Local residents chat with guests visiting the island. Photo: Mai Thanh Hai

In the middle of crashing waves and in a corner of the beautiful island of Song Tu Tay, there is an idyllic village with only seven households of mostly young couples with small children. Their lives may be no difference from that of the mainlanders, except for the vegetables grown in the garden, or the number of animals in the barn.

Every day, the men join activities of the militia, the youth union, and the army. The women stay home, diligently grow vegetables, raise pigs and chickens, and take care of their children and their education. When evening falls on the island, they leisurely ride bicycles carrying children along the tree-lined streets, enjoying the salty sea breeze. Ms. Le Thu Trang shares about life on the remote island: “My family has four members, including two small children, a boy and a girl. We have lived on the island for three years now. I find life here extremely peaceful and happy.”

Song Tu Tay Temple. Photo: thanhnien.vn

The army stationed on Song Tu Tay island and local residents support each other in difficult times, sharing a piece of cake or a bunch of vegetables. Ms. Luu Thi Cam Hang feels warm in her heart: “Residents of Song Tu Tay island care about each other, share difficulties, and help each other. We give soldiers cakes and gifts and receive vegetables from them. Everybody lives happily.”

The children who have joined their parents on the island consider soldiers their uncles. One of them said:“I love the military uncles because they teach us good things, guide us play fun games. Soldiers equipped with guns are protecting us so that we could study every day.”

That was little girl Sam Thi Truc Ly, a 3^rd grader of Song Tu Tay Primary School, a very special school that has only one class for all children from preschool to grades 4 and 5. All the children have relocated from the mainland or were born on the island. Teaching in such a class is certainly not an easy task for the two male teachers. 

“I am happy and proud to be teaching in the middle of the tough sea and the frontier island of the Fatherland. Not only me but my whole family is very honored and proud to be able to contribute our small part to the very sacred Truong Sa archipelago and help children enrich their knowledge to become good citizens for society,” according to Nguyen Huu Phu. 

The teachers are teaching island children subjects adopted by the Ministry of Education and Training and soft skills like singing, martial arts, and extra-curricular classes about the immense sea.

Life in a Truong Sa village is improving day by day. Fresh water is no longer as scarce as it used to be thanks to sponsored seawater purifiers and rainwater tanks. Electricity has also reached every house thanks to wind and solar energy systems. Truong Sa is no longer a remote island. It is a part of the beloved Fatherland of Vietnam.