He is the only teacher at Bui Hui Primary School, and he has a classroom of just eight students who rely on him for an education. Some in his shoes may have quit, called it a day and moved on to job at a different school. Not Trieu.

55-year-old Pham Van Trieu has been the only teacher working at Bui Hui school branch for the last 11 years.

Bui Hui is part of Ba Trang Primary and Secondary Boarding School in Ba Trang commune, Ba To district – a mountainous area in the central province of Quang Ngai.

Trieu’s home is in Ba Cung commune. It may only be 30km away from the school, but because of the lack of roads, the journey is tough to make.

As a result, the classroom is his home – he rarely gets to see his wife, children and grandchildren and he often finds himself cut off from the outside world. The lack of resources makes for a difficult time teaching.

With no lighting, he must make use of the limited sunlight afforded to this region to teach. If the school needs water, it means a one kilometre hike to the nearest stream. His kitchen is in a makeshift tent provided by generous locals and as for his bed, that’s just four tables pushed together.

Food is limited too with Trieu living on rice, fish sauce and noodles. When the food runs out, he must travel 30km to his home through forests and across rugged landscapes to stock up.

Sometimes because of bad weather and floods, he must live off the land, foraging in the forests to find food to survive as the journey home is treacherous at best.

But despite all these issues, Trieu wouldn’t change his profession. He knows the service he provides is crucial for the handful of children he teaches.

This year, he is teaching three six-year-olds and five seven-year-olds split into two classes with different curricula.

The young students are from the ethnic group and speak their own language. Trieu’s job is to teach them Vietnamese so that in later life, the students will be given better opportunities.

He has been teaching for almost 35 years, and working in remote locations is nothing new. In his first job it would take him a whole day to get to the school.

So today’s job is nothing new for Trieu, who accepts this is the life he has chosen and a life, despite all the challenges, he finds rewarding.

Nguyen Minh Hai, principal of the Ba Trang Primary and Secondary Boarding School, said colleagues and local residents appreciated Trieu’s enthusiasm.

Pham Thi Y, a student of Trieu, said she wants to become a doctor and that she would try to study as hard as Trieu told her so that the dream would come true.

It's comments like these that give Trieu the inspiration he needs to do what he does.

His life may be lonely, his existence isolated, but when he sees students smile and enjoy learning, there is nowhere else he would rather be. He feels right at home.

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Source: VNS/VNA