Join hands for a beautiful road and 'path'

"LIFETIME" WORK

The concrete road, still bright with the color of newly completed cement, leads through a stream and then divides into 3 paths leading to the families: Mr. Tran Huu Thinh, Mr. Nguyen Van Son and Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi living on a hillside in village 5, Thanh Lam commune (Thanh Chuong) as if painting the countryside picture here more prominently. To complete the concrete road of more than 200m long, the 3 families discussed and agreed, each household contributed more than 100 million VND for construction.

3 households in village 5, Thanh Lam commune (Thanh Chuong) gathered materials and rented machines to make concrete roads. Photo: Van Dang

The story of 3 mountainous households “working on their own” to build a wide concrete road has spread throughout Thanh Chuong district. “Hearing the news”, after the Lunar New Year, Ms. Le Thi Hong Thiet - Head of the Propaganda Department of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, along with a number of district and Thanh Lam commune officials, visited the households and toured the new road. Ms. Le Thi Hong Thiet exclaimed, “It is truly beyond imagination! Their economy is not well off, but they are willing to spend a large amount of money to build the road, some households even had to borrow money to contribute to the road. The 3 households have created a lifelong project and are a testament to the spirit of solidarity and self-reliance of our people.”

The 200m long road connects 3 families in village 5. Photo: Nguyen Nguyen

Mr. Dinh Van Binh - Secretary of Thanh Lam Commune Party Committee shared: Thanh Lam Commune is a mountainous area, the economy mainly depends on agriculture, but only produces 2 crops per year. Therefore, the lives of many households still face many difficulties. Recently, hundreds of local children who work far away, go to work abroad in other countries and send money back to support their families, as well as contribute to building new rural areas. Typically, 3 families: Mr. Tran Huu Thinh, Mr. Nguyen Van Son and Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi all have children working abroad. Although their children have only been gone for 1-2 years, the amount of money sent back is not much, but they are determined to spend money on a big job of building concrete roads to each household.

The three households discussed among themselves, built solid culverts, widened the roadbed, purchased materials, rented machinery, and mobilized manpower to pour concrete on the road. The commune’s budget was tight and was also being used for many new rural construction projects, so there was no budget to support the three families mentioned above. Previously, the three households had actively contributed, an average of over 10 million VND each, to join the people of village 5 in pouring concrete on inter-village roads…

Representatives of 3 households talked with officials of the Propaganda Department of Thanh Chuong District Party Committee and leaders of Thanh Lam commune. Photo: Nguyen Nguyen

TOGETHER FOR ONE PATH, ONE WAY

On the day Nghe An Newspaper reporters and district and commune officials visited the "lifetime" project of the 3 families mentioned above, Mr. Tran Huu Thinh excitedly said: "We joined forces to build a wide and beautiful concrete road to make traveling more convenient. Before, whenever it rained a little, it was slippery and very difficult to travel. Besides, the village road in front has been poured with concrete, we have to connect it to make life less difficult. But the most important thing is that the 3 households are in agreement and determined. If only 1 of the 3 households "backed down" or lacked consensus, this road section probably could not be built, because the 3 households share the same road, the same path."

The total cost of the concrete road that the three families of Mr. Tran Huu Thinh, Mr. Nguyen Van Son and Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi have built so far is more than 300 million VND. On average, each household contributes more than 100 million VND. This is a huge amount of money for each household in a purely agricultural mountainous rural area. The greater value is the solidarity of the households, demonstrated by actions and results that not only are the existing roads convenient for travel but also spread widely in the community.

Mr. Tran Huu Thinh (2nd from left) talks with Thanh Chuong district officials. Photo: Nguyen Nguyen

As shared by Mr. Nguyen Van Dang - Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Thanh Lam Commune (Thanh Chuong): "The works of the three families of Mr. Tran Huu Thinh, Mr. Nguyen Van Son and Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi have become the topic mentioned by the people of the upper and lower villages of the commune with admiration. In the people's conferences in the villages, the Party Committee, the Fatherland Front and the mass organizations of the commune, village and hamlet also honored and set an example of solidarity and self-reliance of the three families. These are typical examples that contribute to promoting the construction of new rural areas in areas with many difficulties such as Thanh Lam Commune".

More touchingly, through conversation, we learned about the special circumstances of Ms. Nguyen Thi Hoi's family, one of the three families determined to build the road. This year, Ms. Hoi is 56 years old, but for more than 26 years, since her husband passed away, she has worked alone to raise her two children. Through her hard work and production, from her fields, gardens, livestock development and hired labor, Ms. Hoi has brought her family's economy out of poverty, taking care of her two children to grow up.

Nearly 2 years ago, Ms. Hoi boldly borrowed money for her eldest son to go to Japan to work. Her son worked hard, saved money and sent it back to his mother to pay off the debt and renovate the house. When the idea of ​​building a concrete road to the 3 households was raised, Ms. Hoi was very determined. She said: “I discussed with the 2 households that no matter how expensive it was, we had to do it, because the project was for ourselves and our children. That’s why, even though I had just finished repairing the house, I didn’t have enough money to contribute, so I had to borrow enough to contribute to the road. Luckily, my son in Japan called and said, Mom, just borrow money to contribute to the road, the next day I will save money and send it back to pay off the debt…”.

When we said goodbye to the 3 households in village 5 and were about to leave, at that moment, Ms. Hoi’s son who was abroad called her online. Ms. Hoi’s voice was very excited when talking to her son, saying: “The whole village and commune are also happy about the new road, my son. Today, the district officials also came to visit and congratulate us. When you come back tomorrow, it will be easy to travel, it won’t be slippery anymore…”.

The 200-meter concrete road, costing more than 300 million VND, was completed with the consensus and determination of 3 households in village 5, Thanh Lam commune (Thanh Chuong). Photo: Nguyen Nguyen