A Warm Stopping Place in the Heart of Winter at Nam Dan

Winter arrives in Nam Dan in a way all its own: fog closes over the paths, and from first light the cold clings to the classroom roof and slips through every gap around the doors. For kindergarten children, a lesson on a freezing day takes more than books and toys. They need a floor warm enough to sit on, warm water for washing, and a room where the midday nap is not broken by the cold.

Those needs shaped the Spring of Love 2026 journey, which was prepared with water heaters, classroom mats, heating appliances and many essential gifts. Every item answers to something very specific in a child’s day: a mat means they no longer sit straight on the cold floor; a heater makes the classroom bearable; warm water makes caring for children safe and manageable through the winter.

The programme was aimed at 890 kindergarten children, most of them from ethnic minority families in Che La, Ta Nhiu and Nam Dan. That figure shows the scale of the trip, but it cannot hold every small moment: the curious eyes as the boxes were opened, the tiny hands closing around a gift, or the relief of teachers whose classrooms now had a little more with which to look after children on the coldest days.

Behind the gifts stands the effort of a whole community. Parents, students and teachers gave together; the volunteer team carried the goods and handed them over in person; the Party Committee and the Youth Union of Nam Dan commune helped make the connections on the ground. It was that coordination that kept goodwill from stopping at good intentions and turned it into supplies placed exactly where they were needed.

A spring programme cannot make the cold disappear, but it can make the freezing days less harsh. More than that, the trip sent the children and their families a clear message: even in this far-off place, the smallest needs of a child are still seen, still heard and still answered with respect.

When the team left Nam Dan, what remained was more than the boxes already handed out. It was the bond between the school, the families, the local authorities and the companions supporting them from afar. Spring, then, lies not only in the colours of a festive day but in a warmer classroom and in the belief that this journey of sharing will go on.

What changed

Water heaters, classroom mats, heating appliances and essential gifts were handed directly to children in Nam Dan. The programme supported 890 kindergarten children, mostly from ethnic minority families in Che La, Ta Nhiu and Nam Dan, with parents, students, teachers and the local authorities alongside.

Source: the original article