Born and raised in Muong Va village, Sop Cop district, Captain Lo Van Thoai understands the difficult circumstances of his hometown people. In early 2022, implementing the transfer decision of the Son La Provincial Border Guard Command, the soldier born in 1981 worked at Nam Lanh Border Post - the management unit in Nam Lanh and Muong Va communes. These are also two very remote communes, with extremely difficult roads. The local people have low education level, slow economic development, especially in the border villages.

A class by Captain Lo Van Thoai

"When we arrived at Pa Khoang village, Muong Va commune for work, although it is about 20km from the commune center, to get to the village, we had to wade through streams and cross mountain passes for more than two hours. Here, illiteracy, re-illiteracy, and child marriage are quite common. That is why poverty persists! I suddenly thought that we must eradicate illiteracy for the people to change the situation", Captain Lo Van Thoai shared.

From this thought, soldier Lo Van Thoai coordinated with the Party Committee and cadres in the village to review and make a list of cases of re-illiteracy and illiteracy, then advised the Party Committee and unit commander to coordinate with the Department of Education and Training of Sop Cop district to open an illiteracy eradication class in Pa Khoang village and was assigned by the Party Committee and unit commander to directly teach the class.

Despite their determination and support, the "road" for Pa Khoang people to go to class is still full of thorns. "Illegal and re-illiterate people are mainly the main laborers in the family. During the day, they have to work, so classes have to be held in the evening. After a tiring day of work, it is understandable that they want to rest. But with perseverance and convincing arguments, the number of students has increased from the scattered numbers on the fingertips to 24 people," said soldier Thoai.

With ages ranging from 14 to 45, both old and young, and rarely holding a pen, teacher Thoai's class is even more difficult. "Even though they are not children, I still have to hold the students' hands to shape each stroke and help them to combine letters and syllables...", the teacher in green uniform said.

With the motto "Eat together, live together, work together, speak the national language together" to ensure that all students, when coming to class, can read fluently, write well, know how to calculate... to reach the horizon of knowledge, Captain Lo Van Thoai did not hesitate to research and study appropriate teaching materials and methods. Understanding Mr. Thoai's heart, after more than 5 months of studying, the students were able to read and write by themselves, some even knew how to use and exchange information on social networking platforms...

Captain Lo Van Thoai received a Certificate of Merit from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union at the "Sharing with Teachers" program in 2024.

"My students, who did not know how to read or write, told me that being literate helped them to be proactive in their studies, take care of their health and that of their family members, develop their economy effectively, and be more confident in communication..."

In particular, in each class, this teacher in green uniform skillfully incorporates propaganda content on the implementation of the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, and policies on local economic, cultural and social development; and propaganda and dissemination of legal knowledge, security and national defense, so that people know the plots and tricks of hostile forces, who take advantage of ethnic and religious issues to sabotage the Party, the State, local Party committees and authorities.

“I hope my small work will help the students have a better life, contribute to the locality in building the homeland and villages to become more and more prosperous, and together with the Border Guard, firmly protect the territorial sovereignty and national border security,” Captain Thoai expressed.

With his contributions, Captain Lo Van Thoai has received many certificates of merit from the Department of Education and Training of Son La province; Son La Province Association for Promotion of Education, and achieved the title of Advanced Soldier of the Son La Provincial Border Guard. He is also one of the exemplary teachers honored in the program "Sharing with teachers" in 2024 jointly organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union, the Ministry of Education and Training and Thien Long Group./.

Cam Linh