The ethnic minorities of Nghe An always held a special place in President Ho Chi Minh's heart.

HO CHI MINH AND HIS HOMELAND OF NGHE AN

For President Ho Chi Minh, his homeland was of paramount importance and deep affection. Although he had to leave his homeland at a very young age, it always remained deeply ingrained in his mind and heart. Despite traveling and working in many parts of the world, Uncle Ho still retained the character, soul, and voice of his homeland.

When he visited his hometown for the first time (June 1957), upon arriving home, Uncle Ho stood silently in the yard for a moment before going inside. Looking at the newly renovated altar, he said with emotion: “In the old days, my family was poor. The altar was only made of bamboo, without legs, just two wooden planks nailed to the sides of the pillars to support it, the base was made of bamboo, and a plain mat was spread on top…”. Then, he went out to look around the yard and garden, and said to everyone: “In the past, the garden had a beautiful guava tree, a pomelo tree, and a row of betel nut trees.”

Speaking to the people in his hometown, Uncle Ho always reminded everyone to be united, to love one another, to always uphold the revolutionary traditions of their homeland, and to build a more prosperous and beautiful homeland. He said: "People return to visit their hometowns with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, but this time I return to my hometown with only joy, not sorrow, joy because my homeland has escaped from slavery and suffering."

During his second visit to his hometown in December 1961, President Ho Chi Minh visited and spoke with officials and people of his province in Vinh town (now Vinh city), Vinh Mechanical Factory, Nghe An Mountain Teacher Training School; Dong Hieu Farm (Nghia Dan district); Vinh Thanh Cooperative (Yen Thanh district),… Everywhere he went, he cordially inquired about everyone's health, and reminded officials and Party members to uphold exemplary conduct and pioneering spirit in order to build a prosperous and strong regime and homeland.

As someone who sacrificed personal life for the sake of the nation, throughout his revolutionary career, President Ho Chi Minh only visited his hometown twice (in 1957 and 1961). However, he always followed the developments in his hometown, promptly sending letters of praise and encouragement for achievements, as well as criticizing and reminding of shortcomings and deficiencies.

For his homeland of Nghe An, President Ho Chi Minh always harbored the heartfelt desire of a son far from home, always wishing for his homeland to become prosperous and developed, to become "one of the most prosperous provinces in the North." In his letters, telegrams, articles, and speeches to his homeland, President Ho Chi Minh expressed joy and enthusiasm for the progress and exemplary conduct of the cadres and Party members, praising their achievements, sharing experiences in their activities, and encouraging "the comrades of the province" to strive and lead the people in carrying out revolutionary tasks, while always remembering to correct the revolutionary spirit and ethics of the cadres and Party members.

He frankly criticized shortcomings and weaknesses, and constantly reminded his "comrades in the province" to exemplify revolutionary ethics. This meant being exemplary leaders in revolutionary movements, being selfless and impartial, wholeheartedly caring for the people and the country, avoiding negative behaviors, practicing self-criticism, and humbly listening to criticism and suggestions from the people.

In "Letter to the comrades of my home province," the first letter President Ho Chi Minh sent to Nghe An just two weeks after reading the Declaration of Independence, he did not write in his capacity as President of the country, but "only in the name of an old comrade to share some experience" with the provincial leaders.

In the letter, Uncle Ho warned the "comrades in the province" to immediately correct their shortcomings, including the abuse of power, and reminded cadres and Party members to guard against corruption. He clearly stated: "Many of our cadres are 'devoted and loyal,' extremely loyal to their duties and to the Government... But there are also those who are corrupt, acting like revolutionary officials, either acting arbitrarily and autocratically, or using public office for private gain. Some even use public law to take private revenge, causing the people to resent the Government and the Party."[1].

More than three months after the Nhan Dan newspaper published the article "Raising revolutionary ethics, eradicating individualism" on February 3, 1969, on May 19, 1969, Uncle Ho sent a portrait of himself to the province with the inscription: "Cadres and Party members must be exemplary in all their work, and must wholeheartedly and diligently serve the people."

Two months after sending the portrait, Uncle Ho sent his final letter to the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, which contained his deep affection, responsibility, and hopes for his homeland. At the beginning of the letter, he expressed his joy at seeing that cadres at all levels and in all sectors of the province had begun to correct bureaucratic and authoritarian tendencies, striving to stay close to the people to organize and mobilize them to implement the policies of the Party and the State.

He paid special attention to practicing democracy with the people and caring for their lives. He devoted a large part of the letter to reminding the Provincial Party Committee to "actively practice democracy with the people even more." He meticulously instructed on what needed to be done so that the people could exercise their democratic rights in all matters, to discuss and participate in building the Party. To achieve this, cadres and Party members must set an example of self-criticism, encourage the people to criticize, and humbly listen to the people's opinions. At the end of the letter, he wrote: "I sincerely hope that the people and comrades of the province will strive to make Nghe An one of the most prosperous provinces in the North."[2].

In response to President Ho Chi Minh's sentiments, the people of Nghe An have always been at the forefront of all revolutionary movements. Nghe An contributed significantly in terms of manpower and resources to the two wars of resistance against French colonialism and American imperialism, winning independence for the nation.

In the process of national construction and renovation, and especially in fulfilling President Ho Chi Minh's instruction: "strive to make Nghe An one of the most prosperous provinces in the North," the Party Committee and people of Nghe An have united, leveraged their internal strengths, overcome difficulties and challenges, and strived to achieve important accomplishments in the fields of socio-economic development, national defense and security, and Party building, making Nghe An increasingly prosperous, strong, and civilized.

HO CHI MINH AND THE PEOPLE OF VARIOUS ETHNIC GROUPS
MINORITIES OF NGHE AN

During his lifetime, President Ho Chi Minh had a great deal of affection for the Thai, Mong, Khmu, Tho, O Du, Dan Lai, and other ethnic groups. Although he never had the opportunity to visit the mountainous regions of Nghe An, these people were always in his heart.

During his second visit to his hometown in 1961, despite the limited time, President Ho Chi Minh visited and spoke with teachers and students at the Nghe An Mountain Teacher Training School on December 9, 1961. His words of inquiry and advice to the ethnic minority students at the Nghe An Mountain Teacher Training School were filled with his deep affection, understanding, and concern for their lives and progress. This also reflected the immense love he had for the ethnic minority people of Nghe An.

During this second visit to his hometown, Uncle Ho visited the Dong Hieu State Farm on December 10, 1961. There, he reminded the farm's cadres and workers to maintain internal unity, unity between the farm and the local people… and stated, “State farms have the duty to unite and assist the local people. The farm's techniques are more advanced, therefore, the local people need to unite with the farm, learn the farm's working methods, build cooperatives well, and ensure the members' lives become increasingly prosperous – that is socialism…”[3].

The speech delivered during his visit to the Nghe An Mountainous Region Teacher Training School was imbued with President Ho Chi Minh's affection, concern, and expectations for the ethnic minority people of the province:

"Seeing you all happy and healthy, I am very pleased. I visited one of the bedrooms, which was quite clean. Is it usually like this? Or did they only clean it after they heard I was coming?"

How many ethnic groups are there here? Why are they all dressed like the Kinh people?

- Where are the indigenous children? Why are they dressed like Kinh people?

Where are the Thai children?

Where are Thanh and the others?

- Where are the Tay Muoi children?

- Where are the Tay children? Is there only one child? Why isn't there a girl? Next time, there must be a girl.

Where are the Dan Lai children?

Where are the Lao children?

Do the children understand each other?

- Can the children talk to each other? What language do they speak to each other?

In the past, the Westerners and feudal rulers caused ethnic groups to hate each other, the Muong people hated the Kinh people. Now, all ethnic groups are brothers and sisters. The ethnic group that is larger, has more people, and is more advanced must help other ethnic groups so that they can all progress equally and be united like brothers and sisters in one family. Can we do that? What are you children competing in here? I advise you to study well. What does it mean to study well? Studying well means that politics and culture must be closely linked to labor and production, not to study aimlessly. The purpose of studying is to make the economy, politics, and culture all progress, and for all ethnic groups to be united. What else is studying for? To build socialism.

What is socialism? It's prosperity and well-being. What else? It's unity, happiness, and good health. What must we do to reach socialism? We must study, work, and unite. What else? We must increase production, produce more rice, more potatoes, and all sorts of other things. Plenty of cloth means warm clothes, plenty of rice and potatoes means enough to eat. And what else? We must practice frugality. Increasing production means producing more, but we must also practice frugality.

Do you want to build socialism? To build socialism, we must be thrifty. The Soviet Union built socialism in 20 years, and was devastated by two wars of invasion. Now, we are building socialism with the help of the Soviet Union, China, and other fraternal countries. We have an easier time than the Soviet Union did before because we have friends helping us, but we still have to tighten our belts.

Do you children here have to pay for food? Our compatriots, workers, and farmers are currently tightening their belts to build socialism, yet you children here don't have to pay for education, food, or accommodation. That means you're already living under a communist regime. To repay this kindness, you shouldn't just study here; you should return and help your compatriots.

"Uncle came to visit the children and wished them progress."[4].

In 1965, after completing the first five-year adult education plan one year ahead of schedule, the cadres and people of the mountainous district of Que Phong received a letter of praise from President Ho Chi Minh. In the letter, President Ho Chi Minh expressed his joy at the achievements of the people of Que Phong district and kindly inquired about the well-being of everyone from the elderly to the youth and children of the district.

"

TGreetings to the people and officials of all ethnic groups in Que Phong district, Nghe An province.
The President is very pleased to commend the people and cadres of all ethnic groups in the district for their efforts and for successfully completing the five-year adult education plan one year ahead of schedule. He hopes that the people and cadres of the district will strive to achieve many more accomplishments in increasing production, being ready to fight, and continuing their work.Continue to study and make further progress, making a worthy contribution to the cause of fighting against America and saving the country of our entire nation.
Uncle sends his warmest regards to the elderly, the young people, and the children.
Best regards and may victory be yours!
Hanoi, April 12, 1966
Uncle Ho