Writing fairy tales in everyday life.

Fairy tales in everyday life

LCĐT - When I first met Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Minh, a teacher at Kindergarten No. 2 in Phong Hai town (Bao Thang district), I was quite impressed by her simple, thin appearance, but her open conversation and gentle smile. The story of Ms. Minh voluntarily taking in four Mong ethnic minority children to live in her home for over three months, and then taking them to and from school every day, is like a real-life fairy tale.

The damp, slippery dirt road winding through bamboo groves deep into the mountain gorge led us to the Sang Pa branch of Kindergarten No. 2 in Phong Hai town. Outside, the rain was falling steadily, but inside the classrooms, the cheerful singing and innocent laughter of children echoed clearly. Teacher Nguyen Thi Thanh Minh affectionately looked at her students and thoughtfully recounted: "The children's homes are very far away, high up on the Sang Pa mountain peak. The road is difficult; it takes almost two hours to walk there. Of the four children, two are sisters: Cu Thi Chu (2 years old) and Cu Thi Gio (4 years old); the other two are Cu Seo Mui (4 years old) and Cu Van Hai (4 years old). Before the Lunar New Year of 2017, Sang Pa only had two 5-year-old children attending the primary school, while these four children had not yet attended kindergarten." When the school decided to move all the students to the branch campus below, I had to do a lot of persuading before the parents agreed to let their children come down from the mountain to study. However, the Sang Pa Kindergarten branch campus didn't have dormitories for the children, so the families struggled to find places to leave their children. Seeing how destitute the children were, I said I wanted to take them to my home. The parents were overjoyed, saying that with a teacher there, they didn't have to worry anymore. They left their children there to go back to planting corn and rice, and only came down to pick them up on weekends. At first, only Chu and Gio attended, but a few weeks later, Mui and Hai were brought down by their parents. However, they often missed school because they were staying with local families and had no one to pick them up. Feeling sorry for the children, I talked to the parents about taking them to my home. When they first arrived, all the children had dirty faces, messy hair, and not enough clothes. Now, they've all gained 1-2 kg. The best part was that the children were very well-behaved. At mealtime, they all knew to invite the teacher to eat, they spooned their own food, and they greeted strangers in standard Vietnamese. I remember the first time the children were bathed with fragrant soap; they were all surprised and scared. But after bathing and getting their new clothes on, they were delighted and giggled at each other…

Teacher Minh during class time.

The will to overcome adversity

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Before meeting Ms. Minh, I had a conversation with Ms. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, the principal of Kindergarten No. 2 in Phong Hai town. Ms. Ha said: Ms. Minh has a very difficult and challenging personal situation, but it's rare to find someone who loves their profession, adores children, and is so dedicated to caring for their students as she is. To date, Ms. Minh has worked as a kindergarten teacher in Phong Hai town for nearly 30 years. In the last 5 years, despite her advanced age, she has volunteered to work at schools in the mountainous areas of Phong Hai, such as the Sin Then and Sang Pa branches. In 2010, Ms. Minh's husband suffered a stroke and passed away. She has been working in the mountainous region while single-handedly raising her two children through vocational training. Now, her eldest daughter is married and works at the Provincial Social Work Center, while her son recently graduated from Hanoi University of Electrical Engineering but hasn't found a job yet and has to work in the city. She currently lives alone in a small house in Phong Hai town. People say Ms. Minh has a hard life, always busy and worried about everything, from housework to schoolwork. And she does everything quickly. The road to Sang Pa is difficult to travel, but some months, Ms. Minh goes there 3-4 times to encourage students to attend school. Thanks to Ms. Minh's persistent persuasion, the Mong ethnic minority households on the mountaintop finally agreed to let their children study at the branch school below. Ms. Minh's voluntary decision to adopt four preschool students in Sang Pa has earned her admiration and respect, but everyone is also concerned that it will add to her burden. The school has called on teachers and organizations and individuals to donate rice, clothes, and other necessities to help Ms. Minh take better care of the students.

Tearful memories

Returning to the story of voluntarily adopting four Hmong children in Sang Pa, Ms. Minh usually wakes up very early in the morning to prepare meals for the children. Then, with her old Dream motorbike, Ms. Minh drives the four "children" 6 kilometers to the Sang Pa Kindergarten Branch. Every night, on the small bed, the four children sleep on top, while she lies horizontally at their feet at the foot of the bed. "It's not that we lack beds, but I'm not comfortable letting the children sleep alone, so I sleep with them to keep them warm at night and comfort them when they wake up crying," Ms. Minh confided.

Teacher Minh takes care of the children.

There's a memory that Ms. Minh will never forget. One cold winter night, her daughter, Cu Thi Chu, contracted pneumonia. At 2 AM, she developed a high fever and difficulty breathing, putting her in a very dangerous condition. Despite the late hour, Ms. Minh rushed her to the Phong Hai town health station for emergency treatment. That night, Ms. Minh stayed by her daughter's side, caring for her. Chu was delirious with fever and even wet her teacher's shirt… The next morning, Mr. Cu Seo Hang and Ms. Ly Thi Dau (Chu's parents) came down from Sang Pa high in the mountains to care for their sick child. Mr. Hang explained that they had been married for a long time but hadn't registered their marriage, and he didn't have an identity card. Therefore, Chu, at two years old, hadn't been registered and didn't have health insurance. Mr. and Mrs. Hang were poor and couldn't afford treatment, so they intended to take her home. Ms. Minh, worried about the child's life, tried her best to dissuade them. In the following days, Ms. Minh tirelessly took Mr. and Mrs. Hang dozens of kilometers to the district center to have their photos taken and get their identity cards, then to the Phong Hai town People's Committee to register their marriage, complete the birth registration procedures, and get a health insurance card for their son, Chu. A week later, Chu recovered from his illness and was able to go home. Mr. Hang was deeply moved, his eyes welling up as he expressed his gratitude to Ms. Minh, the devoted foster mother of his two children…

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Ms. Minh's story made me think deeply about the values ​​and kindness in the world, about the stars that forever twinkle in the distant mountaintops. Ms. Minh said that now her only wish is for her son to soon find a stable job and for the children she is raising to receive a full education, so that they can have a better future. As long as she is healthy and the children still need her loving embrace, her small house will always be a warm and welcoming home for them.

TUAN NGOC

Source: http://laocai.edu.vn/hoc-tap-lam-theo-tam-guong-dao-duc-ho-chi-minh/viet-co-tich-giua-doi-thuong-260788