Nguyễn Bình Nam (centre) and some of the children. — Photo vietnamnet.vn

Over the past 10 years, Nguyễn Bình Nam, from Đà Nẵng central city, has called up a variety of resources to build nearly 20 spacious new schools for children in remote mountainous areas.

In the middle of last month, the Ông Bình School in Trà Dơn Commune, Nam Trà My District in the central province of Quảng Nam, was completed and officially opened after four months under construction.

The first lesson at the new school was filled with laughter and happiness of teachers and students after many days of waiting.

From being housed in a temporary structure, the Ông Bình School now has a solid and spacious building.

This is the 17th school that Nam, head of the Bạn Thương Nhau (Loving Each Other) Club, and his colleagues have built.

“In a place with no electricity grid or mobile phone signal, a new school has been built. The school has a solar power system, lighting, fans, televisions and refrigerators. Looking at the new school in the middle of a green forest, not only the children but also the adults shed tears of joy," said Nam.

Nam and his colleagues have built schools in some of the most difficult regions of Quảng Nam, Quảng Bình, Quảng Ngãi and Kon Tum provinces.

"Fairytale" schools

The idea of building schools came to electrical engineer Nam during a volunteer trip over Tết in Nam Trà My District, Quảng Nam Province, 13 years ago.

Witnessing students of the Nước Ui School studying in a classroom built of wood, exposed on all four sides, with muddy ground, Nam was so moved.

He decided to solidify this school.

The new school was inaugurated after two months, using VNĐ200 million (US$8,100) contributed by sponsors.

Over the past 10 years, Nam and his colleagues have traversed forests and waded streams to repair many temporary schools in remote areas.

The new schools, in addition to classrooms, also have rooms for teachers to rest, kitchens and hygienic toilets.

The cost to build a school is around VNĐ400-500 million ($16,300-20,400). In some places it’s up to nearly VNĐ1 billion ($40,800).

Building a school in the mountains is a difficult process, according to the engineer.

It may take a year to complete a school because the roads are extremely hard to travel, and in many cases, materials have to be transported by hand.

A typical example is the Ông Deo School in Nam Trà My District. The road to the school is long and dangerous because the trail is very small, one side is a cliff and the other is a deep abyss. Without local people's support, the school could not be completed.

“At that time, everyone had to carry bags of sand, bricks, iron, steel and walk for two hours. They had to climb over two or three mountains to get to the school. Transporting the materials alone took more than four months. After nearly a year of great efforts, the school was completed, helping nearly 100 students have a spacious school to study in," Nam said.

In addition to building schools, Nam's club also organises programmes to give meals, books and milk to the children.

Among them, the meal programme has been maintained since 2014. The club sponsors a lunch with meat and fish every week for each school which they built.

In September 2022, Nam kicked off the "Going to school" project to help orphans and poor children.

The project has so far helped 360 children in six mountainous districts of Quảng Trị, Quảng Ngãi and Quảng Nam with funding of more than VNĐ2 billion ($81,500) per year.

In the project, he called on friends and sponsors to support each child with VNĐ500,000 ($20) per month.

Every month, teachers receive money from the project to buy clothes, books and necessities for the children. The project commits to support the children until they complete 12th grade.

Recently, Nam's club took some poor and shy children to visit Đà Nẵng City.

It is like a spiritual gift, helping children have more motivation to strive and study.

“For the first time, they go to the beach, watch fireworks and movies. Looking at the tall buildings and sparkling lights, they are so surprised and happy that they could only say ‘wow’,” said Nam.

“We hope that when the children can see the big and vast world, they will try their best to go to school and study hard. Only education, only literacy can help change their future and their homeland," said Nam.

This year, Nam will begin construction on the 18th school. It will be built in Nam Trà My District. — VNS