Electricity reaches Pả Lõm

(Baonghean.vn) -The border village of Pả Lõm (Tam Hợp commune) is approximately 30 km from Hòa Bình town in Tương Dương district. Although only about 30 km away, the road is extremely difficult due to the steep mountain slopes filled with potholes and boulders. Therefore, in previous years, the dream of having access to the national power grid was a distant one for the Hmong people here...

However, since June of this year, the Hmong people of Pa Lom village have had electricity. When asked if they were happy to have electricity, the village elder Xong Va Chua burst into laughter and said: "With the national power grid here, our villagers are very happy. With electricity, the villagers can watch television to broaden their minds. With electricity, the villagers can run electric fans so the children can sleep soundly, and light up the lamps so they can study better. In general, having electricity makes everything easier, from irrigation to cultural activities..."

Village elder Xồng Vả Chùa introduces the electricity supply to Pả Lõm village.



Power lines strung haphazardly along the mountainside lead to Pả Lõm.

Pa Lom has 96 households, all of whom are Hmong people. According to village elder Xong Va Chua, the Hmong people of Pa Lom and the Hmong people of Hun Cha Lon village, Vieng Thong district, Po-Ly-Kham-Xay province (in neighboring Laos) are blood relatives with shared customs and traditions, but "the Hmong people of Pa Lom have electricity, while the Hmong people of Hun Cha Lon do not...".

Visiting the family of Mr. Sung Cho Chenh, we found they already had many electrical appliances. From energy-saving light bulbs, fans, and televisions... to a rice cooker. Mr. Chenh turned on the TV for everyone to watch and said: "All our appliances use electricity. Only the newly purchased rice cooker hasn't been used yet." When asked why, Mr. Chenh laughed: "The rice cooker's plug has three pins, but the sockets only have two pins, so we haven't used it yet..."

Sung Cho Chenh turned on the TV to show it off to everyone.

Accompanying us were officials from the Tuong Duong District Electricity Branch. They said, "Just bend one pin with pliers and straighten the other two, and it will work. Let us fix it for you..." Mr. Chenh waved his hand, "No, that would ruin it. I'll go to the district to buy another socket. My house still works fine with a wood-burning stove..."

When asked about the situation in Pả Lõm before electricity, Mr. Chểnh explained that the people used to build small hydroelectric power plants along the stream to generate electricity for lighting. "It was very difficult and unsafe. It was hard during the dry season, but even harder during the rainy season. During the dry season, there was no water in the stream to run the generators, and during the rainy season, the water would wash away all the machines..." Mr. Chểnh said.

Tam Hop commune has 5 villages: Xop Nam, Phong, Huoi Son, Vang Mon, and Pa Lom. To date, all 5 villages have access to the national power grid with 6 transformer stations (one station is located at the border control station of Border Guard Unit 551). According to the Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Tam Hop commune, Lau Nhia Cha, since the national power grid was brought to Tam Hop, the people have faced many less hardships. Nhia happily said: "The people of Tam Hop now have many electrical appliances for their homes. Every house has a fan, a TV, lighting, and many have even bought rice cookers and refrigerators."

The village of Văng Môn (Tam Hợp commune) also has access to the national power grid.

The soldiers of Border Guard Post 551 shared the joy with the people of Tam Hop village. Major Ta Dinh Chien happily said: "Electricity reached the center of Tam Hop commune in December 2012. By June 2013, it covered the entire commune. The border control station of the border guards also has electricity. It must be said that bringing electricity here is a huge success. With electricity, communication in Tam Hop is much faster and more efficient, so national security and defense are ensured. With electricity, the people of Tam Hop are very excited and have even more confidence in the policies of the Party and the State. Before, they never dared to think that electricity would come to them..."

Walking up the steep slopes of Tam Hop and admiring the rows of power poles, one can see that bringing electricity to Pa Lom was a truly great effort by the Tuong Duong District Power Branch. When asked about it, the Director of the Tuong Duong Power Branch, Tran Dinh Tu, said: "Erecting poles and laying wires halfway up the mountain was very difficult and arduous. It took us three years to fully cover the Tam Hop area with electricity. Everything here is now finished, and we are determined to cooperate with the District People's Committee to bring electricity to the three communes of Nhon Mai, Mai Son, and Huu Khuong. These are the last communes in Tuong Duong that do not yet have access to the national power grid..."

Nhat Lan