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Hello everyone! My name is Thao Dang and I am a High School Teacher in the far north of Vietnam. Let me tell you about my summer program Teaching English to Children in Rural Vietnam. In past summers we have held classes for over 90 children in Ban Cuom and Tan Loi villages of Ha Giang province. Ban Cuom is predominantly ethnic Dao and Tan Loi is predominantly La Chi. Please read on to learn more about this exciting and successful project.
I was born and grew up in Ban Cuom, a small, remote, economically poor, village surrounded by mountains in Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. My beautiful childhood contained traditional folk games and days of tending buffalo. I attended a school that was constructed from wood and palm leaves with each room divided into two classes because of the small number of students. We had to wake up very early to walk over a hill and across the Lo river to reach school on time. For these reasons, many of my friends dropped out before finishing secondary school. Boys went to big cities in my country or China in search of jobs while girls were encouraged to stay at home and get married to follow the same path as their parents.
I was fortunate. I studied very hard and my parents made my education a priority. After passing the entrance exam I was selected to attend the Ethnic Boarding School which is about 40 kilometres from my childhood home. I became the first girl in my village to attend senior high school. My life turned a new page because I had a great opportunity to meet other students coming from different communes, and especially caring and enthusiastic teachers. Since those days I harbored a dream of becoming a teacher – a precious and meaningful job to me. After passing the university entrance examination, I decided to attend The Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University north of Hanoi to study English Education. I was very determined in my studies as I saw the potential contributions I could make to my community.
After graduation, I realized that kids in my village had no opportunity to come into contact with English until they move on to secondary school. This is in contrast to the children in the cities who start learning English as early as kindergarten. How can the children in rural areas catch up with their peers? Of course, this is impossible. After school, kids from my village have to help their parents with housework and field work. There is little time and no incentive for learning. English gradually becomes the biggest challenge for them. This makes them feel scared whenever they encounter that subject. This is another reason they are not keen on going to school. Also some parents in the villages do not encourage their children to go to school and instead ask them to stay at home to work and get married. By the secondary grades the number of kids still pursuing education is minuscule. In fact, only two of us have become teachers from my village. Most children from my village become trapped in a generational cycle of economic poverty. English is one key to interrupting this cycle.
In order to address these issues I created a project named “English for Kids in a Rural Village”. I initiated the project with funding and consultation from Dr. Melvyn Sakaguchi, an American educator to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. For several years I taught free English classes in the summer. This project was very successful and widely appreciated. We even presented at the 3rd International Conference for English Language Teaching held in Thai Nguyen city in 2017. The first summer of the project there were 30 kids in the class. In the next summer, I conferred with the leaders of a nearby village and we opened an additional class. That year the number of kids increased to over 80. In the following years, we kept working with two classes and the number grew to over 90! Sadly, Dr. Sakaguchi passed away several years ago, our funding stopped, and our program has now been put on hold. Before he died he told me that he was helping me because he hoped that I would then go on and help at least 10 people. This program is a way to keep his hopes and dreams alive. Now, whenever I return to my village the kids come to me and ask, “Will you teach us this summer?” That question feels like a sharp knife stab into my heart. I feel guilty when I cannot do something to help them.
And this is where you can help! I really need funds to renew, maintain and expand this project. Our goal in the near future is to open free English classes in one or two villages, and to also to expand into other rural areas. We will recruit volunteers who are either majoring in English Education or are current English teachers in my province. To accomplish this we need your support to pay for teaching materials and to offer minimal living stipends to our volunteers. Your donation will also help me fulfill my passion and give many kids a better future.
Please support us today with a financial contribution and also help us to spread the word by sharing news about our exciting project with all of your friends!
My friends Hans Brinker and Nancy Wood are helping me manage this appeal.
Don't hesitate to reach out if you need additional information.
Best,
Thao
I was born and grew up in Ban Cuom, a small, remote, economically poor, village surrounded by mountains in Ha Giang Province, Vietnam. My beautiful childhood contained traditional folk games and days of tending buffalo. I attended a school that was constructed from wood and palm leaves with each room divided into two classes because of the small number of students. We had to wake up very early to walk over a hill and across the Lo river to reach school on time. For these reasons, many of my friends dropped out before finishing secondary school. Boys went to big cities in my country or China in search of jobs while girls were encouraged to stay at home and get married to follow the same path as their parents.
I was fortunate. I studied very hard and my parents made my education a priority. After passing the entrance exam I was selected to attend the Ethnic Boarding School which is about 40 kilometres from my childhood home. I became the first girl in my village to attend senior high school. My life turned a new page because I had a great opportunity to meet other students coming from different communes, and especially caring and enthusiastic teachers. Since those days I harbored a dream of becoming a teacher – a precious and meaningful job to me. After passing the university entrance examination, I decided to attend The Faculty of Foreign Languages, Thai Nguyen University north of Hanoi to study English Education. I was very determined in my studies as I saw the potential contributions I could make to my community.
After graduation, I realized that kids in my village had no opportunity to come into contact with English until they move on to secondary school. This is in contrast to the children in the cities who start learning English as early as kindergarten. How can the children in rural areas catch up with their peers? Of course, this is impossible. After school, kids from my village have to help their parents with housework and field work. There is little time and no incentive for learning. English gradually becomes the biggest challenge for them. This makes them feel scared whenever they encounter that subject. This is another reason they are not keen on going to school. Also some parents in the villages do not encourage their children to go to school and instead ask them to stay at home to work and get married. By the secondary grades the number of kids still pursuing education is minuscule. In fact, only two of us have become teachers from my village. Most children from my village become trapped in a generational cycle of economic poverty. English is one key to interrupting this cycle.
In order to address these issues I created a project named “English for Kids in a Rural Village”. I initiated the project with funding and consultation from Dr. Melvyn Sakaguchi, an American educator to whom I owe a debt of gratitude. For several years I taught free English classes in the summer. This project was very successful and widely appreciated. We even presented at the 3rd International Conference for English Language Teaching held in Thai Nguyen city in 2017. The first summer of the project there were 30 kids in the class. In the next summer, I conferred with the leaders of a nearby village and we opened an additional class. That year the number of kids increased to over 80. In the following years, we kept working with two classes and the number grew to over 90! Sadly, Dr. Sakaguchi passed away several years ago, our funding stopped, and our program has now been put on hold. Before he died he told me that he was helping me because he hoped that I would then go on and help at least 10 people. This program is a way to keep his hopes and dreams alive. Now, whenever I return to my village the kids come to me and ask, “Will you teach us this summer?” That question feels like a sharp knife stab into my heart. I feel guilty when I cannot do something to help them.
And this is where you can help! I really need funds to renew, maintain and expand this project. Our goal in the near future is to open free English classes in one or two villages, and to also to expand into other rural areas. We will recruit volunteers who are either majoring in English Education or are current English teachers in my province. To accomplish this we need your support to pay for teaching materials and to offer minimal living stipends to our volunteers. Your donation will also help me fulfill my passion and give many kids a better future.
Please support us today with a financial contribution and also help us to spread the word by sharing news about our exciting project with all of your friends!
My friends Hans Brinker and Nancy Wood are helping me manage this appeal.
Don't hesitate to reach out if you need additional information.
Best,
Thao