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Sponsored Child Never Gets Bored with Study |
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Written by Nguyễn Thị Cảnh, Nguyễn Kim Ngân
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Friday, 05 February 2010 |
 “I love to go to school. I’m never fed up with my study,” excitedly says Ha Thi Hong Nhung, 7, in the northern province of Thanh Hoa. “I try to study well so I will work as a doctor. I will give treatment to my parents and other people in my village.”
“I can meet, learn and play with many friends at school. I think my school is nice with many trees and several benches,” she explains. “Also, my teacher often tells us that all children need to go to school.”
“My house is not very far from school so I often walk to school. Sometimes I go with my friends but sometimes I go alone. I’m always afraid of motorbikes. They ride their motorbikes very fast,” the girl continues.
“The way to school is slopping and bendy,” she says. “The road, however, looks beautiful with lots of little yellow flowers. I love the flowers though I don’t know their name. On the right side is Lo River which is a big one in my district, and on the left side is terraced fields.”
 After her study, Nhung helps her brother get familiar with the alphabet.
“I learn many things at school such as math, dictation, natural science and society, and Vietnamese. I love math the most because it is an easy subject,” the girl continues. “My teacher always asks me and my classmates to work hard and be good children. She teaches us to assist our parents at home, to keep our surroundings clean and to help other friends when they are in need.”
“However, going to school is sometimes uneasy for me,” Nhung says. “I sometimes get headache when the sun is scorching. When it’s rainy, I feel very cold. Several boils on my legs hurt me when I soak with rainwater.”
Life is still hard for the girl’s family in the remote district, in which nearly 60% of the population is officially reported to live in poverty with their average annual income per capita of US$200.
“My wife and I are all farmers but our harvested rice is enough for the whole family for four months,” Nhung’s father, Ha Van Thai, 30, explains. “We are hired to make bamboo lath so as to afford rice during the rest of eight months.”
“We often have rice, vegetable and fish sauce for our meals. We don’t have money to afford new clothes for our children so our relatives often present us their old clothes,” he continues. “As we’re struggling with earning our daily bread, we sometimes don’t take care much of our children’s study.”
Living a cottage with her parents and her younger brother in Ngam Village, the little girl feels happy because she has a private place for her study.
 Nhung and her close friend are on the way to school.
Nhung and other children are expected to enjoy a more adequate life after World Vision commenced Quan Son Area Development Program (ADP) in 2007. After two years of Seed Phase, the ADP began to focus on agriculture, nutrition, education and capacity building in 2009 with an aim to improve live of children and their communities in the district, of which Thai ethnic minority group accounts for 86% of the total population.
“I love uniforms and warm jackets that World Vision has presented me,” the little girl says. “The warm jackets prevents me from getting cold when I go to school while the uniforms make me similar to other friends. I feel self-confidents with my schoolmates.”
Not only the child but also her parents have seen a change in their life since they received World Vision’s support.
“Recently, we have joined World Vision-held training courses on nutrition and planting new variety of rice. With the knowledge and seeds provided by World Vision, we believe we get more income from cultivating rice,” adds her father. “We hope we can participate in more training courses while World Vision will organize more activities for children in our community, which help our children be active.”
“We never think of asking our children to leave their school,” he confirms. “My wife and I didn’t complete our education so we don’t want our children to experience our same life. We hope they will have good jobs and their life will be easier.”
 When Nhung has free time, she helps her parents do housework.  Nhung's parents want their children to have good jobs when they complete their education
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