VietNamNet Bridge – “ I have never dreamed of it,” said Nguyen To Uyen, a teacher in Than Uyen district in the northern province of Lai Chau.

Teachers of Pu Nhi Secondary School in pre-Tet days

The kindergarten has one space only roofed with tile, while others are made of bamboo. The land is now piercing cold due to a strong wind from the northeast. A lot of cattle have died because of the cold. Meanwhile, the children in the kindergarten are still in thin shirts, some without trousers, with skin pale from the cold.

Uyen said that she has never got a Tet bonus in the 19 years she has been working as a teacher. There are five teachers from the lowland. They have to walk on foot for half a day to reach the bus station. From there, they have to travel hundreds of kilometers to get home. They bring no money, no presents to their homes on Tet, stay at home for several days, and then travel the hundreds of kilometers back to Pa Mu.

Other teachers, who don’t want to experience a long and hard road, stay in Pa Mu to enjoy Tet.

Local residents are also poor, like the teachers. Uyen related that one Tet, a man brought some small dogs and gave them to the teachers as presents.

Uyen said happily that she and her colleagues will get Tet bonuses this year. Every teacher will get VND70,000. The teachers have decided to use the VND70,000 to purchase cups of tea and pictures to enjoy Tet.

And a container of clean water

Pu Nhi Secondary School in Muong Lat district in Thanh Hoa province is also located in a deserted valley which takes travellers a lot of time and exertion to reach.

When reporters came, teachers were preparing dinner. Meanwhile, Ha Thi Thanh, a teacher, was writing a letter to her parents. The letter begun with the words: “I cannot come home this Tet…”

Tran Dinh Cuong, another teacher who lives in the school’s collective quarter, said that they have not had enough time to prepare for Tet, adding that the first thing they have to do is to get enough water.

The teachers there seriously lack clean water. There is only one small water tank to hold clean water. Meanwhile, teachers have to travel several kilometers to bring water back to take a bath. However, even the spring water is dirty.

If they need water to prepare meals, teachers have to go to the villages of ethnic minority families to purchase water. It seems that the salaries of teachers in remote areas are spent primarily on water and other basic needs.

How about Tet bonuses? Le Khac Tu, Principal of Phu Nhi Secondary School, said that teachers will get VND300,000 in Tet bonuses.

Luong Van Buong, Chairman of Muong Lat district’s People’s Committee, said sadly that Muong Lat remains one of the poorest localities in the country.

However, the teachers there know a joy that teachers in other localities don’t on Tet days. They always get containers of clean water as presents from ethnic minority families.

(Source: Tien phong)