Education is the most important key to escape poverty and get a better life. However, in Hau Giang, many families could not send their children to school because of poverty. They live base on farming and labor with less than $1 per day. On top of poor people, they could not prepare for their children uniforms, books, tools etc, especially school fee. The elder children must drop out school to let their younger children at school.

Here is the tearful speech of a student absence from school: “I love to study and I really want to meet my friends at school and I want to have a good job in the future. But when I see that my parents must work very hard while they are suffering from a disease like this, I just think I should stop studying to reduce their burden. Besides, I need to work to earn money to feed my sister and keep her at school”.

Ngo Thi Tí Nị was born in a very poor household. Her parents, and two younger sisters. The youngest sister is 2 years old but she often goes to the hospital because of illness. The family lives in the degraded house in Hau Giang. In the past, the whole family lived in a neighbor’s shelter, but it was rotting and could be collapsed at any time. Besides working as a laborer, her parents rent land from a neighbor. The current income of the family is $13.5 per person per month. Every day, while her parents work hard on the farm, Ni does housework and takes care of her younger sisters although she is just 10. In the afternoon, she and her younger sister also help the parents selling the vegetables for the neighbors. In the coming school year, Ni is going to study in grade 5 and her younger sister is going to study in grade 3. The family is worried about costs for the new school year.