th grade. Every time I asked for money to buy notebooks or take extra classes, even though farming was hard, she always gave me the best. That made me try harder," Ngan confided.

Ngan chose the Literature Pedagogy major at Pham Van Dong University partly because she found it difficult to survive in big cities, and partly because it was close to home and could support and help her.

Truong Quoc Bao (left) and Vo Long Vu (both new students of the University of Science, Hue University) came to receive scholarships - English: NHAT LINH

When Nguyen Thi Trang was in first grade, her mother passed away and her father also had a stroke. After that "change", Trang moved in with her maternal grandparents, and her younger brother moved in with her paternal grandmother. It wasn't until ninth grade that Trang moved back home to live with her paternal grandmother, grandmother, and younger brother. Life was extremely difficult, her father couldn't work, and the family relied on social assistance.

Trang was admitted to the Pedagogical University of Da Nang, and after two weeks of studying, she decided to return to Dang Thuy Tram Medical College. Trang said she wanted to pursue psychology, but after thinking about it, she felt that returning to her hometown to study near home to take care of her father and younger brother was still the most important thing.

Quynh Thu, a freshman at Pham Van Dong University, has a sad story. A week before her high school graduation exam, her mother passed away.

"My mother went through a long period of cancer treatment. My father was a farmer but had to quit his job to follow my mother's treatment. After my mother passed away, the family had nothing left but debt. I was very happy to receive a scholarship to help ease the immediate difficulties. In the long run, I will find a part-time job."

New student Le Thi Thu Lai (Graphic Design major, College of Arts, Hue University) arrived very early to wait to receive the scholarship "Tiep suc den truong" in Hue - Photo: NHAT LINH

The mother raising her children and her mentally ill husband stayed up all night last night.

Traveling more than 30km from the coastal area of Vinh Thai commune, Phu Vang district, Thua Thien Hue province to Hue city to wait with her child to receive the scholarship, Ms. Le Thi Van (mother of new student Le Thi Thu Lai) said that she almost stayed up all night last night.

Mrs. Lai's husband is being treated for mental illness. She alone struggles with 5 sao of rice to pay for her husband's medicine and to support Lai's education. Sometimes her husband's illness gets worse, and the family's finances are almost exhausted.

"When I heard that my child was awarded a scholarship by the School Support Program, I was so happy I couldn't sleep. Last night I stayed up almost all night, just waiting for the afternoon to go with my child to receive the scholarship," said Ms. Van.

For Mrs. Van’s family, 15 million VND is a huge amount of money. The scholarship came to Lai and Mrs. Van’s family as a gift to warm that poor coastal family.

The girl who wore mourning clothes 4 times Le Thao Duyen: Rushed to receive scholarship from part-time job

Le Thao Duyen attended the scholarship awarding ceremony for new students of Hue and Quang Ngai held in Hue City - Photo: TRAN MAI

At noon on October 9, it rained in Hue City. Le Thao Duyen - a new student of the Faculty of Journalism, Hue University of Sciences - braved the rain to go to the scholarship awarding point.

"Because this was my first day of overtime, I couldn't ask the owner to let me go home early. As soon as I finished work, I ran to the scholarship awarding point. Luckily, I was in time," Duyen said.

Thao Duyen has a very sad life and is full of extraordinary determination that many readers have learned about through the article "A life as painful as a movie, the "main character" today was accepted into three universities". She has worn mourning clothes to send off her loved ones four times.

After enrolling, Duyen quickly went to look for a part-time job in Hue. She said she found a tutoring class with 10 students and two tutoring classes with 4 more students. She taught Literature, Vietnamese and handwriting to the children.

"After arranging my studies and tutoring, I found I still had free time, so I talked to another tutor and asked for a job serving at a coffee shop. We both took on a shift at the coffee shop and split the money. Even though the owner paid me 15,000 VND per hour, it was okay, having more money was better," Duyen said.

Despite arriving late, Duyen still had time to talk with other new students who were in difficult circumstances. Listening to their stories, Duyen said that everyone was suffering, and now everyone wanted to make an effort to escape the difficult life they had experienced."

I am very happy to receive the scholarship, here I see lives similar to mine. I have known about Tuoi Tre Newspaper's "Tiep suc den truong" scholarship for a long time, this is the first time I attended it directly and found it very meaningful."

Hue parents braved the rain to travel 30 km to the scholarship ceremony with their children

On the afternoon of October 9, it rained heavily in Thua Thien - Hue, many parents braved the rain to attend the scholarship award ceremony for the "Tiep suc den truong" program.

Driving more than 30km from Phu Loc district to the program, Mr. Phan Van Danh and his daughter Phan Thi My Linh eagerly waited for the time to receive the scholarship on behalf of her daughter, new student Phan Thi My Tam. Tam had a military school schedule so she could not come on the afternoon of October 9.

Sitting in the last row watching his son's friends, Mr. Danh said: "If I had known about the scholarship earlier, I would have had less trouble 4 years ago during my son's school year."

Four years ago, this single father was also worried when his daughter Phan Thi My Linh entered the university gate. "When we heard the news of receiving the scholarship, the three of us were very happy, so even though my daughter could not attend, her sister and I definitely had to attend to know" - Mr. Danh said.

