Le Hung Tai is a 13-year-old boy who lives in the community center of Suoi Lau village, Suoi Cat commune, Cam Lam district, Khanh Hoa province, Vietnam. Like other children at his age, Tai lives with his parents. His father is a cyclo-driver and his mother stays at home to manage the household and to take care of Tai and his younger brother, who is 11 years old and attends grade 3 in the same school as Tai.

Unfortunately, Tai's parents divorced three years ago due to their financial problem and moved to another city. Both of them seldom come back home to see their children. The only thing they can do, especially the mother, is to call Tai every month to ask for his news. Since the day of his parents' separation, Tai lives with his grand-mother in an old house. She is a laborer and works in a construction yard. She works in the morning, comes back home to cook for her grandchildren, has lunch with them and gets back to work at 1pm. Her monthly revenue does not suffice to feed 3 people. Tai is in grade 5 now. Everyday, he accompanies his brother to school. In addition to his morning class, Tai takes an extra course in the afternoon from Monday to Wednesday. He often plays football with his classmates in the school yard when he is free from study. At night, he reviews the lessons himself and helps his brother in his homework. If Tai doesn't understand a lesson, he can ask his neighbor, Tuan, a 7th grade student, for help. Tai's performance at school is very good. He is ranked as one of the best students in his class. Comment: Parents' separation and a lack of parental care can be highly tolling emotionally for children and negatively affect their school performance.

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