From construction worker to exam hall: the life-defining test for Cứ A Dà

In the remote H'mong village of Háng Blaha B, nestled amidst the clouds of Lào Cai province, 20-year-old Cứ A Dà is preparing for a pivotal moment: his high school graduation exams. His journey to this point is a testament to resilience, marked by profound family tragedy and a relentless drive to escape poverty through education.

Dà, who is two years behind his peers due to family circumstances, lost his mother at the age of one. His father fell gravely ill when Dà finished ninth grade. Advised by his father to leave school and work, Dà instead chose to go to Hanoi with a cousin to work as a construction laborer. He sent money home to pay for his father's medical treatment and to support his older brother's education, sacrificing his own immediate future.

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During his severe illness, my father told me to stop studying, get married, and earn money. I didn't listen to my father about getting married because I was too young. I left the steep mountains for Hanoi to work as a construction laborer to buy medicine for my father, giving my brother the chance to study.

His cousin, Cứ A Lử, described Dà as small and frail at the time, barely 1.5 meters tall and weighing under 40kg. Despite his physical limitations, Dà worked diligently, earning 200,000 VND per day. His uncle, Cứ A Nhà, expressed sadness over Dà's interrupted education but understood the family's dire circumstances. The situation worsened in early 2022 when Dà's father passed away, leaving him and his brother orphans. This loss prompted Dà to return to Hanoi and continue working as a laborer.

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I don't know what my mother looks like. Father only said my mother died when I was 1 year old, when the rice was starting to ripen.

Working under the harsh Hanoi sun, Dà felt a deep sense of shame seeing himself covered in dust while others enjoyed comfortable office jobs. This experience solidified his resolve to return to school. While working, he revisited his ninth-grade studies. After two years away from formal education, Dà successfully re-enrolled in Trường THPT Mù Cang Chải in 2023, becoming the oldest student in his class.

His homeroom teacher, Phạm Khánh Huy, noted Dà's dedication, referring to him as "Anh Dà" (older brother Dà) due to his age. He serves as the class's labor deputy and has maintained a "fair" academic standing for three years. Dà continued to work as a construction laborer during summer breaks to fund his living expenses, working extended hours whenever he wasn't ill. While he once dreamed of becoming a history teacher, Dà now realistically aims to study mechatronics after his exams to secure a stable profession, driven by the hard-won understanding of education's value.

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The days of hard construction work made the H'mong student deeply understand the importance of literacy.