Lesson 1: Changes in Dong Tram Parish

(Baonghean) - Going down the Dragon ferry to Hung Son commune, we were truly amazed by the changes in a rural area on the left bank of the Lam River, which used to be one of the poorest in Anh Son district. The green tea hills and the winding acacia hills are creating a vibrant eco-tourism area, the internal traffic roads are open, the fields have been consolidated into large plots, and the food crops are growing green and fertile. A new life is opening up thanks to the consensus, support, solidarity, and harmony of "religion and life" of the Catholic and non-Catholic people here in response to the new thinking and working methods of the Party Committee - Government....

The revolution of land consolidation and conversion of crop structure...

Dong Tram parish (Quan Lang parish) is located on the left bank of Lam river through Hung Son commune, Anh Son district. The ferry makes Hung Son like an "oasis". During the rainy season, almost the whole commune is isolated from the right side of Lam river. The majority of Hung Son people live on agriculture, but the rice fields are small, the rice land area is only 70 hectares. Therefore, the people's life is extremely difficult, the commune is among the poorest in the district.

To describe a period of poverty in his hometown, Commune Chairman Vo Van Hien jokingly said that in the past, wherever he went, he did not dare to admit that he was a Hung Son resident because he was so poor! Before 1994, the whole commune did not have any students who could go to high school. But now, the lives of Hung Son residents, both Catholic and non-Catholic, are changing day by day, the economy is improving, and spiritual and religious activities are also flourishing. Hung Son commune currently has 850 households with 3,900 people, of which 214 households with 1,270 people are parishioners of Dong Tram parish, distributed in 6/9 hamlets, of which many are concentrated in hamlets 7, 8, 9.

Following Mr. Le Van Tri, a parishioner of Dong Tram parish, we went to Hamlet 9 - where the parishioners account for 90% of the population, and where the parishioners are at the forefront of the movement to develop the economy, eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, and build new rural areas, especially the implementation of land consolidation with the single-plot rice field model. Parishioner Nguyen Xuan Vinh - Deputy of the Executive Committee of Dong Tram parish, who has been the hamlet chief for more than ten years, said: The whole hamlet has 118 households with 575 people, 90% of whom are parishioners. Implementing the policy of land consolidation and changing the crop structure has changed the lives of the people a lot! The whole hamlet has only 6 poor households left.

New houses are being built by parishioners in hamlet 9, Hung Son commune.

Village chief Vinh is a pioneer in economic development, getting rich legitimately from labor. Currently, his family has 7 sao of tea that are ready for harvest, 1 hectare of rattan, 1 hectare of acacia. The average income from tea each year is nearly 50 million VND, helping his family have a comfortable life, and his children have the conditions to study. However, sitting and talking about the village and commune, we know that his village has many Catholic households that are even better at business, with a total annual income of several hundred million VND. That is the comprehensive farm model of the families of the brothers: Dau Dinh Tam, Le Xuan Long, Dau Van Sang...

With a new business mindset, the alluvial plains along the Lam River are now green sugarcane fields, the hills in the 20km belt surrounding the commune have changed from wild and barren to "growing" into tea gardens and acacia forests bringing high economic value. Land consolidation, development of industrial tea, raising pigs, cattle and raw materials (acacia, rattan...) in parallel with actively implementing mechanization in the fields, applying science and technology in developing food crops is truly the right direction, a revolution that creates a strong momentum for the people of Hung Son.

The family of parishioner Tran Thi Hop has 9 children, the husband is a seriously disabled veteran (81% disabled), the whole family depends on a few fields of rice, alluvial land is difficult to cultivate, so poverty and hardship seem to follow them endlessly. However, since receiving reclaimed hill land to grow 0.5 hectares of tea, grow rattan, raise pigs, chickens..., her family's life has begun to improve. "The average income of the family is also nearly 50 million a year, allowing them to rebuild a more spacious house. Previously, the first 8 children had to stop studying due to poverty, now there is only one child in 8th grade, the whole family is determined to let him study properly", Ms. Hop shared.

