Located in the beautiful mountains of Ba Bể district. There are several small, often single room structures built for teaching. The village/villages often come together to create schools in this mountainous area of Vietnam for their children to have access to education. During our visit to this area, we had the pleasure of visiting and supporting 2 schools in this area. With the escort of an architect, a geophysicist for a translator and led by the director of a local program which also supports schools in this area. We traveled several hours by car, boat, then foot to reach these more remote areas,
At the lower level of the mountains is a junior high and high school location. Every week, children walk down from their homes in the mountains, to take several small boats to reach this school. Here, they stay for the week to take classes and live with their peers. For elementary school students, Pre K-5th grade, students can been seen walking down small paths that crisscross the mountains on their daily walk to the higher elevated and more close to home school.
At both schools, teachers travel from their homes in larger cities or towns to teach at these schools. Living with the students, providing not only education but also meals and round the clock support. As you might imagine, it is incredibly difficult to not only make this weekly commute and to stay in these areas but to also gain access to resources for the schools and the children.
Our time at these schools was spent learning about how, over the past 5 years children are only now gaining limited access to essential resources such as running water and electricity. While many of these modern conveniences are making their way to these schools and villages. Supporting the student with adequate nutrition and education remains a priority in the villages.
With the assistance of our local director we were able to non-perishable food resources for every family of a student at both schools. Resources for recreational activities and their growing physical education programs. Blankets and footwear were also provided to the schools and children. As we learned from our friend the architect, many of the structures do not block the wind or weather and the children often go without items to keep them dry and warm.
We remain in contact with all of the local contacts in this area currently. Supporting their interest to provide improved nutrition to their students, access to learning tools, and a safe place to learn and PLAY.