Dong Nai female teacher wins 2025 Beautiful Living Youth Award: Devoting herself to "sticking to forest", sowing seeds of love

On October 11, at the 2025 "Beautiful Living Youth" program organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Federation, Dong Nai was honored to have an outstanding young individual recognized as a "Beautiful Living Youth" of 2025. That was the young humanitarian "bright spot" Nguyen Thi Thu Nga, from Tri An commune, Dong Nai province.

Nguyen Thi Thu Nga (second from right) receives a Certificate of Merit from the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Union with the title of Beautiful Youth 2025.

With a passion for her profession, compassion for children, and a strong desire to contribute, Thu Nga has been spreading the spirit of "living beautifully" and living usefully within the community. Her efforts have not only helped bring literacy but also planted seeds of love and hope for underprivileged young students in the remote Ma Da area (now Tri An commune) of Dong Nai province.

More than just literacy - it's the heart and soul of a kind mother

For nearly 11 years of dedication to her profession, Nguyen Thi Thu Nga (born in 1993), currently a teacher, Secretary of the Youth Union branch, and Head of the Ma Da Commune Kindergarten branch, has painted a vivid portrait of tireless dedication: sowing green seeds of hope in areas still facing many difficulties and shortages.

Young teacher Nguyen Thi Thu Nga (right) takes a commemorative photo with her young students in the Cay Sung branch's senior kindergarten class during the 2024-2025 academic year.

Ma Da Kindergarten is located in a remote area of Tri An commune, Dong Nai province. The school currently has one main campus and five satellite branches, two of which are deep in the forest. Most of the children's parents are farmers or seasonal laborers with unstable incomes. Some are Vietnamese expatriates returning from Cambodia who are not fluent in the Vietnamese language. Many children live only with their grandparents while their parents work far away in places like Ho Chi Minh City, Ha Tinh, and elsewhere. This challenge makes it extremely difficult for teachers to communicate, stay in contact, and coordinate care and education for the children. Understanding these challenges, Nga not only teaches literacy but also becomes a friend and a second mother to the children.

In the 2024-2025 academic year, a colleague was assigned to the Cay Sung school branch but had an urgent family matter, so Nga did not hesitate to volunteer to take over the task for her colleague. This school branch is also located in one of the most challenging and impoverished areas of the commune.

As Secretary of the Youth Union branch, Nguyen Thi Thu Nga (left) mobilizes benefactors to donate individual lockers and other items to the senior kindergarten class at the Cay Sung branch.

Despite her own challenging circumstances, with three young school-age children and her husband working far away, relying on her nearly 70-year-old parents for family and childcare, Nga remains steadfast in her mission to "stick to the forest and sow literacy" thanks to the encouragement from her strong support system.

Her journey to school with her colleagues is likened to two challenging words: "trekking through the forest." To reach the children in Cay Sung, she must travel 25km on the main road and nearly 8km on a forest road lined with trees and red dirt, featuring potholes and bumps along the way. The road to school is truly not easy, as on some days, she arrives at school covered in red dust after following a truck or another motorbike.

Sharing about her most memorable experience on her "forest trekking" journey, which was the moment she "encountered" wild nature, Nga recounted: In the first few days of crossing the deep forest path, she and her colleagues were surprised to see a troop of monkeys leaping out on both sides of the road. It was an unexpected experience that made them extremely worried and scared.

"However, amidst that fear, an even stronger thought motivated me. If we didn't overcome it, we wouldn't be able to reach the children. At that time, the children would be deprived and wouldn't be able to go to school," Nga confided.

It was on that arduous path, where hidden dangers lurked, where it was dusty in the sun and muddy in the rain, that the love and heart of a "kind mother" became the light and strength that motivated Nga to persevere every day.

As for Nga, her journey of dedicating herself to her profession, especially during the past school year with the children at Cay Sung school point, was full of memories.

Nga confided, "Every day with the children at Cay Sung is a joyful day. Because each child is a story, a special circumstance, and they are much more disadvantaged than other children. This affection has turned difficult paths into happy ones. The children's smiles and love are warm sources of light, helping us keep the flame of our profession burning and soothing our fears on challenging paths, continuing to steadfastly pursue the mission of sowing green seeds in remote and isolated areas," Nga shared.

