Story of Nghe An Border Guard building a house not for living

MOTHER'S JOY

That special house, named "The Charity House - Whoever needs it, come and take it, whoever has it, share it", has spread the warmth of love to the poor, connecting charitable hearts in the freezing winter. "Thanks to the village cadres andMy Ly Border Guard StationThe announcement said that today there would be free clothes, anyone who needed them could come and get them, so my mother and the children came here to wait to choose. I was so happy that before the rooster crowed, my mother got up to get ready to go,” said Mrs. Cut Mother Pong happily.

Mrs. Cut Mother Pong (born in 1961), lives in Huoi Cang 1 village, Bac Ly commune - the place chosen to build the "Charity House for those in need to take - those who have to share". With a thin and small figure, Mrs. Me Pong led her two grandchildren, one aged two, the other three, in dirty, thin clothes in the cold of 6 - 7 degrees Celsius in the mountains and forests of the border region. Although the house is quite close to the location of the "Charity House", when the mountain mist had not yet cleared, the three of them came to sit and wait in the yard.

In Kinh, with many broken words, talking about her family situation, Mrs. Pong said that she has 7 children, her husband passed away in 2008. She currently lives with her youngest child, helping her children take care of their grandchildren. "The daughter married a man in My Ly and has 3 children, the second son married a woman from the next village and has 4 children...", Mrs. Pong counted all 19 grandchildren from her memory while naming her children.

Mrs. Cut Mother Pong, Huoi Cang 1 village, Bac Ly commune (Ky Son) chooses warm clothes for her children. Photo: Hoai Thu

Then she asked: “There is a store that lets you choose clothes, books, and notebooks for free. Can I get each child a piece of warm clothing? This winter is so cold that I can’t go to the fields, I have to stay home and burn firewood to keep warm. I don’t have money to buy clothes so the children don’t have enough warm clothes to wear when they go to school. It’s so cold that some of them are sick.” She said, smiling with her eyes sparkling with joy.

Like Pong’s mother, many poor people of Bac Ly commune came here early in the morning, when the fog and cold still covered the mountains and forests. Mr. Cut Van Hoang from Huoi Cang 2 village, a village quite far from the center of Bac Ly commune, also came early in the morning. The man in his fifties was wearing a shirt and worn-out brown wide-leg pants, his gaunt, thin face seemed darker because of the freezing cold. His house was far away, but he still got up to come very early.

Mr. Cut Van Hoang said that the village where he lives has 39 households with 320 people, almost every house is poor, many families do not have enough money to buy warm clothes for their children. Therefore, when he learned that My Ly Border Guard Station built a house to store warm clothes, books, and notebooks to give away for free to students, he and the people of Huoi Cang 2 village were very excited, everyone came from early morning to wait to choose gifts, even though they knew the government announced that the door would open at 9am.

Soldiers from My Ly Border Guard Station help children wear warm clothes at the Charity House. Photo: Hoai Thu

Not only the people of Huoi Cang 1 and 2 villages but also many other villages, before the "opening" of the "Charity House, whoever needs it, come and take it - whoever has it, share it", people came in large numbers, mainly the elderly and children. Many fragile children, huddled in thin clothes, wearing worn-out, broken sandals, many old people with gray hair and hunched backs, many women carrying their children, some only 1 month old, some 5-7 months old... Witnessing the scene of people excitedly choosing gifts, Mr. Cut Van May - Vice Chairman of Bac Ly Commune People's Committee expressed: "The commune government is very touched by the meaningful work of My Ly Border Guard Station. Knowing the policy of building a "Charity House", the commune government is very sympathetic and actively supports the stationBorder Guard"complete the house soon".

Huoi Cang 1 is the central village of the poor commune of Bac Ly, so it was chosen by officers and soldiers of My Ly Border Guard Station to build a "Charity House for those in need to take - those who have to share". The house is a place to display warm clothes, books, notebooks, and free school supplies to serve people in 25 villages and hamlets of Bac Ly and My Ly communes. On January 10, 2021, it officially opened to serve people in 25 villages and hamlets of My Ly and Bac Ly communes on the last 3 days of every week.

Bac Ly is a poor commune of the poor district of Ky Son, with a large population of the Kho Mu ethnic group, rugged terrain, and harsh climate. Bac Ly commune alone has 920 households, with nearly 5,000 people. Of the 13 villages, 11 are Kho Mu ethnic groups. As of October 2020, Bac Ly commune had 540 poor households, accounting for 58.95%, and 355 near-poor households, accounting for 39.76% of the population.

WARM HUMAN LOVE

Get news about the housevolunteerBefore the opening ceremony, teacher Luong Thi Tiep from Bac Ly Kindergarten and her colleagues came to help the soldiers in green uniforms iron and arrange clothes, books, and notebooks to give away for free to the people, including the beloved students of the school they teach. Although they were old clothes, with the teachers' caring and nurturing hands, they became brighter and cleaner.

Officers and soldiers of My Ly Border Guard Station arrange books and draw propaganda posters to promote Covid-19 prevention and control at the Volunteer House. Photo: Hoai Thu

To have a spacious 3-room wooden house with a clean tiled floor to display clothes, books, notebooks, officers and soldiers of My Ly Border Guard Station spent a long time making efforts to contribute money, prepare every small material, and do the construction themselves, from leveling the ground to carving each piece of wood when finished.

