Sidewalk lessons between foreigner and child light up Ho Chi Minh City street

On the concrete sidewalk illuminated by the pale glow of a streetlight, Christopher, known simply as Chris, sits teaching English to a nine-year-old girl named Thanh Hien.

Beside them, her mother, Mai Anh, 44, quietly watches over her daughter while continuing her daily work selling lottery tickets.

It is a scene of striking contrast: the rush of motorbikes and city noise, and a child fully absorbed in learning.

Chris, who has been working in Vietnam for about a year, recalled that he first noticed Hien and her mother during one of his walks through the area.

The image stayed with him – mother and daughter sitting by a traffic light, the child studying while the mother worked tirelessly nearby.

“I saw a little girl who, despite everything, was serious about learning,” the 35-year-old Briton said.

“And I saw a mother doing everything she could to support her daughter. I felt I had to help in some way.”

He approached them and offered to teach Hien English, and they agreed.

Since then, he has returned regularly, turning the sidewalk into a makeshift classroom.

The lessons are simple but structured, lasting around two hours each session.

The girl’s mother describes him as a dedicated teacher.

“He is always on time. He teaches not just English, but also soft skills. We are very grateful,” Anh said.

“Selling lottery tickets gives such an unstable income that I could not send my child to a learning center," Anh said.

“When he said he would teach my daughter, we were very happy."

She sells some 300 lottery tickets each day when business is good.

Once the tickets are sold out early, they can go home sooner.

However, sometimes it can be around 11:00 pm when the streets quiet down and they finally return to their rented room, about two kilometers away.

As a way to repay the teacher’s kindness, the mother and daughter sometimes invite him to eat banh chung (square glutinous rice cake), and banh giay (round Vietnamese traditional glutinous rice cake), or to drink a glass of sugarcane juice.

The teacher never refuses anything, happily enjoying whatever he is offered.

As planned, Chris will return to his country in June.

He honestly said he has no fixed plans, but still hopes to have a chance to come back to Vietnam.

“I do love Vietnam. As Westerners, we can learn from the patriotism of your country,” Chris said.

“I have read about Vietnam’s history of struggle to defend its land. 

"The Vietnamese people’s resilience and courage are truly admirable."

He also shared that he loves Ho Chi Minh City because the people are really friendly and hospitable.

“Living here [Ho Chi Minh City] for a year has truly given me many memorable experiences, and I hope I will have a chance to return soôn," he said.

Love spreads on sidewalk

Seeing Hien’s eagerness to learn, many passers-by stop to give her books, notebooks, pens, rulers, cups of water, and boxes of snacks as encouragement.

Some even offer money, but her mother politely declines, instead inviting them to buy lottery tickets so that she and her children can return home earlier.

In third grade, Hien is the youngest of three sisters.

She goes to school during the day and follows her mother onto the streets at night to sell lottery tickets, as her mother does not feel safe leaving her home alone.

Her eldest sibling, 25, is already married, while her second sister, 16, suffers from epilepsy and also joins their mother on the streets when possible.

Their father, once a tech-based driver before the COVID-19 pandemic, now works as a traditional motorbike taxi driver.

Anh said the thing that troubles her most is having her young children accompany her through sun and rain to make a living on the streets.

Yet the children seem to understand the family’s difficult circumstances and always remain cheerful whenever they go out with their mother.

“At first, many people misunderstood and thought I was exploiting children," Anh said.

“The local police even called me in for questioning, but after verifying our situation, they let me go.

“Fortunately, many people here care about us. Some local police officers stop by to buy lottery tickets to support us. It’s very touching."

When asked about her dream, Hien’s eyes lit up and she said she wanted to become a doctor.

“Studying to become a doctor requires excellent grades and costs a lot of money,” her mother gently replied.

The little girl hesitated for a moment before softly saying: “Maybe I should become a teacher instead – it would cost less.”

Her mother looked at her daughter with a hint of sadness.

She understands the family’s hardships and the uncertainty of the future ahead.

However, she believes that as long as her daughter has dreams, she will do everything she can to help her spread her wings and reach farther.