Last April 22, after five months of returning from a visit to the children on the Dong Van Rock plateau in Ha Giang, the head of the Kien Vuong company was again able to visit a high school in Mai Chau District in Hoa Binh Province.

Most recent times in the media have covered stories of teachers from junior high school Tan Dan, Mai Chau District, Hoa Binh province to catch fish to supplement the meals for students. For the past six years, every time the students went to sleep , the teachers would close their books and go to the riverbed, wrestling with the waves and collect the fish shrimp. Tan Dan High School is located at the end of the 40km road from downtown Mai Chau, on the one side is the great mountains, on cloudy days, on the other side, a deep abyss with hundreds of twists and turns, up and down. On rainy days, the road into the school became more slippery and difficult to walk.

 The look in the beautiful kids from highland

Currently, the school has 116 students from Tay and Muong ethnic minorities studying. While the teachers are mainly Thai people, they have to learn more native languages to teach the children. This is also a common house for 62 childrens who are eligible for boarding, but the whole school only has 30 beds, so 2 children have to share one bed. The rickety boarding rooms are fitted with four old beds. Summer is hot and stuffy, winter is cold. In any room that doesn't have enough beds, students will lay sleeping mat on the floor. They have to do all their daily activities by themselves, from doing laundry to cooking. Worn notebooks are placed in cartons or wooden chests.

2 students sharing one bed

 The ceiling made for shelter from the rain and shelter from the sun is damaged

Mr. Ha Manh Quyet (Principal of Tan Dan Secondary School) said more, "According to the regulations on supporting students in remote areas, children whose houses are 7 km or more away from the school can be boarding and each child is provided with 460,000 VND per month for meals. Every week, the children will go home to get rice and some dry food to bring to school to organize their own cooking in groups". Thus, with this support level, each child will have about 15,000 VND/day for food. Suddenly, the Principal's voice suddenly dropped: "There are many children from very poor families, but their homes are less than 7km from the school and they are not supported, so they have to cross the forest and wade for dozens of kilometers every day to get to school.". The school is too far from the town center, and their family's situation is difficult, so they can't go and buy food and drinks. All food is provided by local people. Can't bear to see that the meals are too meager while the children are still in their adulthood, so the teachers decided to roll up their sleeves and go down to the lake every night to collect some fish and shrimp for the children to have a better meal.

It is the story of the poor lives of the highland children and the noble deeds of the teachers that inspire Mr. Qui and Ms. Hien to make this trip to Mai Chau.."I admired the teachers for their sacrifice and I am very touched when I saw them going to collect fish in the middle of the night for the children, so I decide to go and visit everyone." - Ms. Hien shares in a conversation with the teachers of Tan Dan Middle School.

The small hooves are the tools to collect fish every night of the "fishermen" of Tan Dan Secondary School. The slope from the school yard to the lake bed is steep and slippery, with stones and stones, just slip into the lake bed like playing.

As difficulties pile up, schools and classes are located close to the lake of Da River with dangers lurking. In order to ensure the safety of the children, the teachers often organize swimming lessons. Ms. Vi Thi Huong Giang (Vice Principal) confides with us: "The children here adapt very quickly, sometimes they can't even finish their studies before they swim like frog". That's how I see the strong vitality of the children who grow up from hardship. But even so, the teachers could not ignore the children for a single moment, because children who are playful and active are not aware of the danger. The teachers here not only teach the letters but also take care of and protect the children on behalf of their parents, sometimes when the children are sick, have a fever in the middle of the night, it is the teachers who are the ones who travel the dangerous roads to bring the children to the clinic.

Leaders of Kien Vuong company talk to Mr. Ha Manh Quyet and learn more about the difficulties that the school is facing

For several days in a row, it was hot, so the teachers took away the blankets, but the day the group arrived, it suddenly became cold and drizzly, so some children, whose health was not good, could not withstand the harsh weather. Seeing the children with fever, huddled in a thin blanket, and had no family to take care of, we couldn't help but feel sympathized. But the children, they don't know sad, lonely, only cry because they're tired, because they're in pain, because they can't receive gifts and play with their friends.

We don't want to call this charity, but just want to see it as a visit to the teachers and children and some gifts and to learn more about the situation here so that we can help more in a practical way. This time, Kien Vuong brings 213 gifts including clothes + winter coats for elementary students and 116 gifts of windbreakers + water bottles for middle school students. In addition, seasoning powder and cooking oil are divided equally between 2 schools to use for cooking for students. And of course, it is not fun for children if there are no candies.

Mr. Qui and Ms. Hien visit and give presents to the children of Tan Dan Primary and Secondary School

"Currently, with the help of sponsors, the school is gradually overcoming difficulties, thanks to everyone's hearts, the teachers here always want to dedicate themselves to the future of the children".  With sincere sharing from Mr. Quyet, Mr. Nguyen Huu Qui - Chairman of the Board of Director also expresses his wish: "Now we work together, we will share the burden with the teachers to help the children, but we not only give the children "fish" but also motivate them to "go fishing" by themselves.". After visiting and learning about the school's difficulties, Mr. Qui asks Mr. Bui Trung Dung (Director of Kien Vuong Hanoi) to coordinate more with Mr. Quyet to review the repair and build new beds so that the children would have a much safer and comfortable place to rest their backs and help them continue with their education.

If there is another opportunity to look back at the journeys that bring warmth to children in the highlands that Kien Vuong has gone through, from the far village of Nam Cha (Lai Chau), back to Lang Son, down to the top of the country, then back to Mai Chau (Hoa Binh), people will not be able to help but feel sad when they realize one thing: our compatriots still have many difficulties! But a good thing is that even in difficult times, there are the warmth, the love - which are more precious than gold; the noble love of the teachers of Tan Dan Secondary School will still spread to many schools in difficult places and awaken the loving heart in each of us.