Thai village has not had a third child for 8 consecutive years

(Baonghean.vn) – That is Vinh Kim village, Hoa Son commune, Anh Son district. Many families in the village, although only having daughters, do not have more children but focus on building their lives and taking care of their children.

Realizing early that having many children is one of the causes of poverty, despite having two daughters, the family of Ms. Le Thi Thanh and Mr. Lu Van Trung in Vinh Kim village, Hoa Son commune voluntarily signed a commitment with the village not to have a third child.

Although she had two daughters, Le Thi Thanh's family did not have a third child to focus on economic development. Photo: Thai Hien

Ms. Thanh confided: Many people still have the concept of "having both boys and girls", but my husband and I both think that boys and girls are the same, the important thing is that parents must be responsible for taking care of and raising their children and building the family economy.

Currently, her family focuses on raising pigs, chickens, and cows. Each year, they raise 2 to 3 litters of pigs and 3 cows. In addition to raising livestock, her family also grows sugarcane and cassava. Currently, the family is considered well-off in the village. Both children are well-behaved and good at studying. For many years, the family has been recognized as a "Cultural Family".

Vinh Kim village, Hoa Son commune has 145 households, 609 people, of which over 90% are Thai ethnic people. Although it is a village with a large Thai ethnic population, in recent years it has been a typical locality of Anh Son district in the family planning movement. Up to now, the village has not had a third child for 8 consecutive years.

The form of propaganda, mobilization, and counseling at households, focusing on couples of childbearing age and couples with only one child, has been effectively implemented in the village. Photo: Thai Hien

This consensus was the result of a propaganda process that changed people's awareness. Ms. Lu Thi Suu, a population collaborator in Vinh Kim village, shared: "Before 2005, 80% of Vinh Kim village households were poor and hungry. The biggest concern of village and commune officials at that time was to do something to help people escape poverty. One of the biggest reasons identified at that time was that families did not have a sense of family planning. So the village made a rule that couples should not have a third child."

After the convention, Vinh Kim village established a “no third child” club with the participation of couples of childbearing age. In addition to regular monthly club and group activities, commune and village population officers visited each house of families with only one child or some couples who did not fully understand the population policy and family planning to propagate and mobilize the implementation of family planning measures.

Club and group activities are held regularly every month. Photo: Thai Hien

Continuously, persistently, with the steady drip, monthly mobilization and consultation, people's awareness has gradually changed. Up to now, the whole village has 108 couples of childbearing age, of which 80% use contraceptive methods.

Along with implementing family planning well, Vinh Kim village, Hoa Son commune also mobilizes people to apply science and technology in production and animal husbandry, focusing on planting forests, raw sugarcane, raising buffaloes, cows and pigs for sale.

Thanks to that, the rural appearance of the locality has also changed a lot, there is no longer the practice of burning forests to make fields, free-range livestock raising as before, people can use national grid electricity, use clean water for daily life; 90% of households have televisions, motorbikes, security and order are maintained. Currently, the average income per capita of the village is over 20 million VND/person/year, the poverty rate decreases by 2-3% every year.

Thai Hien