Ms Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa – lecturer at Hai Phong Private University
Born just like any other child, but at the age of two, Ms Quynh Hoa unfortunately contracted polio, and from then on her life has been bound to a wheelchair. Yet she has always been determined to rise in life, and in particular her academic achievements command the admiration of many. Besides being an excellent pupil for many years running at Tran Phu Gifted High School, she was also the top graduate in Group D at Hai Phong Private University and won scholarships for four consecutive years at university. After graduating, she was kept on by the university as a lecturer in the Faculty of English, and in 2007 she became a master's degree holder after completing her postgraduate programme.
Not only a talented and resilient lecturer loved and admired by many students, Ms Hoa is also an enthusiastic, dynamic volunteer who gives her all to the community. She founded the Hai Phong Private University Heart volunteer group with 60 students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages; led the Tinh Than SOS volunteer group; and headed the Independent Living movement (a movement of people with disabilities) in Hai Phong…
Young teacher Quynh Hoa
Tiny teacher Nguyen Ngoc Phuong
Affected by Agent Orange, teacher Ngoc Phuong weighed only 0.8 kg at birth and was less than 20cm long. At 30, he still has a small frame, 0.9m tall and weighing less than 19kg. Rising above adversity, he still teaches trades and culture every day to dozens of children with disabilities at the Da Nang Centre for the Protection of Agent Orange Victims and Disadvantaged Children. Most of Mr Phuong's pupils are children born with deformities caused by Agent Orange, whose speaking and learning abilities are very limited, but with empathy, love and enthusiasm, he patiently teaches these special pupils so they gain more knowledge and have greater confidence in life.
Not only does he teach culture and trades, Mr Phuong also repairs machinery and electrical equipment for the Centre so that his fellow workers in similar circumstances can produce goods for export.
With his efforts and dedication, Mr Phuong became one of three Vietnamese Agent Orange victims to take part in the Peace Boat programme in Japan in 2008, to meet more than 100 citizens who survived the atomic bomb explosion 68 years earlier.
The tiny teacher repairing machinery for students
Teacher who writes with his mouth, Phung Van Truong
With muscular atrophy, club feet that prevent him from moving normally, and hands that are also affected, teacher Phung Van Truong (Chuong My, Hanoi) had to cut short his schooling when he had only finished grade 8. However, his passion for learning always urged him to seek out words for himself. With club feet and weak hands, Mr Truong resolved to learn to write with his mouth despite countless difficulties. When he first practised writing, his handwriting was still scrawled, and his mouth ached with exhaustion, but he refused to give up, practising writing for many months.
His efforts finally paid off, as the writing produced by his mouth became clear and neat. At that point, he decided to teach writing to the children living nearby. In a shabby single-storey house, he patiently sat in his wheelchair guiding each stroke of his pupils' writing, and he did not accept any fee from parents. Not only did he teach handwriting, he also taught the children mathematics, geography, society, life skills…
Teacher Phung Van Truong
Teacher with a disability holding two university degrees, Nguyen Thi Hai Ly
Like teacher Nguyen Thi Quynh Hoa, Nguyen Thi Hai Ly also earns many people's admiration for her exceptional academic achievements, although she unfortunately has impaired legs. Ms Ly once passed as top graduate in Literature at Hue University of Sciences, and after four years she graduated with a Good degree. While working at the centre for education and vocational guidance for blind children in Thua Thien Hue province, she continued to pass the entrance exam for English Language Teaching at Hue University of Education.
The job she has been devoted to since graduating is teaching at the Thuy Bieu centre for children with disabilities (Hue City). Although teaching pupils with disabilities, especially children with intellectual disabilities, is extremely difficult, the young teacher Hai Ly still tries hard, determined not only through her dedication to the profession but also through her empathy and love for her pupils. Besides teaching at the Centre, she also teaches a charity class in two subjects, Vietnamese and English, in Hue City.
Teacher Hai Ly teaching her pupils with visual impairments
According to Tiin.vn