Boys name start with s

Thai Nguyen is virtually a synonym for tea in Vietnam, and this seems to have kept several other beautiful places in the northern province away from the tourism spotlight. Just 80 km from Hanoi, the province is a gateway to the beautiful northeastern part of the country, including Ha Giang, Ba Be Lake in Bac Kan and Ban Gioc Waterfall in Cao Bang on the China-Vietnam border. But it is best known for producing the nation’s finest teas. A group of female workers in conical hats pick tea leaves in Thai Nguyen, which has the second largest tea cultivation area after the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong at 20,000 hectares. Before 1882, tea was grown by local famers in highland areas and valleys surrounded by giant mountains. Then, about half of harvested leaves were used for drinking fresh tea, and the rest was processed and preserved. In 1882, the French began establishing huge tea estates and using machines and modern cultivation techniques that saw output soar. The province … [Read more...] about Vietnam’s finest tea producer teems with other natural delights

“I still remember the embarrassment, the feeling of something stuck in my throat when I scolded a student with disabilities, thinking he was bullying me. “That was the first time I encountered a ‘different’ child and it was a moment of regret I cannot forget,” said Nguyen Ai Van, 42. In 1998, after graduating from the Yen Bai Teacher’s Training College, Van was assigned to teach at Cam An Secondary School, in Yen Binh District of northern Yen Bai Province. Her first class was not in her area, which was Literature and History, but in Biology and Agriculture for 7th graders. The school lacked teachers and extra responsibilities were a matter of course. Van was very nervous as she stepped into the class.   Nguyen Ai Van in one of her classes. Photo by VnExpress/Duong Tam Just as she stepped on the platform in front of the class, Van heard the voice of a student at the entrance, asking to be let in. He was late. His face was flushed and … [Read more...] about A poster child for teaching kids with disabilities in Vietnam

Hai, 67, lives in a dingy rented room in Saigon’s Thu Duc District with a woman who used to be her husband. Trang Kim Sa, born Ngo Van Sang, had been married to her for a few years when he decided he would no longer fear social stigma and become the woman he had always wanted to be. This was in the early 1980s. Now 76, come rain or shine, limping, a cap on her head, Sa goes around town to sell lottery tickets, earning around VND100,000 ($4.3) a day, just enough for their day-to-day life. Without any savings or property, the couple have left things to fate, to an uncertain future. Hai (left) and Sa (right). Photo by VnExpress  Sang was the youngest son in his family. By the time he was 14 he realized he wanted to be a woman. He liked to wear pretty dresses, have his hair long and hang out with boys. However, he was afraid of the likely stigma and never revealed his secret to anyone. He then went to university, did military service and joined the air force in Saigon. Near … [Read more...] about Saigon woman gets back with gender bender husband

The teacher would call her first name and then say "nahm somut," or "made up name" - the standard suffix for stateless children. Thai students would snigger, and Noknoi and other so-called stateless children were often teased by students and teachers alike, she said. "Being stateless meant having no identity," she said. "We were reminded of that every day, with even our names taken away - we were nobody," she said. Noknoi, who asked that her surname be withheld due to the sensitivity of the topic, was born in a Thai village near the border with Myanmar. Her four siblings were also born in Thailand. But because their parents were from Myanmar, they were not recognised as Thai citizens until a few months ago - nearly three years after Noknoi applied for citizenship for all five of them. They were among the 487,000 stateless persons registered with the Thai government this year, according to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). Activists say the actual number may be more than three … [Read more...] about No name, no rights: the long road to Thai citizenship

In 1954, when the French withdrew from Hanoi and peace reigned once more in our capital, I was only 8 years old. Where I am from, students could only study up to 3rd grade. Our teacher, originally from the south, was a child of the Mekong Delta. He often told us stories about his hometown, about how it needed no dam to tame the Mekong River unlike our Red River since the Mekong people had learned to live with the behemoth. Every few months, when the water rose, people would get into their boats and go wherever the river flowed. The life-giving floods would provide their land with silt and fish, so the people could plant their crops without using fertilizers or go fishing with little effort. Life was good in the delta back then. But we never understood that as children since we never saw anything like that where we lived. As I grew up I learned about "Dat rung phuong Nam" (The southern land) by Doan Gioi, a fictional novel about the adventures of a little boy named An, who lost his … [Read more...] about Mekong Delta’s splendors now a relic of the past