People in the highlands of Nghe An collect agricultural products to support the epidemic area.

With the spirit of mutual love and support, ethnic people in the remote district of Tuong Duong have invited each other to go to the forest to pick bamboo shoots, banana flowers, and wild vegetables to send to support people in the lowlands who are facing difficulties because ofCovid-19 epidemic.

Although life is still difficult, the people here are united and very affectionate. Responding to the call of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Tuong Duong district, in recent days, ethnic people of Tuong Duong district have invited each other to go to the forest to pick bamboo shoots, banana flowers, dig cassava, and pick wild vegetables to send to the lowlands.

The youth union members of Tam Dinh commune divided themselves, some went to the forest to pick bamboo shoots and banana flowers; the rest went down to the stream to pick water spinach to give to people in the lowlands to fight the epidemic. Photo: Dinh Tuan

Ms. Lo Thi Ngan, in Pa Ty village, Yen Tinh commune, said: “For many years, every time Tet comes, knowing that the lives of people here are still difficult, many volunteer groups from the lowlands have not been afraid of the long and dangerous journeys to directly bring rice, fish sauce, clothes, books, notebooks, etc. to give to the poor in Tuong Duong. We cannot forget those feelings. In recent days, people in the lowlands have been struggling to fight the epidemic. The Fatherland Front at all levels has called on people to contribute necessities to support people in the epidemic area. This is the time to repay the sincere feelings of the people in the lowlands, so early in the morning I took my bag to the forest to get bamboo shoots, banana flowers and wild vegetables to send to the lowlands as a thank you to those who have helped my family, as well as many people here.”

Although life in the border area is still difficult, people in Mai Son commune still donated over 600kg of necessities including pumpkin, banana, papaya, sweet eggplant, banana flower... In the photo, commune officials are sorting after receiving them from the people. Photo: Dinh Tuan

In Yen Tinh commune, not only Ms. Ngan's family but also households in 9/9 villages enthusiastically responded. After only one day of campaigning, the Fatherland Front of Yen Tinh commune received nearly 300kg of bamboo shoots, over 100kg of vegetables, nearly 100kg of sticky rice and many other types of fruits and vegetables.

Many communes had to use large trucks to transport the donations to the district. Photo: Dinh Tuan

Like the people of Yen Tinh commune and the communes in the inner and outer regions, people in the border communes such as Mai Son, Nhon Mai, and Tam Hop also voluntarily donate agricultural products that their families produce or harvest on their fields.

Mr. Va Ba Lau, in Pieng Cooc village, Mai Son commune, said: "My family has nothing, we are just stuck and have to ask the officials to send money to the lowlands to fight the epidemic. In our village, everyone who has anything contributes. Although the material things are not much, this is the sentiment of the Mong people sent to the lowlands."

Along with people in the whole commune, young people of Tam Dinh commune also went to the forest to pick bamboo shoots and down to the streams to pick wild vegetables as gifts to send to people in the epidemic area.

Each family contributed whatever they had. Some families had pumpkins, others had bamboo shoots, banana flowers, etc. Photo: Dinh Tuan

“Following the news channels, we see that people in the delta districts are having a hard time fighting the epidemic. In order to share the difficulties with people in the epidemic area, the commune Youth Union has mobilized members to donate products to give to people as well as forces on duty to prevent and fight the epidemic in localities in the epidemic area. Seeing that this is a meaningful work, the youth union members in the commune enthusiastically participated. After one implementation session, we harvested nearly 50kg of bamboo shoots, 20kg of banana flowers, and 60kg of various vegetables,” said Mr. Lo Van Hop, Secretary of the Tam Dinh Commune Youth Union.

The Fatherland Front of Tuong Duong district is the unit directly receiving and distributing gifts to lowland districts. Photo: Dinh Tuan

According to Mr. Luong Ba Vin - Head of the Mass Mobilization Committee, Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of Tuong Duong district: "In mid-July, an epidemic broke out in Cham Puong and Luong Minh villages. To help Tuong Duong district overcome difficulties and quickly contain the epidemic, officials and people of Vinh city, Nghi Loc, Dien Chau... supported people in the epidemic area as well as forces on duty to prevent and control the epidemic with both money and goods. Currently, the epidemic in these localities is quite complicated. In order to promptly encourage and share the difficulties, the Vietnam Fatherland Front of Tuong Duong district has called on people in the whole district to donate necessities to help people in the epidemic area. After only a short time, we received 1,868 kg of bamboo shoots, green squash, pumpkin, vegetables, bananas... equivalent to about 170,291,000 VND. We will send all of these necessities to the people of Vinh city, Nghi Loc district, Dien Chau district"./.