"Catalyst" for poverty reduction in Quynh Luu

(Baonghean) - One of the outstanding activities of the Fatherland Front at all levels in Quynh Luu district in recent times is to encourage and call on all classes of people to join hands and contribute to support the "For the Poor" funds. Although the average amount of support is not large, it is a driving force to help the poor rise out of poverty sustainably...

Visiting the house of Mrs. Ho Thi Vich, one of the poor single-parent households in Tan Giang hamlet, Quynh Bang, joy was evident on the face of this 78-year-old woman. Before receiving support to build a solidarity house, she had to live in a dilapidated temporary house, and the house was located near the field, so every time it rained or was windy, she felt even more lonely. In 2013, the hamlet and commune considered her eligible and the district supported her with 20 million VND. She went home to discuss with her children to borrow more to build a new house. After nearly 6 months of construction, in early 2014, she had a spacious house worth nearly 180 million VND. In the same situation as Mrs. Vich, Mr. Hoang Danh Hao's household in Tan Giang hamlet was even more difficult due to the large number of people, both children and grandchildren in the family were sick. In 2013, with support of 7 million VND, the couple initially planned to build a temporary house, but with encouragement from neighbors, brothers and relatives who lent them money, they were able to build a new, spacious house worth over 100 million VND. Although they have moved in but have not yet had a door due to lack of money, Mr. Hao is very happy because he has a new house that he could not even dream of before.

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As a coastal commune with difficult socio-economic conditions and an average income per capita of only 18 million VND/year, Quynh Bang is one of the communes that have been on the list for many consecutive years in collecting funds for the "For the Poor". Mr. Ho Ngoc Phuong, Chairman of the Commune Fatherland Front Committee, said: Although Quynh Bang is still poor, the rate of mobilization of contributions from the people is always the highest. Within 5 years, the commune has mobilized nearly 190 million VND, every year reaching and exceeding the plan assigned by the District Fatherland Front, some years exceeding by over 200%. With the mobilized resources and support from higher levels, within 3 years, the commune has supported 32 poor households to build and repair houses with a total amount of nearly 124 million VND, and built 5 new houses.

Experience shows that the exemplary role of party members is the most important. For any regular or sudden campaign, after the superiors approve the policy, the party cells will propose it for party members to register first, then mobilize members of mass organizations to implement it and expand it to the people, businesses, children of the homeland, and kind-hearted people. Thanks to that, most of the contribution targets were completed. Instead of contributing 10,000 VND/person according to the planned target, households voluntarily contributed more, and even people who were not in the campaign voluntarily contributed 3-4 times more.

In addition to mobilizing and calling for local contributions, many communes in Quynh Luu also called for sponsorship and cooperation from children far from home to contribute to the fund. Thanks to that, in 2013, dozens of communes in the area completed and exceeded the above plan by 2 to 3 times. Typically, Quynh Nghia commune achieved 349%, Quynh Thang 222%, Quynh Thach 224%, Quynh Luong 203%, Quynh Long 176%, Ngoc Son 169%... In 5 years, Quynh Luu mobilized the "For the Poor" fund with an amount of nearly 9 billion VND, of which in 2013, it mobilized nearly 1.5 billion VND, exceeding the registered plan by 162%. Thanks to the above fund, in 5 years, Quynh Luu supported the construction of 394 solidarity houses and repaired 452 houses for poor households worth 8.2 billion VND.

On the other hand, to help the poor escape poverty, people in some communes also organize to provide working days and seedlings to help poor households build houses and produce. Taking the lead are Quynh Luong and Quynh Bang communes, the communes assign each organization to help 1 to 2 poor households escape poverty; households in the hamlet support each other with "homemade" seedlings, transfer safe vegetable growing techniques according to Viet Gap standards. Thanks to the above solutions, within just 5 years, the poverty rate in these communes has decreased rapidly and quite sustainably. In Quynh Bang, the number of poor households has decreased from 10.2% to 5%; similarly, in Quynh Luong, the number has decreased from 6.3% to 3.9% and there is no more re-poverty.

Mr. Mai Van Lam - Vice Chairman of the District Fatherland Front Committee, Deputy Head of the Fund Mobilization Committee "For the Poor" Quynh Luu said: Although the amount of support is not much, on average only from 7 - 10 million VND or more than 20 million VND/house, thanks to this "catalyst", many households have risen up, mobilized more relatives, the help of the neighborhood, and organizations to build solid houses worth hundreds of millions of VND. After building the houses, the households were very excited and determined to escape poverty.

Quynh Luu's lesson is that immediately after the superiors approve the policy and plan, the Mobilization Committee must promptly advise the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee to issue documents guiding the implementation at the grassroots level; regularly urge and remind to deploy fund collection according to plan; periodically meet and have invitations to encourage large enterprises and philanthropists to participate in contributions. On the other hand, the District Mobilization Committee must manage and use the Fund publicly, democratically, and for the right purposes according to regulations and rules; regularly do a good job of providing professional guidance, supervision and inspection, and promptly remedy limitations in fund management and use at the grassroots level.

Article and photos:Nguyen Hai