Small steps, big dreams: Hằng’s journey from village roads to the track

By Chau Doan 
Communication Manager 
Room to Read in Vietnam 

"I dream that one day I will have the chance to compete on the SEA Games track, just like Nguyễn Thị Huyền." – Nguyễn Thu Hằng, a 14-year-old girl from a small community in northern Vietnam who runs barefoot on winding village roads, in the cold, after finishing her chores, long after most people would have stopped


Hằng lives in Yên Phú Commune, Hàm Yên District, in a bamboo-and-thatch house tucked behind vegetable gardens and rice paddies. Most days, her family's meals consist of little more than rice and vegetables. Her parents earn what they can through temporary work, and the family owns just a modest plot of land. While they have little material wealth, there is an abundance of love and a wealth of determination. 
 
Hằng has been part of Room to Read's Girls' Education Program for three years. In that time, she has not missed a single life skills class or group mentoring session. Her mother, equally committed, has attended every parent workshop the program has offered. 

 


Physically smaller than most of her classmates, Hằng has never let size define her capabilities. What began as a passion for track and field became something deeper — a discipline, a source of pride, and a way of caring for herself and her family. 

Every afternoon, after homework and household chores are done, she slips out of the house to run. Without proper running shoes, she chooses to run barefoot. The village roads twist and turn. Sharp pebbles sometimes sting her feet. On freezing winter days in Tuyên Quang, she heads out in only a thin jacket. Her fatigue runs deep. But when it gets hard, she thinks of her parents — the weight of their work, the quiet sacrifices they make — and she keeps going.  

"Each step I take is a chance to improve," she said, "and at the very least, to strengthen my own body."

 The weeks leading up to the annual Tiền Phong Provincial Cross-Country Championship happened to fall during Hằng's midterm exams. Hằng refused to choose between the two. So she worked individually with her Room to Read mentor to find a way to hold both — rearranging her schedule, managing her time effectively, and finding ways to ease her anxiety, so she could show up to both the exams and the race fully focused.  

 

Other educators noticed. Physical education teachers Ms. Thúy and Mr. Thành stepped in with coaching on running technique, breathing practices and race strategy. So did Mr. Trần Tư Pháp, a local amateur runner and multi-time national cross-country award winner, who began training young athletes in the area and took Hằng under his wing. Their belief in her gave her belief in herself. 

When the starting whistle blew on race day, Hằng surged forward. She ran through the noise and the nerves, overtaking runners one by one, and crossed the finish line to a wave of cheers from her friends and teachers.




She also won a cash prize, approximately $100 USD. For many, a modest amount. For Hằng, it was significant. She used part of it to replace the battery on her old electric bicycle. She gave the rest to her mother to buy rice for the family. 

This is what's possible when a girl is supported — by parents who believe in her potential, by educators who reinforce her confidence, by a program that invests in her future. 
 
She still dreams of the SEA Games. And whether she ever stands on that track, she is already becoming someone who knows how to push forward, how to make room for both her commitments and her dreams and how to turn each small step into an expression of love for her family — and herself.   

Learn how life skills Shape life choices