Heartbreaking scene of teachers in the flood-hit area of Da Nang scrubbing layers of mud to find school supplies

Xót xa cảnh thầy cô giáo vùng rốn lũ Đà Nẵng cọ rửa từng lớp bùn tìm lại đồ dùng cho học sinh - Ảnh 1. — Ms. Ha Thi Minh Tam, principal of Dien Thang Nam Kindergarten, worked hard to find children's belongings - Photo: BD

At Nguyen Trai Primary School, An Thang ward, the school yard and classrooms are gradually exposed under mud.

Dozens of police officers were mobilized from various units to gather at the school with teachers and staff to wash away mud and dry each set of desks and chairs to welcome students back from the beginning of next week.

Ms. Phan Thi Thu Huong, the school principal, said that the recent flood submerged the school to a depth of nearly 2 meters. This is the deepest flooded area in An Thang ward.

According to Ms. Huong, thanks to the proactive arrangement of furniture and equipment, the damage was mainly wet tables, chairs, and some small equipment. Even in the flood, teachers and school staff waded in the water to raise the furniture.

From October 31, as soon as the floodwaters receded, the school mobilized all teachers to gather at the school to clean up and try to welcome students early next week.

Not only the school, many teachers in the area also had their houses flooded. Some teachers' houses were flooded up to the roof, their family members had to climb onto the roof to take shelter and wait for rescue forces to arrive.

Nguyen Trai School has more than 300 students, most of whose homes are in flooded areas. Currently, communication is still not possible so the school cannot count the damage from the families.

At Dien Thang Nam Kindergarten, the school grounds were also covered in mud. A layer of silvery mud covered all the classrooms and playgrounds.

From the morning of November 1, teachers were mobilized along with soldiers and police to clean up. Due to the lack of electricity, the school had to use generators, pulling electricity from other places to run pumps to draw water from the river to spray the campus.

Standing sadly in front of the playground, where every teaching equipment for children was covered in mud, Ms. Ha Thi Minh Tam, the school's principal, said that out of three locations, two were deeply submerged in floodwaters.

Currently, a lot of school supplies are damaged and submerged in mud and will take many days to clean up.