On December 25th 2017, our volunteering team of 7 went on a exploring trip to Suoi To commune, Phu Yen district, Son La province to prepare for our upcoming trip of DAD Rotary Fund. Due to the limitation of time and human resource, we kept this an expeditious exploration.
Setting off to Son La, we crossed spectacular rocky mountain passes, vast tea hills, stilts sitting sparsely and enjoyed the refreshing air far from the crowded city.
Reaching Phu Yen Education office, we were warmly welcomed and then accompanied by the Education office officers to Suoi To 1 primary school. It took us more than one hour to travel 26 kilometers to get there. The road was like a chain of with bumpy ramps, crooked turns, and mudslides. We felt like trapped between rugged mountain cliffs and the 200-meter-deep chasm while the fence has already been broken due to heavy rain and typhoon.
The fence of the road due to the effects of heavy rain and typhoons has broken down, making this section very dangerous when there is no fence separating the moving lanes of vehicles and deep crevasses which is more than 200m.
Finally, by 10:30 a.m, we had reached Suoi To 1 primary school. The mist covered the sky, just like before breaking dawn. We couldn’t see anything clear while the students have just finished their first lesson of the day. They saw us through the afraid and curious eyes when we were full of pity seeing them in thin ethnic costumes with bare feet, no warm clothes, no shoes, no crafts, no gloves. It was just 10 Celsius degree outside. The teachers said that it’s normally colder than that day.
We were also heartbroken to know that the children there share bed sheets with blankets that hardly bring enough warmth in the gloomy winter of this remote area.
The small barely-equipped kitchen lying behind the classrooms is the warmest place in the school. However, in the kitchen, we were so sad to know how the students there eat. According to state policy, each child is supported with 10kg of rice per month and some are supported with 150000 VND per month. The everyday meal is just some slices of minced meat or some tiny shrimps, fried vegetables which is hardly enough to ensure the health of the children. That’s why a child of grade 4 or 5 looks like of grade 1 or 2. Lack of nutrients causes the children many difficulties in living and studying.
DAD Rotary Fund hopes that the whole community can help to give pupils at Suoi To 1 School better learning conditions so that they will have more motivation to go to school and equip themselves with the knowledge that will bring them out of poverty in the future.
More than ever, they need support from you.