Destroyed after the fierce water
In the days after the flood, in Yen Binh commune, Lang Son province - one of the localities that was isolated for many days after the circulation of storm No. 11 (MATMO), the immediate scene for us was encapsulated in the two words "rude".
Following the instructions of the commune leaders, we went to Hoa Binh Kindergarten, one of the schools that suffered heavy damage.
The flood has passed, but its traces are still printed on every wall, every page of paper.
The entire first floor and the levels of level 4 houses were submerged in water for nearly two days, causing the facilities, teaching equipment, and boarding facilities to be almost completely damaged.
The kitchen, which used to be on fire every lunch, now has only refrigerators, gas stoves, and Vuong filter with mud.
"The estimated damage is hundreds of millions of VND, but there is a power outage so no equipment has been checked yet," said Ms. Tran Thi Nhung, Principal of the school, choking up in her voice and eyes, her eyes wide-opened.
Four classrooms on the first floor were deeply flooded, desks, chairs, books, and children's toys were swept away or deformed.
On the wall, the water splash is still printed up to the chest of an adult. Two wooden file cabinets were soaked with water, peeling, and had serious damage to student documents.
After the water receded, the school yard turned into a temporary drying area. Hundreds of records, textbooks, and tracking books were spread all over the yard in the harsh sun, with wrinkled paper,oted with squid, and warped by water.
"Just dry it, I don't know if I can reuse it or not, but if I can save something or something," the principal sighed.
Hoa Binh Kindergarten has 168 students, who have met national standards, are spacious and clean. Now, only the loose walls remain.
The school is making efforts to temporarily overcome the situation to welcome children back to school soon, although for now it can only organize one session per day due to the lack of cooking equipment.
"We hope to support the kitchen, dryer, refrigerator, boarding facilities... so that the children can soon return to school. Everyone has suffered heavy losses, so we can only rely on the hearts of organizations, businesses and philanthropists," Ms. Nhung said emotionally.
Talking to reporters, Mr. Ma Van Dat - Vice Chairman of Yen Binh Commune People's Committee said that the recent flood caused heavy damage to Yen Binh commune.
Of which, 3 kindergartens, 1 secondary school, 2 primary schools and 1 primary and secondary school were almost completely damaged.
Along with that, crops and assets were swept away and lost. All livestock and poultry died.
Hands that don't give up
Not only Yen Binh, floods also destroyed Yen Lo Kindergarten (Thien Hoa commune). Now, colorful toys have become pieces of distorted plastic covered in mud, with peeling, gray paintings on the walls.
In the kitchen, the water is still stagnant, the pots and stainless steel trays are tilted, covered with sand and dirt. Outside the yard, teachers and parents clean up, wip each item, pick up each piece of paper, and remove each painting.
Ms. Hoang Thi Nhuan, Principal of the school, said that the flood has directly affected 4 classrooms, 1 kitchen, 1 medical room and 1 accounting room. TVs, computers, projectors, printers, desks, chairs, cabinets, film covers, teaching materials... are all soaked with water and are severely damaged.
The total damage to Yen Lo Kindergarten is estimated at more than 600 million VND.
In other districts, the damage continued, such as Cao Loc Secondary School had a 30m fence collapse; Minh Khai Primary School (Loc Binh) had a 60m fence collapse; Nhat Tien Primary School (Nhat Hoa) had 10 TVs, 12 computers, 40 sets of desks and chairs and a series of other equipment damaged, causing damage of about 320 million VND.
Phi My Kindergarten (Quoc Khanh Commune) suffered a landslide of 300m of slope, fallen trees, collapsed parking lot and stadium area...
textbooks and learning equipment in many kindergartens, primary schools, and secondary schools in That Khe commune were swept away by floodwaters, leaving only mud and empty bookshelves.
"Many places are still without power, deeply flooded, and cannot send full reports. We hope that businesses and philanthropists will join hands to support teachers and students to soon stabilize teaching and learning", Mr. Hoang Quoc Tuan, Director of the Department of Education and Training of Lang Son province, shared.
Amidst the ruins, the image of resilient people, teachers, and people is still low, making efforts to clean up to welcome students back to school soon.
Millions of arms turn to compatriots affected by storms and floods
Consecutive storms No. 8, 9.10 (Bualoi) and floods caused by the storm have killed, left missing, and injured 165 people; many houses and production and business establishments have had their roofs blown off and suffered heavy damage. People across the northern mountainous provinces and the central provinces are struggling to cope with floods and heavy losses in human lives and property due to floods and thunderstorms.
"A piece of food when hungry is worth a package when full", with the spirit of mutual love that has always been a beautiful image of the Vietnamese people, the Golden Heart Social Charity Fund calls on domestic and foreign philanthropists to join hands to share with people affected by floods to have food, clothing, shelter, students have books to go to school...
The Golden Heart Social Charity Fund would like to sincerely thank the precious feelings of agencies, businesses, and domestic and foreign philanthropists.
Please send any help to: Golden Heart Social Society Fund, No. 51 Hang Bo, Hoan Kiem, Hanoi. Phone: 024.39232756. Account number (STK): 113000000758 at Vietinbank Hoan Kiem Branch, Hanoi. STK: 0021000303088 - at Vietcombank - Hanoi Branch, STK: 12410001122556 - at BIDV - Hoan Kiem Branch. Or scan the following QR code:
