The road to school and the future dreams of Ho Van Dao (13, Van Kieu ethnic group), a boy with a disability, would come to an end if it were not for the teachers who carried him to school, raised him and taught him to become a good person.
|
A TOUCHING STORY OF HUMAN KINDNESS IN A REMOTE PLACE The story of the boy with a disability cared for, raised and taught by teachers at Pa Nang Ethnic Boarding Secondary School (Pa Nang commune, Dakrong district, Quang Tri province) led us hundreds of kilometres to the mountainous border commune of Pa Nang. Ho Van Dao (in class 7B) stood out among the school’s 272 pupils because his legs are not intact. Dao drags himself step by step across the yard and into class, then sits upright on his chair and listens attentively to the lesson. At break time, his classmates gather around him to chat.
Seeing the camera, Dao shyly hid among his friends. After school, Dao struggled back to his room in the school grounds. This is also the boarding room of the teachers. Carefully putting away his schoolbag and changing his clothes, Dao went into the kitchen to help pick vegetables for the teachers to cook, then ate with them. The meal was simple but warm and cheerful. In the afternoon, Dao went back to class to study, then had dinner. At night, he slept with the teachers… Dao’s daily life is like this as the well-behaved “child” of four officers and teachers: Le Thanh Tung, Ho Ngoc Vuong, Phan Van Tuan and Nguyen Quoc Khanh. Every month, the teachers contribute money to raise Dao. The weather is now in the cold winter season, so Dao’s legs ache and are calloused because he cannot wear sandals. The teachers wash his feet in warm water to keep him warm. When Dao is ill, the teachers worry about his medicine and feed him spoonfuls of porridge… Seeing the teachers care for Dao so devotedly, we could not hold back our tears.
PLEASE HELP DAO’S UNFORTUNATE LIFE BE LESS HARSH Dao’s life has been a long series of painful, tragic days. He was born into a poor family in Nguoc village, near the Vietnam–Laos border. At birth, he was healthy. At one year old, a bout of malaria made him very ill. His family took him everywhere for treatment, but it was too late, partly because they had no money. His legs gradually became necrotic, and doctors had to amputate them almost up to the knee to save his life. A year later, Dao lost his father in a landmine accident while working in the fields. Dao’s mother and her five children fell into even greater hardship, often going hungry. When he reached school age, seeing his friends go to the school in the village, Dao loved it so much that he kept crawling out to the gate to watch them. Then Dao asked his mother to let him go to school. Ho Thi Mo, seeing her son had lost his legs, tried to dissuade him, but Dao was so determined that she had to carry him to school. At first, the teachers and pupils were also put off by the boy with a disability. His friends teased him: “You have no legs, yet you want to go to school.” But with his diligence, love of learning and intelligence, Dao gradually won over his teachers. Feeling sorry for his mother carrying him with such difficulty, Dao gradually learned to walk, and a year later he could go to school by himself on his knees. Throughout his five years of primary school, Dao was an advanced pupil. To go to secondary school, he had to travel nearly 20km through the forest to the school in the centre of the commune. That was impossible for Dao, as no one in his family could take him. Moreover, his family was poor and his mother had no money for him to board at school. So Dao had to drop out.
A year later, teacher Ho Ngoc Vuong, while returning to Nguoc village to persuade pupils to return to school, learned of Dao’s circumstances. Feeling sorry for the unfortunate pupil and admiring his love of learning, Mr. Vuong persuaded Ms. Mo to let Dao go to school, and she agreed, in a situation of “entrusting her child to the teacher”. And for the first time, Dao left his village and had to say goodbye to his family, so he cried a great deal. On the nearly 20km journey through the forest, with many stretches impassable by motorbike, Mr. Vuong had to carry Dao. More than a year now, Dao’s mother has not been able to visit him at school because of the distance, and partly because she feels reassured that her son is being looked after so well by the teachers. Every month, Dao is taken home by his teacher to visit his family. Ms. Mo said: “Without the teachers, my Dao could not go to school. The teachers raise and care for Dao as if he were their own child. I am so grateful to the teachers”. Now, the unfortunate boy has stable food, accommodation and daily life in the warm, loving arms of his teachers and with the sympathy and help of his friends. The teachers teach him skills to integrate into life and take care of himself, without depending on everyone’s love. Not letting them down, Dao studies diligently and behaves well. In his free time, he exercises by lifting weights, helps his teachers pick vegetables, fetch water and sweep… Knowing that Dao is passionate about computers, the teachers teach him computing. Dao says his dream is to become an information technology engineer. But that dream faces too many obstacles because of his extremely unfortunate circumstances, and the teachers cannot follow him throughout his life… If only he had wooden legs, Dao’s situation would be less miserable. On the journey to literacy, community integration and the future, the boy “without legs” is not alone, thanks to the love that lifts the future of the teacher-pupil and friendship bond. Generous hearts are much needed to help the boy continue going to school, realise his dream and share the difficulties and hardships of teachers in mountainous areas. Source: http://www.congan.com.vn |
||
| HOANG QUAN | ||