Giving wings to dreams for poor students in border areas

As the core force in the task of firmly protecting the territorial sovereignty and national border security, over the years, units of the Border Guard of Quang Tri province have not only fulfilled their political tasks well but also effectively implemented social security work for people in the border areas. In particular, the model of "Adopted children of border guards" has become a platform to help hundreds of poor students and those in difficult circumstances in the remote border areas achieve their dreams.

Students who are adopted children of Hai An Border Guard Station gradually get used to the military lifestyle at the unit - Photo: LT

Born into a family with extremely difficult circumstances in the coastal area of ​​Hai An commune, Hai Lang district, Tran Cat Nguyen Vu and his two siblings dropped out of school to help their parents. After their father passed away in 2017, a year later their mother remarried, and all three Vu siblings had to move in with their grandparents. However, because their grandparents were old and weak, the family's finances were in difficult circumstances.

Knowing Vu's situation, in 2019, the Party Committee and Commander of Hai An Border Guard Station directed local officials to learn about and discuss with the family to prepare a profile and ask for permission from superiors to adopt him as the station's adopted child until now. In order to take good care of Vu, the unit assigned Major Ho Ngoc Viet, Captain of the Administrative Staff Team, to directly accompany, encourage, and support Vu with his living, working, and studying conditions at the unit.

“We always do our best to facilitate Vu’s daily life, buy clothes, books, and guide him on how to live independently. It has been more than 6 years since Vu has lived at the unit. He is now very familiar with the routine of life at the station, his academic results have also changed over time and he has been highly praised and commended by his teachers at school,” Major Ho Ngoc Viet shared.

Confiding in us, Tran Cat Nguyen Vu confided: “At first, I felt strange and scared, but thanks to the guidance, teaching, and closeness of the border guards, I adapted very quickly. I promise to try my best to study well to achieve my dream of becoming a border guard like the guards in the unit, both to protect my homeland and to help those in difficult circumstances like me.”

According to the Political Commissar of Hai An Border Guard Station, Lieutenant Colonel Phan Van Thoai, in recent years, in addition to carrying out the task of protecting territorial sovereignty, national border security and basic, regular political tasks, the unit has paid special attention to the relationship of military-civilian solidarity, firmly consolidating the "people's hearts and minds". In particular, the program "Bringing children to school - Adopted children of the border guard station" is an activity that has received active response from officers and soldiers of the unit. Currently, in addition to adopting Tran Cat Nguyen Vu, the unit also supports many students in the model "Border guard adopted children", "Bringing children to school" with a budget of nearly 50 million VND/year.

For those who are supported by the unit, in addition to study time, officers and soldiers in the unit increase guidance so that the children can increase production and raise livestock, thereby learning more necessary skills for their future life. In addition, the unit also regularly mobilizes benefactors to support the children with additional school supplies, clothes, blankets, gifts on holidays, Tet, etc.

“In addition to tutoring, training, and arranging time to pick up and drop off the adopted children of the border guard station to school, the officers in charge regularly exchange information with the homeroom teachers about the learning process and results, and compliance with school regulations to promptly encourage or remind the children. In addition, the unit does a good job of widely disseminating the good humanitarian meaning of the program so that local people can see the beauty, solidarity, and closeness of the Border Guard officers with the people in the border area,” Lieutenant Colonel Thoai added.

In 2024 alone, the Quang Tri Provincial Border Guard has maintained support for 71 cases with over 319 million VND to implement the model "Helping children go to school" and 24 children with 138 million VND in the model "Adopted children of border guards". Up to now, it has maintained support for 46 children and adopted 18 children in the project "Army officers and soldiers help children go to school" for the period 2021 - 2030. Of which, the border guards have sponsored 6 cases of Laotian students with a monthly budget of 500,000 VND/child.

Deputy Political Commissar of Quang Tri Border Guard, Lieutenant Colonel Ho Phu Vinh said that the programs "Adopted children of border guards" and "Helping children go to school" have profound humanitarian significance, contributing to helping children in especially difficult circumstances have more conditions to go to school. Through the programs, we aim to attract more attention and support from local Party committees and authorities to join hands with the Border Guard force towards the border, helping people gradually escape poverty, building a position of people's hearts to effectively perform the task of managing and firmly protecting the territorial sovereignty and national border security.

“To continue to maintain and implement these programs more effectively, in the coming time, in addition to the contributions of officers and soldiers in the entire force, the Provincial Border Guard Party Committee directs units to closely coordinate with localities, departments, branches, and organizations in the stationed areas as well as call on charitable organizations and individuals to support resources to more effectively implement the models,” added Senior Lieutenant Colonel Ho Phu Vinh.

Being both “foster fathers” wearing green military uniforms and teachers who are close to and attached to poor students and those in especially difficult circumstances, in recent years, the models “Foster children of border guards” and “Helping children go to school” have been providing a roof and a solid support on the path of knowledge, as well as in life for poor students in especially difficult circumstances in border areas.

Le Truong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/chap-canh-uoc-mo-cho-hoc-sinh-ngheo-vung-bien-194594.htm