Hard work carrying children across the river to class
About 3 km from the commune center, Lang Trang village is divided by the Xa Lo River. To reach the commune center, people either have to take detours of dozens of kilometers, or choose to wade through a river section nearly 70 m wide. In conditions of still difficult life, most people still have to choose to cross the river, even though they always face danger, especially for students.
Mr. Dinh Van Phe, in Lang Trang village, said that he gets up at 5 am every day to carry his 1st grade daughter to school. According to him, on sunny days, when the water is shallow, you can still wade quickly, but when it rains, the Xa Lo river water flows fast, and young children can just slip and be in danger.
Like many other parents, Ms. Dinh Thi Thiet is used to carrying her child across the river every day. Many times she slipped in the middle of the water, the two mothers and children were soaked that they had to return to change clothes and then continue wading through the river.
“Hard and busy with field work, but I and many people in the village still have to regularly carry our children across the river to be on time for school,” Ms. Thiet confided.
In Lang Trang village, many families have two to three children of the same school age, so taking them to class every day becomes many times more difficult. Mr. Dinh Van Loi, a resident of Lang Trang village, shared that taking children to school every day is not simple: "The house has a few young children, every time I go to school, I have to carry each child across the river. Take this child over and then come back to pick up another child, sometimes I have to go back and forth several times to finish," Mr. Loi said.
According to Mr. Loi, crossing the river many times amidst fast-flowing water is not only hard but also potentially risky of drowning, especially in the rainy season. "Being used to it is still better, but young children can easily slip if they are careless. This river section has also experienced drowning, so you must always be very careful," he added.
In the rainy season, when floods rise, the Xa Lo River flows fast, and the road to school is cut off. Many students are forced to take long days off school, causing schoolwork to be interrupted, affecting their future.
Both the government and the people are looking forward to a bridge.
According to local statistics, in Lang Trang village alone, about 200 students have to cross the river to go to school every day. Across Son Thuy commune, nearly 1,500 households are divided by the Rin, Xa Lo and Re rivers, making travel and trade difficult.
Mr. Le Quoc Vu, Chairman of Son Thuy Commune People's Committee, said that the commune area is large and divided by many rivers and streams, while the transportation system is still limited. Although the government has repeatedly advised people not to wade across the river, but because they have to go around too far, in some places up to 20-30 km, people are still forced to accept risks to shorten travel time.
From mid-2025 to now, there have been 3 drowning incidents in the commune. At voter meetings, people have repeatedly petitioned levels and sectors to soon pay attention to investing in civil bridges. According to local proposals, if there is a bridge, the distance from Lang Trang to the commune center will be significantly shortened, only about 3 km, creating favorable conditions for travel, study and economic development.
Mr. Le Quoc Vu added that the locality has proposed that the province pay attention to investing in the construction of 2 bridges across the Xa Lo River. Among them, one bridge is expected to connect the old Son Trung area with the old Son Hai, about 2 km from the location where people often wade through the river. If invested, the travel distance for people will be shortened to about 3-4 km, instead of having to go around 25-27 km as at present.
