Love turns a strange land into a homeland!

QTO - From a particularly difficult school in the Vietnam - Laos border area, in recent years, Bo Trach Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities (PTDTNT) (Thuong Trach commune, Quang Tri province) has gradually become a trusted address for the Ma Coong and A Rem ethnic minorities to entrust their children. What the team of teachers, together with the Party Committee, the government and the entire political system have "harvested" in the career of educating people will be more clearly depicted through a conversation between a reporter of Quang Tri Newspaper and High School with teacher Hoang Duc Hoa, Principal of the school.

Connect, share to spread love

- Reporter: In the poem “The Song of the Ship”, poet Che Lan Vien wrote “Wherever I go, my heart still loves/When I stay, it is just a place to live/When I leave, the land has become my soul”. Have you ever thought about going downstream, when the land and people of the border commune of Thuong Trach “have become my soul”?

- Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa: I myself have never really cared about this. But that day will surely come in the future. The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said that “No man ever steps in the same river twice”, I am sure that the teachers in the future will always keep the passion for the profession in their hearts and pass on the fire of knowledge to the generations of students Ma Coong, A Rem in Thuong Trach commune.

Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa at the program "Radio sharing unspoken things" produced by Quang Tri Newspaper and High School - Photo: T.Long

- Reporter: When talking about teacher Hoang Duc Hoa, besides his role as a ferryman on the river of knowledge, do people still remember him as a typical example of volunteerism?

- Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa: 20 years ago, we established the website www.quangbinhonline.com (QBO) to launch the program “Books for the white sand area” to help poor students. Of course, “Books for the white sand area” is now a thing of the past. But since then, the story of helping poor students and ethnic minority students in remote areas to get acquainted with the written word has spread widely in the community.

In 2020, I became the Principal of Bo Trach Ethnic Boarding School. The difficult life of the people and students here has motivated me to build volunteer bridges, calling for mutual love and support, helping the people and children of Thuong Trach commune. Happiness has multiplied because over the years, in addition to the attention of the Party and the State, the Ma Coong and A Rem people of Thuong Trach commune have also received a lot of support, both material and spiritual, from organizations, individuals and philanthropists.

- Reporter: Taking a specific time frame of 5 years (2020-2025), what can the school and you personally call for to build schools, build classrooms, and support students to go to school?

- Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa: The historic flood in 2020 became an unforgettable memory in my career of educating people. Thuong Trach commune was cut off from the plain because of heavy landslides on Highway 20-Quyet Thang. Based on existing relationships, I called on kind-hearted organizations and individuals to help the people.

After the flood, many charity groups came to Thuong Trach commune to support the school with projects such as: building fences, gates, campuses, shade tents, toilets, drilling wells; purchasing medical equipment, generators, essential items for the boarding kitchen... In the past 5 years, the total material value we called for to help students and socialize facilities was over 3 billion VND.

In addition, we also mobilized to build a community bridge worth nearly 1.4 billion VND and a kindergarten classroom worth more than 500 million VND... At the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year alone, the school mobilized benefactors to support books, teaching equipment, and student clothing worth more than 200 million VND.

Mr. Hoang Duc Hoa (middle) is one of three outstanding figures honored at the award ceremony of the National Press Award "For the cause of Vietnamese education " in 2024 - Photo: T.Long

"Bringing" students closer to "letters"

- Reporter: The story of teachers at Bo Trach Ethnic Boarding School "forcing" students to return to school at the beginning of the new school year or after each holiday, Tet... is not believed by many people, but is it a true story in Thuong Trach commune?

- Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa: In the past, ensuring the number of students in each class and maintaining the number of students in the whole school was a very difficult problem. Teachers "ran" after students, went to each village, searched for each house to "catch" and bring them back to school. Many students ran away when they saw the shadow of their teachers at the head of the village. Some followed their parents to the forest, to the fields for two or three weeks before returning home, forgetting their letters.

To "anchor" students to "letters", teachers and students seem to have no distance, always close, loving, considering students as children, as friends... In particular, the school pays great attention to taking care of the health and nutrition, daily meals for the students. Through comprehensive measures, "slow and steady wins the race", gradually the students come to school more diligently, more self-consciously.

- Reporter: And now, are there still scenes of teachers "catching" students?

- Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa: Now everything has changed unexpectedly. Students are diligent and proactive in finding teachers, classes, and schools. To make this fundamental change, the Party Committee and the government of Thuong Trach commune have coordinated with agencies, departments, and branches in the area to mobilize students, in which the main forces are teachers, Border Guards, Police, Women's Union, Youth Union, village elders, village chiefs, and prestigious people in the community... In the 2025-2026 school year, Bo Trach Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities has 10 classes, with a guaranteed number of 277 students.

Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa was born in 1977, his hometown is Nam Trach commune, Quang Tri province. In his career of educating people and volunteering, Mr. Hoa was awarded a certificate of merit by the Minister of Education and Training and the Central Committee of the Vietnam Red Cross Society. Notably, he is a character in the work Fire... from the heart - becoming one of three outstanding figures nationwide honored at the National Press Award "For the cause of Vietnamese education" in 2024.

Pioneer in the "Digital Popular Education" movement

- Reporter: When the "Digital Popularization" movement had not yet been launched, it was known that Bo Trach Ethnic Boarding School had organized "Digital Popularization" classes for students. Could you tell us more about this interesting story?

- Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa: If in the plains, at any school at any level, mentioning computers, information technology, internet... would be an "old as the hills" story, but for Bo Trach Ethnic Boarding School, the dream of computerization, internet, and digitalization is a distant dream because Thuong Trach commune has "three no's": no electricity, no telecommunications network, no phone signal.

By July 2020, the new fiber optic cable and broadband internet covered Thuong Trach commune with 3G and 4G. What to do to help ethnic minority students access information technology and eliminate the lack of internet in schools is a question that urges me every day, every hour. Then, through volunteer connections, in January 2021, Grant Thornton Vietnam Independent Auditing Company Limited (Ho Chi Minh City) decided to support the school with 10 modern laptops. From here, the internet officially opened to students.

- Reporter: What initial sweet fruits has the "Digital Literacy Movement" reaped, sir?

- Teacher Hoang Duc Hoa: The dream of the internet has come true at Bo Trach Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities for 4 years now. The "Digital Education for the People" classes for students have contributed to opening up a new horizon for them. Their world is no longer limited to their village but extends to all four corners of the world. From this remote school, many students continue to fly high and far on the path to self-reliance and career development.

- Reporter: Thank you teacher for this very interesting conversation!

Ngo Thanh Long (performed)

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/xa-hoi/202509/tinh-yeu-lam-dat-la-hoa-que-huong-32c5a12/