Carrying rice, crossing forests to make identity cards for people

(Baonghean) -Ethnic minorities in Con Cuong have been given identity cards. Police officers, regardless of day or night, rain or shine, silently climbed mountains and waded through streams to each village to mobilize and directly make identity cards for each person.

Trying their best, stepping hard on the gear lever of the Honda DD K7, but the car just kept going. The spark plug got wet and the engine died when crossing the flooded stream. Lieutenant Colonel Lo Van May and Lieutenant Colonel Vuong Dinh Phuong, the Administrative Management Team of Con Cuong District Police had to wade through. After much effort and struggle, the two police officers finally crossed the stream to enter Que village, Binh Chuan commune. According to the previously announced schedule, this time, they were directly present at Que village to make ID cards for people of age to exercise their citizenship rights. Que village is the farthest and most difficult point of poor Binh Chuan commune with 80 Thai ethnic households living, gathered along the stream flowing around the village, there is no car access road, and the phone cannot be used.

Just arriving at Que village, not caring about the "health" of the old motorbike, Lieutenant Colonel May, Lieutenant Colonel Phuong and the police officers of Binh Chuan commune hurriedly hung up a green screen to take portrait photos for the people. Under the guidance and direction of the village chief, a large number of people gathered at the cultural house. Everyone was dressed beautifully, many women were dressed in bright dresses as if going to a festival. In more than 3 hours, the ID team completed procedures such as issuing applications, taking fingerprints, fingerprints, and taking photos for the people.

Many old men and women over 70 years old, having their photo taken and ID cards made for the first time, were moved: "We have never left this village in our lives, let alone going to the district to make ID cards. Luckily, there are police officers who come to do it for us. Old people like us also have our fingerprints taken and have ID cards. The officers said that is proof of citizenship. We are old, we don't know when we will be able to use the ID card. But we are very happy. Are all our children following suit?". Before saying goodbye to the people of Que village, the police officers promised that about 3 weeks later, the commune police would return to the village to hand out ID cards to everyone. The working session in Que village was considered a success beyond expectations. The people were excited and confident as they left. Some returned to the fields, others returned to their home gardens to plant the remaining vegetable beds. At this time, Lieutenant Colonel May and his teammates hurriedly opened the spark plugs of their motorbikes, wiped them dry, and continued their journey to another village.

Not every trip to the village is smooth. A week ago, the team also crossed the steep pass to reach Que village as planned. When they arrived, the whole village was quiet, only the children were at home, the village chief was away, and there was no phone signal to contact them. It was not until the afternoon when the village chief returned that they learned that the police's work schedule announcement could not reach the villagers because the road from the commune to the village was cut off. Many times, the working group had to stay in the village for 3 days because it rained, the stream water rose, and many villages were completely isolated. The story of Lieutenant Colonel May carrying rice, carrying a backpack, and following a boat along the Giang River to make identity cards for the Dan Lai ethnic people and the boat capsized, is known to all the villagers. That time, luckily it was the dry season, but all the rice was soaked, only the bag containing ink, tools and documents was not wet...

53 years old, 30 years of experience, Lieutenant Colonel Lo Van May has been present in all villages of Ky Son and Con Cuong districts. After graduating from high school, Lo Van May volunteered for police service, then strived to study at the Intermediate School and was assigned to work at the Ky Son District Police. May's main job since joining the force until now is to issue, change, and repair identity cards for ethnic minorities in the district. At that time, Ky Son was the capital of poppy, from the center of Muong Xen district to the border communes, it took several days to travel. May persistently carried rice, salt, and fish sauce upstream, to the farthest villages of Keng Du, Doc May, Nam Can communes,... to mobilize people to make identity cards. At that time, very few people responded. From the past until now, there were no identity cards, it was still normal. Others were afraid that if they had an identity card, they would be controlled and would not be able to migrate freely to Laos or to other districts. Some people are afraid of having their fingerprints taken, photos taken...

Police officers make ID cards and take photos for people.

In 1990, according to his personal wishes, Lo Van May was transferred to the Con Cuong District Police. Here, Lo Van May and his teammates continued their quiet, secret work, going down to the village to make identity cards for the people. During this time, some young people in the area knew to go to the South to work in industrial zones. Many households knew to invest in developing production and business. Job applications, bank loan procedures to invest in production... required the use of identity cards.

Besides, thanks to the propaganda of the police officers, people became aware of the need to have an identity card. Instead of having to go down to the village to persuade each family, each person but still not getting much results, later, people all waited for the district police officers to come down to the village to get an identity card.

In Mr. May's "storehouse" of memories, there is a mark of the first time the working group of packed rice and rice balls went by boat across the Giang River, into the core of the Pu Mat forest, where the Dan Lai people live. Most of the Dan Lai people are illiterate and do not have an identity card. The first time they were photographed, fingerprinted, and fingerprinted, they were all scared and timid. Many young girls shyly gave their hands to the officers, their faces red... Thai, Mong, and Khmu girls were shy in their colorful ethnic costumes, sitting in front of a blue backdrop for the first time to have their photo taken. "In the city and the lowlands, people who make an identity card have to take a photo and bring it. In the villages, police officers also have to take photos and print them for the people," while telling the story, Mr. Phuong used a thin towel to meticulously clean an old Nikon film camera. Mr. Phuong is proud, this machine used to be a big asset but nowadays, using film cameras to take ID photos for people is too "outdated". Every time you take a photo, you can't check if it's okay or not like with a digital camera.

There have been many funny and sad situations. During the ID card issuance in remote villages such as Co Phat, Vang Mon, and Quan village, the working group completed all the procedures and took photos for the people and then went to the district police headquarters. When sending the film to Vinh City to develop the photos, they realized that the film had burned. One time, the photographer closed his eyes as if he was sleeping. So, they had to go back to the village to take photos for the people. However, for the ID card issuance team, this is still a treasure. During the trips into the forest, although clothes and personal belongings can get wet, fall, or even be swept away by floods, the camera must be kept absolutely safe. "We have proposed several times to buy a digital camera to better serve the work, but due to financial difficulties, it has not been approved yet," Mr. Phuong confided, fondling the old camera.

The ID card issuance team of Con Cuong District Police only has Mr. May and Mr. Phuong who are old, the rest are all young soldiers born in the 80s and 90s. But they all have the same perception and viewpoint: Issuing and issuing ID cards is not simply to help ethnic minorities exercise their civil rights; to help people more conveniently borrow money from banks, get medical treatment, apply for work and study records, but the most important meaning of this work is to manage household registration, free migration to other countries and districts, prevent women from being tricked into being sold abroad,... making an important contribution to the socio-economic development, ensuring national defense and security in the Western region of Nghe An. "For us, going down to the village with the people has become natural. Going to the village often makes us "addicted to work". It is difficult and tiring, but seeing the people happy and excited to receive their identity cards, or eagerly waiting for their turn to have their fingerprints taken, fingerprints taken, and signatures taken, all the fatigue disappears," said Lo Van May.

Listening to the story, currently, at the Central level, in addition to the ministry, the authorities are building a project for identification codes, digitizing documents or electronic identity cards for citizens. Lieutenant Colonel Phuong looked far away at the stilt house, where a few children were playing on the stairs. "Hopefully, people in remote mountainous areas like Que village will also have the opportunity to use magnetic cards with electronic identity codes. At that time, the West will be prosperous, with roads, national grid electricity, and modern public services reaching every village. Police officers will no longer have to climb mountains, wade through streams carrying rice and salt to make identity cards for people," said team leader Vuong Dinh Phuong with a look of trust.

Nguyen Khoa