The desire for change of the H’mong man-Young man

Vu Trung Bay (SN 2000) – a student from the Mong ethnic group who was born with a loss of his right hand, but always had the desire to be the first teacher of the highland village of Ha Khua (Co Tong, Thuan Chau, Son La) to teach Hmong children to literate and get out of poverty.

Library of Son La College is the favorite place of Vu Trung Bay (3rd year student, Faculty of Teacher Training, Son La College)

Build shacks, donate rice to “feed” the word

Vu Trung Bay in Ha Khua village – a particularly difficult village of Co Tong highland commune. Bay is the second child in a family of 3 brothers. Although parents always expect their children to study to escape poverty, but among the brothers, only Bay goes to college.

Bay’s family’s income depends on the high hills of corn and cassava fields. When the crop fails to eat enough, they run to eat every meal. Bay has not had a right hand since birth. The family is poor, but not as healthy as friends, so since childhood, Bay’s father encouraged him to study hard, so as not to have to work hard in farming.

Going to school with many challenges, from language differences, to learning to write with your left hand, overcoming your own inferiority complex. In Ha Khua, it is common for children to go to school and then leave. Bay herself, when she was a child, wanted to drop out of school many times, because the way to class was too difficult. In elementary school, 2 schools are still close to home, in high school, the school is 7 km away from home by mountain road. To go to class every day I have to walk many hours.

Loving their children going to school far away, Bay’s parents and many other parents gathered to build a hut made of bamboo, cork, thatch and fibro-cement roof near the school to live temporarily. Bay’s shack has 5 friends, each of you bring a box of clothes, books, contribute rice to blow rice together to “raise” the word.

On winter days, the sky is foggy in the mountains, the cold cuts the skin and cuts the meat. The shack is dark. On a rainy day, looking at the water splashing through the wall, wetting all the blankets and furniture, we were helpless. At such times, Bay and friends only know how to get close to each other to fight the cold.

“The worst thing in the shack was that there was no water. We have to walk 2km down the mountain to carry each can of water to cook. The rice is just plain white rice with salt. Every weekend after school, I and my friends would walk together 7-8km home to pick up salted rice to eat for the next week,” Bay said.

Dream for the community

In the poor mountainous area of ​​Ha Khua, no one has finished 12th grade. In the whole high school class, only Bay graduated. Bay became the pride of both Ha Khua Cao when she was the first Hmong to enter Son La College.

Bay likes to be a teacher, wants to do work related to society, to the community, so he chose to study at the Faculty of Teacher Training. “I want to go to big schools under Hanoi, but my family is too poor, so I chose to study in the province that suits my family’s conditions,” Bay said.

Bay wants to be a teacher to teach Mong children to love their homeland and enrich the village. Bay loves many Hmong children who did not overcome barriers, then dropped out of school and lived forever in poverty and illiteracy.

“All my friends of the same age in the village are married and have grown up children. If before, I also dropped out of school, maybe now I just hang around with corn fields, cassava fields, and then follow the cow’s tail to the forest every day,” Bay confided.

Vu Trung Bay has always tried his best in his studies, he won the title of advanced student in every school year, especially in the 2018 – 2019 school year, he achieved the all-round excellent student. Bay is always active and enthusiastic in school and class movements, and is loved by friends and teachers. Bay participated in the pedagogical competition organized by the Faculty of Teacher Training and won the first prize in teaching Mathematics.

Talking about future plans, Bay wants to do useful things for his community and village. Bay wishes to create easier access to knowledge for many Hmong children.