No glory or title is greater than the mission of youth.

Nga comes from a family with a teaching tradition, and it is that deep love for the profession that has driven her not only to excel in her duties year after year, but to continually strive for even greater impact. For her, teaching is more than just a job, as it is her life's mission.

In her role as Secretary of the Youth Union chapter, Nga has organized numerous meaningful activities for children in remote areas, such as the "Mid-Autumn Festival," "Back-to-School Day," and "Spring of Connection – Tet of Sharing." She has also developed several "Green Youth Union" and "Friendly Youth Union" models and led effective volunteer programs that have attracted strong participation from union members and local youth.

In addition, Nga is also a tireless "mobilizer" and "connector." With her credibility and enthusiasm, she has actively connected with philanthropists in many places, mobilizing thousands of gifts and facilities for schools and children.

These include sturdy corridors, roofs, cabinets, shelves, sun blinds, fans, as well as swings and playgrounds to make the schools more spacious. They also include necessities, tuition support, and valuable meals for disadvantaged students.

In her professional work, Nga constantly innovates methods to suit preschool children in remote areas. Her initiative, "Measures to improve the effectiveness of letter recognition activities for children aged 5-6 years old in preschool", has been recognized and yielded clear results: 100% of children are interested and confident in learning letters and remembering 29 of them.

Nga shared that in the 2024–2025 school year, she would be responsible for teaching the senior preschool class at the Cay Sung school site, which had a total of 20 children. At first, the children struggled to recognize letters correctly, their pronunciation was unclear, and their writing, posture, and pen-holding skills were all limited. Moreover, their families all faced difficult circumstances, making the task of carefully guiding each child through every letter a real challenge.

"I had to be patient little by little. From building an environment for letter recognition activities, making children the center, to changing the forms of organizing rich and diverse letter recognition activities. Most importantly, creating an open environment, space, and enough love and patience for the children to gradually get acquainted, remember, and prepare a solid Vietnamese language foundation to enter first grade most smoothly," Nga shared.

Nguyen Thi Thu Nga receives a Certificate of Merit from the People's Committee of Tri An Commune for her outstanding achievements in the emulation movement during the 2020-2025 period.

Nga's "forest-going" volunteer journey has earned her prestigious commendations from the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Education and Training (for the 2024–2025 school year), along with other honors such as: Outstanding Young Party Member of Dong Nai province for many consecutive years; Advanced Youth following Uncle Ho's teachings in Dong Nai in 2025; and Outstanding Teacher recognized for excellently fulfilling her duties over multiple school years.

Most notably, on October 11, at the 2025 "Beautiful Living Youth" program organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Federation, Nga was honored as one of 20 outstanding young individuals in Vietnam, proudly recognized as a "Beautiful Living Youth" in 2025.

For Nga, happiness now comes from the care and support of the local authorities and philanthropists, as the school points of Ma Da Kindergarten are becoming more spacious, and the children have a better learning environment.

However, for her, happiness is multiplied every day, thanks to the care and support of the local authorities and philanthropists, the campuses of Ma Da Kindergarten are becoming more spacious. This result means that the children have a better environment, allowing them to attend school without worrying about food costs or tuition fees. Especially, the most precious "award" that no title or certificate can compare to is the love and absolute trust of hundreds of students whom she has diligently taught. This strong bond is the most powerful motivation, helping her constantly learn, train, and dedicate herself.

"I believe that if we live and work with all our hearts, giving love, we will surely receive love in return. Only when we are positive and give without hesitation will we create joy and love for the children, as well as become more attached to our profession," Nga shared.

Her simple wish is that bridges of love from benefactors and local authorities continue to spread, helping children in remote branch schools, where teachers have to "go through the forest" to class, have enough material conditions to write their dreams...

 

Young teacher Nguyen Thi Thu Nga.

Speaking about the title "2025 Beautiful Living Youth", Nguyen Thi Thu Nga said: "The 2025 'Beautiful Living Youth’ award is not only an honor but also a profound responsibility and a call to the mission of youth. That mission drives me, no matter how busy or challenging life gets, to keep striving, contributing, and taking meaningful action to support children in remote areas, with the firm resolve that no child should have to drop out of school."

By Ha Le – Translated by Mai Nga, Minho