Ms. Le Thi Kim Thuong was moved to receive the scholarship on behalf of her child - Photo: THANH NGUYEN

Another mother who traveled more than 30km by bus from Loc Tri commune, Phu Loc district to the program is Ms. Le Thi Kim Thuong. Ms. Thuong is the parent of a new student at the Diplomatic Academy, Pham Thi Thanh Cam. A month ago, Ms. Thuong's husband passed away after a long battle with cancer, leaving behind his wife and three school-age children. Having to carry a heavy burden in a short period of time, she was worried about finances.

When Relay called the school to inform them about their daughter's scholarship, the whole family was very happy. "My daughter called and said that her mother must attend in her place. She also called this morning to remind her," she said.

Supporting new students in Hue and Quang Ngai to go to school - Performed by: NHA CHAN - MAI HUYEN - TRINH TRA

21 years of persistently helping new Hue students in difficulty

New students receiving the "Tiep suc den truong" scholarship in Hue arrived quite early to complete the procedures before the award ceremony - Photo: PHAN THANH

The total cost of the scholarship award ceremony is more than 1.5 billion VND, sponsored by the Thua Thien Hue "Supporting Students to School" Club, Phat Dat Real Estate Development Joint Stock Company, and Do Thanh Automobile Joint Stock Company (each scholarship is worth 15 million VND in cash).

Nestlé Vietnam Co., Ltd. sponsored gifts for new students, Vinacam Scholarship Fund - Vinacam Group Joint Stock Company sponsored 2 laptops for new students with special difficulties who lack learning equipment.

In 2024, Phat Dat Real Estate Development Joint Stock Company and Do Thanh Automobile Joint Stock Company will sponsor 26 scholarships for new students with difficult circumstances in Quang Ngai with a total cost of 400 million VND, including 9 new students studying in Hue and Da Nang.

Today, 82 new students attended the scholarship award ceremony. Another 17 new students from Thua Thien Hue and Quang Ngai will be awarded in Ho Chi Minh City.

Thua Thien Hue is the fourth awarding point in the 2024 "Support to School" scholarship program for new students under the 593rd "For Tomorrow's Development" program of Tuoi Tre newspaper.

Attending and awarding scholarships to new students were Ms. Nguyen Thi Huong, member of the Editorial Board of Tuoi Tre Newspaper. On the local government side, there were Mr. Nguyen Tan - Director of the Department of Education and Training of Thua Thien Hue province, Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hoai, Secretary of the Thua Thien Hue Provincial Youth Union.

On the sponsor side, there was Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thien Tong - Head of the Thua Thien Hue School Support Club, along with members of the club. Mr. Quach Dao Quang - Manager of the Vietnam-USA Association English Center in Hue.

Tuoi Tre Newspaper's 2024 "Tiep suc den truong" scholarship is for more than 1,100 new students with difficult circumstances nationwide, with a total cost of more than 20 billion VND.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thien Tong spent 20 years looking for 'money' to support students: Hope they will 'repay' the debt of gratitude for their own future

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thien Tong - Head of the Thua Thien Hue School Support Club (left) smiled brightly when he arrived at the scholarship awarding program. Photo: PHAN THANH

Since 2008, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Thien Tong has run the Thua Thien Hue School Relay Club, and has been "collecting" scholarships for poor students.

He said that every year he has to worry about the scholarship fund. In the appeal letter and email sent to his students and donors, Mr. Tong is very worried that he will not be able to get the same number of scholarships as last year due to economic difficulties and the impact of storms and floods.

"I feel much relieved after collecting 83 scholarships for new students in Thua Thien Hue province this year. I had to review the student records over and over again, partly because I was afraid of missing the most difficult cases to support them," said Mr. Tong.

Knowing each contribution, Mr. Tong knows not only the situation of each student but also the situation of each benefactor. He even notes down the contributions of each former student. Because that is the reserve resource for the long-term "burning" of the School Support Program.

After many years of giving out scholarships, Mr. Tong said someone asked him, "Why don't you give out loans for scholarships?"

"I also struggled, but when I thought about it again, I thought that the government would take care of the loan for studying. The scholarship I asked for was a gift. I hope that the students do not owe me anything, but pay it back for the future. The debt of gratitude is not money. I hope that the students will pay back this gratitude to the next generation," said Mr. Tong.

The Thua Thien Hue "Support to School" Club is a gathering place for children far from home, friends who love their homeland Hue... wishing to return to support and accompany young people in difficult circumstances in their hometown.

The "Support to School" program in Hue has gone through 21 years with the spirit of the predecessors helping the successors, creating profound humanistic values for the "Support to School" program in Thua Thien Hue.

20 years ago, from the first 6 new students of Thua Thien Hue with difficult circumstances who were supported, up to now, the Thua Thien Hue "Support to School" Club has supported 1,524 new students with a total scholarship fund of more than 15 billion VND.

In addition to supporting scholarships, many members of the Club also adopt, support living expenses, transportation, jobs, etc. for new students away from home.

Also in 2024, the Tuoi Tre newspaper's "Support to School" program for new students will be organized in the following regions: Central, Central Highlands, Southeast, Mekong Delta; Northern and North Central provinces and cities.

* Tuoi Tre Online is updating

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/song-huong-chao-don-tan-sv-duoc-tiep-suc-den-truong-me-ngheo-thuc-trang-dem-cho-sang-20241008123420685.htm