The wonderful scrap metal mother of two future bachelors

Du also has a biological brother, Che Hoang Duy, 21 years old, currently a 3rd year student at the University of Natural Sciences.

Du’s small house, located deep in an alley on Dong Da Street (Ward 3, Ward 4, My Tho City, Tien Giang Province), is filled with scrap metal these days. Mrs. Che Thi Phuong Dung and her two sons are diligently sorting the scrap metal to prepare to transport it for sale.

"These past few days, my body has been aching and my legs can't walk, so the scrap has been piling up. Today, both the kids have a day off from school to visit their mother in the countryside, so they're helping out," Mrs. Dung said shyly, as if she was justifying the messy house.

Amidst the mountain of scrap metal, Duy and Du skillfully tore open the cardboard boxes, then neatly stacked them into a bundle. Plastic bottles and metal bars were stacked separately, then put into large bags and stacked in a corner of the house.

Seeing the guests amazed at the skillful sorting of scrap metal by her two children, Mrs. Dung smiled and said: "The two brothers have followed their mother to collect scrap metal since they were young. At night, after finishing their homework, the two of them help their mother sort and pack it. They have become accustomed to doing this and to the stench of the trash. Now one is about to graduate and the other is going to college, but they are not afraid to do such work."

Nearly 60 years old, but Mrs. Dung has never dared to rest. The jobs to make a living have been revolving around her since she got married. From street vendor, janitor to scrap collector, she has done it all. If she cannot collect scrap, she stays home to sort it to sell.

Because according to her, the difficult journey for her and her three children is not over yet. "I have to hold on for another 4 years, until Du graduates from university, then I can feel secure. I'm afraid I won't be able to last until then," Mrs. Dung forced a smile, squeezing her knees, which often ache.

Looking back to the distant years, Mrs. Dung said that after getting married and having two children, in her free time she pushed a cart to collect scrap. Even after that, although she changed jobs many times, she still found time to collect scrap to earn extra money.

Until one day, when Che Hoang Du was 6 years old, the couple divorced, and Mrs. Dung officially chose the job of collecting scrap metal to make a living. The money she saved from other people's discarded items helped her raise her 2 children and pay off the debt her husband left behind.

Another reason that Mrs. Dung only told her children later was why she was involved in the scrap metal business, which was to make use of old clothes and books so that her children would not have to leave school unfinished.

Textbooks, clothes from scrap: Second prize in provincial math competition, admitted to Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics

On the bookshelves of Duy and Du, all the books are selected from the pile of scrap they collect every day. From grade 1 to grade 12, the two brothers never had to buy new books.

"When I was young, I was also very shy with my friends because all my school supplies and clothes were old. While my friends all had new things, new books that still smelled of paper. But by the end of my junior high school year, I was no longer shy. I even felt lucky because no matter how difficult our circumstances were, my mother never once thought of forcing my brother and I to drop out of school ," Du said.

"I remember when I first entered middle school, I wore a white shirt to school on the first day of school and my classmates immediately pointed and smiled. A while later, I realized that my shirt had the logo of another school printed on it, so they recognized me. I just laughed it off," Du recounted, adding that after that, his classmates also considered it normal for him to wear old clothes, books, shoes, etc. to school.

Even the study desks of Duy and Du were salvaged and refurbished. But that old, patched desk also served as a stepping stone to guide the two brothers into the university lecture hall.

Che Hoang Du was an excellent student for 12 consecutive years. In grade 12, Du won second prize in the provincial high school math competition.

Du is also one of the excellent students recognized by Nguyen Dinh Chieu High School. Previously, in the entrance exam to grade 10 at Nguyen Dinh Chieu School, Du ranked 40th out of 700 selected students.

Recently, Du became a new student majoring in finance at Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics.

Hunting for scholarships to cover living expenses

Despite his impressive academic achievements, Du never considered himself a good person. Du said: "My studies are like my mother's job of collecting scrap metal. My knowledge is accumulated slowly through exercises, while my mother's scrap metal is accumulated day by day."

Now, the burden of scrap metal on mother's shoulders is even heavier as both brothers enter university, one after another, and study in the most expensive place in the country.

Du relied on his academic performance to get scholarships, including the Tuoi Tre Newspaper's Support to School scholarship to reduce the financial burden on his mother.

Mr. Le Lien Hoang - Party cell secretary, head of residential area 3 (ward 4, My Tho city, Tien Giang province) - said that Ms. Che Thi Phuong Dung's family is a poor household. "The family has 3 mother and children, two of them go to school, the mother has been collecting scrap metal for decades. Recently, seeing the difficult situation, we have mobilized sponsors to repair the house, which has helped ease some of the hardship.

However, now that her two children are in college, Ms. Dung's income from scrap metal is not enough to cover the expenses. I hope there will be a sponsor to help Ms. Dung and her three children, Mr. Hoang said.