"Three thirsts" in Xop Kha

(Baonghean) - Located 4 km from the center of Yen Hoa commune (Tuong Duong district), Xop Kha village, home to 79 households with 380 inhabitants, still faces many difficulties and shortages in electricity, roads, and clean water.

Yen Hoa commune has 12 villages, and Xop Kha is the most disadvantaged, with a poverty rate of 82% in 2014. The lives of the Khmu ethnic people here mainly depend on slash-and-burn agriculture and livestock farming in a "self-sufficient" manner. Part of the reason is the extremely difficult road access to the village, hindering trade and the exchange of goods with the outside world. It was learned that 8 years ago, using funds from Project 135, Tuong Duong district invested 700 million VND to improve and reduce the slope of the road leading to Xop Kha, making it much easier for both people and vehicles to travel. However, due to floods and erosion, the road has become very difficult to access.

Students have to wade through the Cà stream to get to school.

Locals say that during the dry season, although travel is still somewhat difficult, during the annual rainy season, the stream rises and flows fiercely, leaving no option but to wait for the water to recede. At this time, Xop Kha is completely isolated from the outside world, sometimes for a week or even longer. The roads are muddy and slippery, with a dangerous abyss on the other side, posing a great risk to both people and vehicles; the only safe option is to travel on foot.

Another difficulty is that since the village was established, the villagers have still lacked electricity for lighting. They still use oil lamps and pound rice with pestles. The fans at Xop Kha Primary School, although installed five years ago, have never been used due to the lack of electricity. In recent years, a few well-off households in the village have purchased mini-generators powered by the Ca stream, but the fluctuating water levels have rendered them unusable. Currently, the entire village has only one rice milling machine belonging to Mr. Moong Van Trung and a few televisions. Not only do the villagers lack electricity and roads, but they also lack clean water. It is known that in 2000 and 2004, two gravity-fed water systems built by the government in Xop Kha village were swept away by floods after only a short period of use. With no other option, the villagers, teachers, and students had to build a channel to bring water from the Ca stream for daily use, even though they knew the water source was not hygienically safe.

The greatest wish of the people of Xop Kha village right now is for the government to pay attention and invest in building a road for them to travel more conveniently, for electricity to reach the village soon, and for clean water to use!

Van Dang