In a residential school Vietnam, children find comfort in evening visits to the library

By Chau Doan 
Communication Manager 
Room to Read in Vietnam 

From the center of Dien Bien city, it takes 3.5 hours on winding mountain roads to reach the Tủa Chùa district, followed by another 45-minute journey to the residential primary school, nestled in a small valley. 

The school is a mix of old and new buildings, with newly constructed structures alongside makeshift dormitories and office spaces made of temporary metal sheets. The remoteness does not diminish the eagerness of the school’s 353 students — 100% of whom are Hmong, one of the larger ethnic minority communities in Vietnam — to visit the school’s friendly library, which is supported by Room to Read.  
 
This is my first visit to the school. I’ve traveled from Room to Read’s Vietnam country office in Ho Chi Minh City, a full day’s journey from the southernmost region of the country to the northernmost. I'm here to get to know Vi, a Grade 5 student, and understand what she loves about the library.  

A day spent with books   

At just 10-years-old, Vi carries herself with remarkable confidence. She is fluent in both Vietnamese and Hmong, frequently representing her classmates in school speeches, participating in academic competitions and joining cultural performances.  
 
"I love going to the library,” she tells me after we meet. “Every recess, I visit the library, read and borrow books in both Vietnamese and English, so both languages feel natural to me,” she explains.  


Vi with a book from the library on her school campus. 

She is a strong communicator in both languages — lucky for me as I do not speak Hmong. I ask her to teach me Hmong, and she lights up, excited to share her home language. Because children’s books publishers in Vietnam do not publish in Hmong, these children don’t yet have access to Hmong-language books. Room to Read is working to change this, currently developing multilingual picture books in underrepresented languages, including Hmong, to be available to children and families around the world on literacycloud.org.

Vi is not only a regular visitor to the library but also a member of the library support team, often helping younger students learn how to borrow books and build their reading skills in Vietnamese. She eagerly shows me around the library, demonstrating that she knows exactly where each book is placed and its corresponding color code.  
 
This is a semi-residential school, sometimes called a boarding school. The children who attend the school live in mountainous communities in Dien Bien. A daily journey to and from school is too demanding for both the children and their parents, many of whom are farmers who work long days. So, the children reside on campus during the week with the school staff, managing their own meals, sleep and hygiene routines with support from teachers. In the evenings, they have free time. For most children, this time is spent borrowing books from the library. 


A residential school teacher reading with children in the school library, which is supported by Room to Read (left); Chau, Communication Manager for Room to Read in Vietnam, reading with a child in the residential school library (right).


Vi helps her teachers care for the younger children in the residence, helping ensure they eat regular meals and keep to a bedtime routine. But her favorite part of the role? Taking the children to the library in the evenings to find new books. I ask her why she looks forward to this evening ritual. 

"My dorm has 29 girls," she notes. "Since staying at school overnight sometimes makes us homesick, we entertain ourselves by reading books borrowed from the library. We love discussing books together." 

 
Books for the journey home 

While Vi has grown comfortable staying the week at school, her younger brother has just entered Grade 1, and still longs to go home at the end of the school day. On his first night at the school, she tells me, he cried for their mother. Vi provides him with comfort, security and everyday guidance — helping him wash dishes and do his laundry — and reassures him when he feels home sick. She also encourages him to find solace in stories, reading him new books from the library every night.  
 
On Friday afternoons, the siblings walk home together along winding mountain paths, a trek that takes about an hour.  


Children walking across the residential school campus in Dien Bien, Vietnam.
 

"When it's too hot, we take breaks. If it rains, I bring an umbrella so my brother and I can share it," Vi shares, describing their simple, determined routine. Despite the challenges of the journey, neither of them has ever missed a school day.  

Of course, Vi always carries a few favorite books in her backpack when she returns home. Her current favorite is “A Letter Sent by the Wind.” She loves the character Squirrel, who constantly checks on and cares for his friend Ant in his own special way. She is excited to share the books with her family.   
 

A dream rooted in language and learning 

Vi dreams of becoming a preschool teacher so she can teach young children traditional Hmong songs. Inspired by her progress in learning both English and Vietnamese in the library, she hopes to one day speak, read and sing fluently in multiple languages.  
 
Our conversation ends as the school bell rings for recess, and Vi hurries off to the library to assist more students with borrowing books. The bright wildflower of Dien Bien, as I’ve come to think of her, is full of excitement and love for knowledge, ready to explore new stories and new worlds with enthusiasm and joy.