Lottery ticket seller teaches free swimming to more than 2,000 children in flood-hit areas

The woman worked as a hired hand, selling lottery tickets…

When we arrived at Hung Thanh commune, everyone knew Mrs. Thia’s house. When we arrived, Mrs. Thia had just taught swimming to dozens of children in Hamlet 1.

Ms. Thia said, before, her hometown was in Go Cong Dong district, Tien Giang province, her family had 9 siblings, so when Ms. Thia was 26 years old, she went to Thap Muoi district (Dong Thap) to do all kinds of jobs to make a living such as carrying, weeding for hire, cutting cajuput trees, and weeding rice for hire...

Because of her difficult life as a hired girl, Thia did not dare to pay attention to anyone and until now she has never had a love affair.

When she returned to Hung Thanh commune, she still lived by working as a hired worker. To have a place to live, Ms. Thia asked the people to borrow land from a local to build a hut to shelter from the sun and rain. Later, a kind-hearted local gave her land to build a house where she lives until now.

Before letting the children practice swimming, Mrs. Sau Thia let them warm up.

In 1992, Ms. Thia was recruited by the commune to become a women's cadre in the hamlet and received a monthly allowance of 200,000 VND. That was not enough to make a living, so every day Ms. Thia had to go to the agency to receive 70-100 lottery tickets to sell.

Ms. Thia shared: "Because I have lived independently since I was 14 years old, I have a tough personality and do not speak softly like other girls. However, when I was 19 or 20, one or two guys proposed to me, but because I saw my poor situation, I felt self-conscious so I stayed single until now. Thanks to that, I can participate in local social work more easily, especially teaching swimming to local children."

Mrs. Sau Thia's swimming pool is just bamboo poles planted in the river and surrounded by a net.

According to Ms. Thia, in 2002, the commune implemented a project to popularize swimming for children and she was nominated as a "coach".

Talking about taking on this task and teaching swimming, Ms. Thia shared: “At first, the commune invited me and I was very scared because I didn’t know where to start or how to teach… However, thinking about the scene of children drowning in one province after another, I felt so sorry for them; while I really love the children. After accepting the offer, I was sent to train for 3 days in the district, and then started teaching swimming until now.”

…became a swimming “coach”

At first, each swimming course was only focused on 1-2 hamlets, with the number of students fluctuating between 70-80. After a while, many parents saw that her teaching was effective, so they brought their children to study more and more. Now, it has expanded to 5 hamlets, and the number of students participating has increased to nearly 200 students/session.

Swimming lessons are mainly focused on the 3 summer months and prepare children to go to school safely during the flood season. Each swimming session lasts 1.5 hours a day and the course lasts for about 10-15 days. The learning locations are canals and rivers in the 5 hamlets.

Before each swimming season, Mrs. Thia plants bamboo poles in the river, then uses nets to surround the “swimming pool” to teach her children. Each “swimming pool” is 4 meters wide, 8 meters long, and 2 meters high. Every day, she rides her motorbike several kilometers from one point to another to teach her students how to swim without taking a penny.

Children who don't know how to swim, just need to go through Mrs. Sau Thia's hands for about a week and they will all be able to swim.

Talking about the increasing number of students, Ms. Thia said: “In my hands, children can swim after 5 days. What I teach quickly is to show them each position: the right arm must be straight, how to kick, and how to keep their chin level with the water so that the back half of their body does not sink. In addition, I have to support each child and let them swim by themselves when they are near the finish line. For those who swim slowly, I have to practice more, so sometimes I don’t get home until 6 pm.”

After each swimming season, the commune provides her with 1.5 to 2 million VND in support, which helps her pay for gas. Seeing her sincerity, many parents sent her money, but she refused.

“I personally persuaded them to let their children learn to swim to avoid drowning, even if it was free, but I would give them money. I teach because I love children and am afraid they will drown, not because of fear,” said Ms. Thia.

Because of her dedication and thoughtfulness, Mrs. Sau Thia's class is getting more and more crowded every day. Up to now, Mrs. Sau Thia has taught swimming to more than 2,000 local children.

Recalling an unforgettable memory after more than a decade of training, Mrs. Thia recalled: “About 10 years ago, Gam was only 6 years old and lived in Hamlet 3. One time, when she went down to the river to use the toilet, she slipped and fell into the water. She was able to swim up by herself thanks to the swimming course I took. At that time, each child who finished the course received 20,000 VND from the project's sponsorship, so when she swam up, she gave me the money she received and said: Thanks to Mrs. Sau, I didn't die after falling into the river.”

Before going into the “swimming pool”, Mrs. Thia lined up the children and taught them each hand and foot movement, along with a skillful warm-up. After 20 minutes of warming up, the children took turns going into the “swimming pool” to begin their practice session. For those who knew how to swim, she let them swim in pairs, and for those who didn’t know how, she held them in her arms and taught them one by one. Up to now, after 15 years, Mrs. Thia has taught over 2,000 students how to swim for free.

Mr. Le Van Tai - Vice Chairman of Hung Thanh Commune People's Committee - said that many families work far away so they have little time to teach their children to swim. Therefore, every May, the commune builds a plan to popularize swimming for children aged 6 - 15 in 5 hamlets in the area. Depending on the actual needs of each hamlet, 1-3 swimming teaching points are established.

After the children complete the popularization course which lasts from 10 to 15 days, the District Sports and Culture Center will come to test them. If they meet the requirements, they will be granted a certificate. For those who do not meet the requirements, they will be arranged to study for the second term or the following year. Therefore, from 2005 to now, there have been no cases of children drowning in the commune.

Ms. Thia is a poor family, doing many jobs to make a living but is passionate about teaching children to swim, a shining example for local youth.

It is known that after finishing swimming courses, Ms. Thia continued to sell lottery tickets, work for hire, peel lotus seeds... to earn money to support herself. In addition, Ms. Thia has also been the President of the Red Cross Society and a population collaborator for nearly 10 years now. Every time she sees a difficult situation, she goes to mobilize money for them to build a house and have rice to eat...

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/xa-hoi/nguoi-phu-nu-ban-ve-so-day-boi-mien-phi-cho-hon-2000-tre-em-vung-lu-20170810163916675.htm