Chapter 15 — The Bookmobile Through the Mountains

The large meeting room of the Van Thac District Committee was filled with people that morning - representatives of the Department of Culture - Sports - Tourism, Department of Education, Department of Finance - Planning, and several officials from the Provincial Department of Culture came to attend the hearing. Nghi sat at a small corner of the presenter's table, her father's old leather briefcase placed neatly in front of her. Her hands shook slightly but her eyes remained steadfast.

The meeting began with a presentation by a representative of the company providing equipment for the digital library project, a young man elegantly dressed, presenting smoothly with a series of colorful slides, beautifully presented statistics, promising a future of "comprehensive digitalization" for highland education. Nghi sat and listened, took careful notes, and immediately recognized the gaps in the presentation — not once did this person mention the issue of unstable electricity grids, weak telecommunications signals, or long-term maintenance costs in remote places like Nam Cay.

When it was Nghi's turn to present, she stood up, took a deep breath, opened her father's leather briefcase, and took out each document slowly but surely. She started not with numbers, but with a story.

"Dear aunts, uncles, brothers and sisters," Nghi started, her voice was a bit shaky at first but gradually became steadier with each sentence, "before presenting the activity data, I want to tell a story. It is the story of a boy named Tuat, my father's student nearly twenty years ago, a smart boy but had to drop out of school because his family was too poor. Three years later, when we met again, that boy had forgotten all the words. That story is the reason why my father, Mr. Khuong Vinh Trac, decided to give up his stable teaching job to start a mobile bookmobile program, bringing literacy to the places where children like Tuat live, so that tragedy does not happen again."

She continued to present, interweaving specific data — the number of book loans, the number of villages served, the number of students who have improved their academic performance — with real stories and real artifacts. She showed Vang Thi My's painting, read aloud the words she had written on the back, her voice choked when she read the sentence "I want to grow up to be an artist drawing pictures for children's books". She read Truong Minh Khoi's letter, telling about the change in the way the boy viewed his father's work. She told about Lo Van Pao, about her dream of getting into a boarding school that is gradually becoming a reality thanks to the review books brought to the remote school.

"I don't deny the value of technology and digital transformation," Nghi said, her eyes looking straight at Mr. Vinh and the officials attending the meeting, "but I would like to ask, the digital library project has taken into account the fact that villages like Seo Lu, Khuoi Tra, especially Nam Cay school, do not have a stable electricity grid or telecommunications signal, so how can those tablet kiosks work? I don't want two prizes. These methods must confront and exclude each other. I believe that in places where there are conditions, digital technology can supplement a rich source of learning materials. But in places where technology cannot reach, mobile bookmobiles are still the only and most practical bridge between literacy and children in remote areas.

Nghi's presentation ended in the silence of the entire meeting room, a silence different from the polite silence often seen after administrative presentations - this is the silence of people who are really thinking and reconsidering what they just heard. A few older officers in the room discreetly wiped the corners of their eyes, while others nodded in agreement.

Mr. Luong Dac Uy, Chairman of the District People's Committee, who chaired the meeting, after a moment of contemplation, spoke up, his voice was deep and weighty. "Thank you, Ms. Nghi, for your very moving and convincing presentation. I also heard the report from the Culture Department about the digital library project. Obviously, these are two issues that are not simple, need to be considered more carefully, cannot be decided hastily in one meeting."

He turned to look at Mr. Vinh, who had been sitting quietly since the beginning of the meeting. His eyes were a bit thoughtful, different from his usual confident attitude. "Mr. Vinh, I would like to propose this - instead of making a decision to cut the budget now, the district will hold a more extensive public hearing, with the participation of representatives of the villages and schools involved, within the next eight weeks. This will be an opportunity for both sides to present more fully, and also give us more time to collect more actual data, including directly surveying the infrastructure situation in the relevant areas."

Mr. Uy's proposal caused a stir in the entire meeting room. Nghi sat still, her heart pounding, not knowing whether to be happy or worried — she had avoided an immediate decision to cut back, but at the same time, she also knew that the next eight weeks would be an even tougher battle, with a bigger stage, more pressure, and no guarantee the final outcome would be in her program's favor.

After the meeting ended, Mr. Vinh proactively came to meet Nghi. His eyes were somewhat softer than the previous meeting. "Miss Nghi, your presentation today made me rethink many things. I apologize for my previous one-sided assessment. Regarding the invitation to visit Nam Cay, I agree. I will arrange to go with you next week, before the official hearing takes place."

Nghi breathed a sigh of relief, nodded in thanks, feeling like he had just won a small but extremely important victory. She walked out of the District Committee headquarters under the harsh noon sunlight, took the phone to immediately call Nam, her voice was both tired and full of hope.

"Eight weeks, Nam," she said, "we have eight weeks to prepare for the public hearing. Mr. Vinh has also agreed to visit Nam Cay next week."

"Eight weeks is enough for me to do a lot of things," Nam replied, his voice filled with determination over the phone. "This is not the end, Nghi, this is the beginning of a real campaign. I will not let this program fall."

Standing in the middle of the district headquarters yard, looking up at the cloudless blue sky, Nghi clearly felt that the road ahead was still very long and arduous, but for the first time since receiving that scary announcement, she felt she was no longer alone, and that there was a real glimmer of hope at the end of the road.

That evening, Nghi stopped by the tea shop to tell her mother the news. After hearing this, Mrs. Dung hugged her daughter, her voice choked with emotion. "I'm very proud of you, Nghi. You've done something I wasn't sure you could do - standing in front of a meeting room full of officials, convincing even those who already had prejudices. Your dad is definitely smiling somewhere."

"I'm still very worried, mom," Nghi said, even though she couldn't hide the small joy in her heart. "Eight weeks sounds like a long time, but to prepare for a large-scale public hearing with the participation of many parties, I'm afraid it's not enough."

"You don't have to do it alone," Mrs. Dung said, squeezing her daughter's hand. "I will help you as much as I can, whether it's just making tea for guests or preparing additional documents. Besides, you also have Teacher Nam, Miss Ngan, and even relatives in the villages. In the past, your father could do it alone, let alone now you have a whole team standing by your side."

Her mother's words of encouragement made Nghi feel much warmer. That night, before going to bed, she opened her notebook and wrote a short but determined note: "The first meeting is over. Eight weeks ahead. Don't be negligent, but don't be afraid either. Dad, I will try my best to keep what you have built, and perhaps, I will do more." Closing the notebook, she turned off the light, fell asleep with a feeling of relief and hope, ready for the challenging campaign ahead.

Before falling asleep, Nghi could still remember Mr. Uy's eyes when he announced his decision to hold the hearing - not the eyes of someone who had preconceived notions, but the eyes of someone who was really considering, really listening. That's what makes her believe that, even though the road ahead is still full of obstacles, at least the door is still open, and with everything she, Nam, her family, and the entire village community are building together, the opportunity to keep the bookmobile program is still there, just waiting for them to grasp it with all their efforts and determination.