Stories: Children, Community, Future

“Growing up, I did not ask my parents for much because they have always been working so hard. I also thought that my dream is too far away and too difficult to achieve. Since then, I have always been shy and never dare to share my dreams with others because I was afraid that they would think it was unrealistic”. Those were the sharing of Thanh, a secondary school student in Hoa Binh province when asked about her dream ever since she was a little girl.

Thanh’s transformative journey began in August 2023, when she and other students participated in training sessions organised by the project “Health and wellbeing for students”. After 10 sessions, Thanh and her friends gained valuable knowledge about reproductive health and social-emotional learning (SEL). She shared: “There were many new and fun things for me, such as psychological issues and physical changes during puberty that we rarely had the confidence to share and talk about with others. After the training sessions, we gradually become more confident, more assertive, and I also changed my perception about the world and my surrounding environment.”

Thanh (second from the right) during a SEL training session with her friends

In the last session, Thanh learned about future orientation. In a small game, the students were tasked with drawing a picture or writing a letter to describe and send to themselves in the next 20 years. Thanh said: “At that time, I had difficulty talking about my dreams, which was the thing I was most afraid of. Looking at my friends around me who were drawing and writing, I was nervous because I was still afraid to speak out for fear of people criticising me. I thought for a while and then decided to just say what I wanted. I wrote a letter to myself, saying that in the future, I will study hard, get into the university I want, work hard for the opportunity to study abroad to broaden my horizon, and find inspiration to open a small bakery when I return home. Baking has always brought me so much joy. When my career is successful, I will get married and develop a large bakery chain under my name. I see myself as a professional baker in the future. I thought that when I finished writing, I can keep the letter as a souvenir, but then the teacher asked us to present our products in front of the class. I was so scared and afraid that my dream would be laughed at. But that was not the case. When everyone heard what I wrote, my teacher told me I have a wonderful dream. My friends also applauded me. At that time, I was really happy and surprised since it was the first time I confidently share my dream, and everyone recognised it.”

Thanh (far left) enjoys SEL activities with her classmates

Since that day, Thanh completely changed her thinking. She said: “I was no longer worried that I cannot achieve my dreams. I thought that even if our families have difficulties, as long as we are persistent and are confident enough to speak out and share, we can achieve all of our dreams and desires by ourselves! And now I have been trying very hard to study so that my dream will soon come true. I am grateful to the school, the teachers and the ChildFund Vietnam project. Thank you for giving me the confidence to change myself and pursue my dreams”.