The resilience of the people

Coming to Hung Son, we were not only told by the commune officials or the people enthusiastically about the "revolution" in economic development, but also filled with stories of donating land to build inter-village roads, building village infrastructure, building solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics, and building cultural life in residential areas. It is not just one or a few typical households, but in this land, hundreds of households share the same enthusiastic and positive spirit. The leader in the land donation movement is still Hamlet 9 with 100% of the households in the hamlet participating in donating land. Like the family of Catholic Nguyen Xuan Son, who has just saved up to build a solid and spacious fence around his house, but is still willing to dismantle it and move back to donate hundreds of square meters of land to build inter-village and inter-commune roads, serving the new rural planning.

Walking around the tree-lined streets in Hung Son, Commune Chairman Vo Van Hien could not hide his pride in the land clearance achievement, which according to him "is faster than anywhere else in our country": "The Left Bank of Lam River Road passing through our commune is 7km long, but the land clearance progress was completed in just 1 day and handed over to the construction unit. The most valuable thing is that both Catholics and non-Catholics happily complied even though they had not received any support money for land clearance. Not to mention that 99% of households in the hamlets volunteered to donate an average of 50-60m2 of land, with many households donating up to 700m2 of land to build inter-village and inter-commune roads."

The economic upturn has led to the development of education, culture and society in Hung Son. Now, Hung Son people have enough conditions to invest in their children's education. Therefore, the story of the whole commune having no high school students in Hung Son has become a thing of the past. Village chief Nguyen Xuan Vinh humorously told us a funny story, with an unconcealed sense of pride in his eyes: "Last year's Mid-Autumn Festival, the hamlet decided to award prizes to children who had certificates of merit. Unexpectedly, so many children brought certificates of merit, while the Education Encouragement Fund only had 1.7 million VND. We had to put it aside... Currently, the whole commune has 25 parishioners studying at universities and colleges. The peak was in 2008, with hamlet 9 alone having 7 students pass the university entrance exam. Not only that, the branches and organizations (veterans' association, youth union, farmers' association, elderly association, self-management group...) are active, attracting 100% of members to participate. The party cell alone has been recognized as exemplary in cleanliness and strength for 5 consecutive years, and has been awarded a certificate of merit by the district and province. In the hamlet, there are no people who violate social evils....".

Mr. Tran Duc Chau - Secretary of the Party Committee of Hung Son commune also said: It is worth noting that the parishioners have been aware of the parallel implementation of religious and secular work. From maintaining solidarity between the religious and secular, actively participating in social activities, union activities, fully contributing to all types of funds to strictly complying with the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's laws, and local conventions and covenants. For example, in hamlet 9, along with contributions to build the parish church, the hamlet assembly hall - mobilizing all the people's resources worth 175 million VND has also started construction. Of which, each household contributed over 700 thousand VND, not including working days, sand and gravel materials...

Up to now, the project has been completed and put into use to serve community activities, to the joy of the parishioners... Currently, the whole commune has more than 20 core cadres who are parishioners participating in the political system from hamlets, communes to districts. A typical example is the parishioner party member Le Van Tri - initially just the village chief of a parishioner's hamlet, then the head of the commune's agricultural committee, but he has risen to become Vice Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Anh Son district, a delegate of the Provincial People's Council for 3 consecutive terms. Coming to Hung Son this time, we were also fortunate to have an interesting conversation with parishioner Le Van Xuan, born in 1920, whose family has been recognized as a cultural family for many years, with 10 children, 5 of whom are typical good economic models of the district and commune. He frankly said: Regardless of the government or the priest and the parish, anything implemented that benefits the people and the country, the parishioners of Dong Tram parish are ready to listen.

On the contrary, whatever is wrong or not, the people also frankly criticize and give constructive comments. And in fact, the comments of the parishioners are listened to and amended by the government as well as the priest in charge and the parishioners... to create harmony between religion and life...". Not only Mr. Xuan, through contact and conversation, many parishioners in Dong Tram parish also sincerely expressed: "Contributing to the government to build a new life, bringing prosperity and happiness to the people is the responsibility and duty of every citizen, at the same time it is a way for parishioners to carry out God's will as well as the good principles and purposes of the Catholic Church to make "the country glorious, religion bright".

The story of escaping poverty, getting rich, building new rural areas in the direction of "good life, good religion", "the gospel in the heart of the nation" in Dong Tram parish (Quan Lang parish) by the Party Committee, government and people of Hung Son commune is truly a shining example in the Catholic community; a model that needs to be replicated throughout the province.

(To be continued)

Thanh Duy - Khanh Ly