Major Hoang The Tai - Political Commissar of My Ly Border Post said that the area under My Ly Border Post's responsibility is My Ly and Bac Ly communes, in which Bac Ly commune in particular has many difficulties for the people and the terrain is remote and rugged. There are villages such as Cha Nga and Keo Nam, 20-25 km from the center of Bac Ly commune, the roads are muddy and steep, on rainy days, almost all remote villages are isolated, making travel very difficult.

In addition, the soil in many places is barren and there is not much land, so agricultural production of the people also faces many difficulties. "In addition to sticking to the area to carry out the tasksborder protection, we also want to contribute our heart and effort to help people reduce difficulties, so the idea of ​​building a "Charity House" was born and has been implemented for quite a long time. Since mid-2019, we have started to mobilize and call for donations of warm clothes. In parallel with collecting old clothes, books, and notebooks that are still in good condition, officers and soldiers of My Ly Border Guard Station also donated money and used spare wood to build houses," said Major Hoang The Tai.

Vice Chairman of Bac Ly Commune People's Committee Cut Van May said that every year, in Bac Ly Commune, there are also some volunteer groups coming to give gifts, mainly in the winter season before Lunar New Year, and the volunteer groups often give warm clothes and food to students and some poor households in some villages near the commune center. Bac Ly Commune has high mountainous terrain, steep roads, very difficult, so many volunteer groups are not able to go to remote villages. The local government has also provided support, but compared to the needs of the people spread throughout the year, it is still insufficient.

Children excitedly choose free books. Photo: Hoai Thu

The officers of My Ly Border Guard Station understand this very well. They stay close to the area day and night and are very concerned about measures to help people reduce difficulties and improve their lives. The charity house was born from that passion, making our locality very grateful.border guardThey truly consider the border as their home, and the people as their blood relatives. Everything they do is done with sincerity, not only to build a peaceful border area, but also to help the people soon escape from hunger and poverty.

On the opening day of the “Charity House, whoever needs it, come and take it - whoever has it, share it”, not only hundreds of poor people in Bac Ly flocked to it, but also special guests from Hanoi appeared early in the morning. Traveling from the distant capital to the border area of ​​Bac Ly, the “Tuoi Canh Tuat” volunteer group brought candy, books, notebooks and warm clothes to contribute to the “Charity House”. A member of this volunteer group said that the group learned about the opening ceremony of this booth through the connection with My Ly Border Guard Station through previous gift-giving visits.

Once you come, you will feel loved, and the next time you want to come back because everyone feels love, sees that there are still many people in difficult circumstances, and sees the dedication of the border guards. They saved and shared their salaries to build a house worth hundreds of millions of dong to help the people, making the volunteer group feel that their sharing is still very small.

Baby follows mother to choose warm clothes. Photo: Hoai Thu

Therefore, at the opening ceremony, when the commander of My Ly Border Guard Station said that although the house was not yet completed, there was still a lack of funds to install a corrugated iron roof to protect the yard from rain and sun to serve the people during rainy and windy days, the members of the "Tuoi Canh Tuat" volunteer group had a quick "meeting", each person voluntarily contributed almost all the money they brought with them to have enough 15 million VND to install the corrugated iron roof, completing this meaningful house. The money was given right at the ceremony, witnessed by the authorities and the people.

“Sharing a little bit of material things I have, but receiving in return is a vast ocean of joy and happiness, feeling that I am still living a meaningful life, doing warm humane things, even if they are small,” a volunteer group member emotionally shared.

Children are engrossed in reading books at the Charity House after choosing their favorite books. Photo: Hoai Thu

Not only the volunteer group “Tuoi Canh Tuat”, when knowing the meaning of the “Charity House” built by My Ly Border Guard Station, Thien Minh Duc Group Company - a large enterprise investing in many projects in Nghe An, contacted and committed to sponsor to maintain this model in a sustainable way. Not only supporting 50 million VND to build the house, this company will regularly provide a certain amount of new clothes, books, and notebooks every year to contribute to maintaining the “Charity House” to serve the needs of the people here.

And when the images and information about the opening ceremony of the “Charity House” were broadcast on Nghe An newspaper, many people shared them on social networking sites such as Facebook and Zalo. Not only that, many kind-hearted people contacted the person who posted the information to contribute to support the people of Bac Ly commune. Some people wanted to contribute their own family’s old clothes, some wanted to donate books and notebooks, some bought new notebooks for the author to send to the “Charity House”…

Kind-hearted organizations and individuals give gifts to support the Charity House. Photo: Hoai Thu

And after less than 2 hours of opening, all the warm clothes, books, and notebooks displayed at the “Charity House” were selected and taken home by the people. Many children, when choosing a book they liked, immediately stood there reading, even left the book on the floor, enthusiastically turning each page, pointing at each other with shining eyes, making many people moved and full of love beyond words.

The joy of people when coming to the Charity House. Photo courtesy of Hoai Thu

Moong Van Thanh - a 7th grade student at Bac Ly Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities confided: "I don't have enough books and notebooks to study, so when I come here, I hope to get the books I need, and have more warm clothes to wear." And then, Thanh left with a book in hand and 2 sets of clothes that were still brand new and a smile on his lips. Then the grandmothers, sisters and many other children also happily left because they not only had books and warm clothes, but also love following their footsteps back to the small village...