Inside enormous plastic bags, with the opening carefully sealed, the children are completely protected from the water while their parents hold them and swim with them to the other bank. It is not a game or an improvised way to cross a flooded street: it is how some families in Huoi Hai, in northwestern Vietnam, get their children to class.
Every morning, nearly 50 students have to cross the Nam Ma River before beginning a journey that can take another five hours on foot. When the water level allows, families use small bamboo rafts that they push by hand. But during the rainy season, the current becomes so dangerous that even these boats can end up being swept down the river. Recently, an adult was injured after one of them capsized.
Local authorities have acknowledged the danger and asked that the bags be used only as a last resort. However, for these families, stopping the river crossing does not mean the children can stay home either: the school is on the other side, and they stay there all week. After completing the crossing, they still have to make their way for hours along slippery, difficult paths before they can finally sit down in a classroom.
