Stories of sacrifice in the exam season
Vietnamese people are possessed of an inherent fondness for learning. They are also known as people of great compassion. Therefore, it is not a surprising at all to hear stories about a girl willing to starve so she could take the university entrance exam and about a village that came together to assist poor students.
Three days of starving herself
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Bich Thi Xuan |
Arriving in HCM City by bus on June 30, Bich Thi Xuan from Binh Thuan province was trying to overcome fears of staying in an unfamiliar land and homesickness. With only 500,000 dong in her pocket, Xuan rented a lodging next to the Hoa Lu Secondary School, where she would take the university entrance exam.
Xuan only had to pay 200,000 dong for her lodging for her six days in HCM City, but with the university exam fee she had little left over for food.
She forsook food for the three days before the first exam on July 4.
She related that she is used to going without food for days at a time. There are seven mouths to feed in her family. Her parents starve themselves to feed the children, while Xuan starves herself to feed her younger brothers.
Xuan is from a village in Tuy Phong district in Binh Thuan province — a small and poor village. Xuan’s mother gleans corn, while her father drives his bicycle every day to the seaside to look for work on fishing boats.
Xuan’s father earns around 30-40,000 dong a day.
Having a hard life, Xuan has always dreamt of studying at university.
But fortune has smiled upon Xuan: The director of the Study Encouragement Fund gave her 2 million dong to enable her to take her second set of exams.
The poor commune and the ‘giving strength during the exam season’ programme
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Le Dong, an official of the Huong Chu commune authorities in Hue city, related that there are free accommodations for 450 students and their relatives in the commune. Each family there has arranged accommodations for 5-7 students.
Huong Chu’s volunteer team comprises 35 members, who are mostly workers in the village. Le Tin, a barber, has decided to take several days off work to spend time to help examinees.
“I feel happy because I can help people,” he said.
Tin has been carrying examinees and their relatives to lodgings for the last several days.
Hoang Thi Chat, a retired woman, related that she considers examinees like her grandchildren.
“We have 10 members in our family. If there are not enough places to sleep, I will bring students to my son’s home and neighbour’s homes. The doors all are open to examinees,” she said.
Ha Van Dung, an old man, related that he has ‘given strength to examinees’ for the last three exam seasons. Many students who got his help passed the exams and are now university students. Some call him ‘father’ because he has helped them access a new life.
Source:Vietnamnet.vn
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