Electricity poles are standing in disarray, people in Thanh Chuong are waiting for the power grid.

Leading us around the village, Mr. Hoang Van Xuan, Captain of Production Team No. 2, said: Production Team No. 2 is a new economic zone under the Youth Volunteer Team No. 5, established on March 15, 2002 by the decision of the People's Committee of Nghe An province. The team currently has 60 households and more than 200 people. More than 16 years have passed, but the team still does not have a national grid, while it is only about 10km from the headquarters of the Youth Volunteer Team No. 5 and 15km from the center of Thanh Thuy commune.

This has led to countless difficulties and obstacles in people's daily life as well as increasing production. "During the harvest season, due to lack of electricity, we have to produce by hand. Without electricity, agricultural products cannot be processed and preserved for long, so households have to sell them fresh, so the economic efficiency is not high" - Mr. Xuan shared.

On the Ro River flowing through the village, there are 15 turbines installed by households near the riverbank to generate electricity. Photo: Diep Phuong

Taking advantage of the water source from the Ro River flowing through the village, many households near the riverbank have built mini turbines to generate electricity, but generating electricity for use is not simple. “First, we must determine the appropriate slope to place the turbine and regularly check the flow because if grass or trees get caught in the blades, the turbine will immediately stop running; also because the flow is unstable, the electricity also fluctuates with the water level, each year, families near the Ro River are lucky to have electricity for only 3-4 months, not to mention after each flood, the turbine is washed away... – Mr. Xuan added.

Following the small concrete road to the end of the village, we visited Ms. Nguyen Thi Hang's house. While fanning her small child sleeping on the floor with a palm leaf fan, Ms. Hang sighed: "It's so hard not to have electricity! My family has been here for 17 years and has never had electricity. On hot days, we have to use hand fans. Many days, we want to drink some cool water but we have to give up because even if we had the money to buy a refrigerator, we wouldn't be able to use it because there is no electricity. The only source of electricity for the whole family is 2 batteries to light up at night, but we have to use them very sparingly because every time we run out of electricity, we have to travel nearly 20 km to find a place to charge it."

No electricity means no use of electrical appliances. TVs, electric fans, rice cookers, refrigerators, etc. are very familiar items in every household, but for the 60 households living in the village without electricity, they are extremely luxurious things.

The electricity problem not only greatly affects daily life and production but also affects the education of children in the village when they have to suffer many disadvantages compared to their peers. In addition to the hours of studying in class, at night when their friends can study under light bulbs and electric fans, with full light, the children living in Production Team No. 2, Youth Volunteer Team No. 5 are looking for letters under oil lamps or flickering LED lights, many days they have to sadly abandon the math problem they are solving because the battery runs out of power.

Meanwhile, the system of electric poles and wires in the entire production team No. 2 has been fully completed for many years, just waiting for the medium voltage line to connect electricity, but after waiting and waiting, there is still no electricity coming to the village.

The electric pole system in the entire Production Team No. 2 has been completed for many years now but has not been connected yet. Photo: Diep Phuong

After more than 16 years of working in the new economic zone, more than 200 people living in Production Team No. 2, Youth Volunteer Team No. 5 have always done a good job of protecting the forest and maintaining the border belt. At the same time, people have always strived to build and develop the economy, turning the barren, wild land into a rich, green one. With the vast land potential, taking tea as the main crop combined with growing fruit trees and comprehensive farms for stable income. However, the spiritual life of the people here has not been comfortable for a single day because they still have to live in darkness, the minimum need of using grid electricity for lighting has not been met yet. The lack of a national grid has greatly hindered the development of the existing potential of the region.

Discussing this issue, Mr. Hoang Van Dong - Captain of the Youth Volunteer Team 5 said: Production Team No. 2 is part of the Thanh Thuy Commune border gate project, the national grid power project was implemented in 2012 with an initial total investment of about 18 billion VND. But up to now, the investment capital is only 5 billion VND, so the project is still unfinished. The team has repeatedly petitioned the authorities at all levels but has not been resolved. By early 2018, the team had sent a petition to the Provincial People's Committee but to date there has been no result.

We left the village when night had just fallen, darkness enveloped the whole place, the space was strangely quiet and still. Rarely did we see a glimmer of light coming from a house. “When will electricity come to the village?” was still the unanswered question of the 60 households here.