Changes from new rural construction in ethnic minorities in Nghia Dan religious area

Nghia Dan district has more than 11,000 Catholics, accounting for 7.9% of the district's population, distributed mainly in 5 communes and towns. Responding to the movement "The whole country joins hands"new rural construction" and implementing "Living the Gospel in the heart of the nation", in recent times, Catholics in Nghia Dan district have united, actively and creatively developed the economy, built cultural and social life, thereby contributing to changing the face of the countryside, improving the material and spiritual life of the people.

The appearance of the new rural areas has improved a lot. Photo: Minh Thai

In 2019, Nghia Trung commune was honored to be recognized by the province as meeting the new rural standards. This achievement was thanks to the efforts of the Party Committee, local authorities and the active participation and support of the people, including Catholics. In particular, in the process of building new rural areas, the repair, expansion and upgrading of rural roads or land donation for road construction were enthusiastically responded to by the parishioners.

Nghia Trung has 2 parishes, with more than 145 households living in hamlet 4 and Trung Thanh hamlet. Implementing the national target program for building new rural areas, recently, parishioners here have actively donated land, supported labor and money, and completed traffic works in the area. The family of parishioner Le Quang Luu is one of the leading households in this movement. Realizing that the Party and State's policy of building new rural areas is completely correct and in line with the people's wishes, the family took the lead in donating land, contributing 1.2 million VND and working days to widen 3 km of concrete road.

Mr. Le Quang Luu - a resident of Trung Thanh hamlet, Nghia Trung commune said: "The Catholic and non-Catholic people in the hamlet all see the practical benefits of participating in activities and movements launched by the locality, especially unanimously responding to the National Target Program on new rural construction".

Parishioner Nguyen Van Minh in Binh Minh hamlet, Nghia Loc commune is a typical example of economic development. Photo: Minh Thai

Since the "breath" of the new rural construction program, the face of the countryside in Nghia Loc commune has "changed its face", the material and spiritual life of the people has been increasingly improved. By choosing the right direction and promoting the role of the people, by the end of 2021, Nghia Loc commune had completed 19/19 new rural criteria. In the process of building new rural areas, Nghia Loc commune mobilized more than 180 billion VND, of which nearly 30 billion VND was contributed by the people to build village roads, alleys, village cultural houses, etc. Up to now, the average income per capita has reached 38.3 million VND/person/year; the poverty rate has decreased to 2.96%. Environmental sanitation is ensured.

This achievement not only demonstrates the great efforts and political determination of the local Party Committee and government, but also speaks to the spirit of solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics of the people in the commune. Con Ca Hamlet, where about 850 Catholics of Con Ca Parish are living in solidarity and harmony. The solid concrete road leading to the gate of each household has painted a picture of a peaceful countryside.

Catholics of Nghia Loc commune contribute to building a cultural house. Photo: Minh Thai

Mr. Nguyen Thai Hoang - Head of Con Ca hamlet, Nghia Loc commune said: "Promoting the democratic spirit of people knowing, people discussing, people deciding and people inspecting, the Party Committee and leadership of Con Ca hamlet organized meetings to announce the policy of building roads. On that basis, Catholics in the hamlet proactively discussed plans, implementation methods and contribution levels. Recognizing their role as the main subject in building the new rural area, in 2021, Catholics in the hamlet "joined hands" to contribute more than 200 million VND to build 1 km of roads, repair canals, and also build a cultural house with 3 volleyball courts, ensuring convenient living for people...".

Nghia Dan district has more than 11,000 Catholics, accounting for 7.9% of the district's population, with 5 parishes and 13 chapels concentrated in 5 communes and towns: Nghia Loc, Nghia An, Nghia Trung, Nghia Hoi and Nghia Dan town. In the process of building the new rural area, Catholics in Nghia Dan district have voluntarily donated nearly tens of thousands of square meters of land and fences, mobilized thousands of working days, cut down thousands of trees, and contributed about 20 billion VND to build rural traffic, canals, and upgrade community cultural houses. Up to now, Nghia Dan district has 3 communes with Catholics living in them: Nghia Hoi, Nghia Trung, and Nghia An, which have reached the new rural area goal; Nghia Loc commune is striving to reach the new rural area goal in 2021.

Many traffic routes in the parish hamlets of Nghia Loc commune have been concreted. Photo by Minh Thai

Mr. Vo Quang Hoa - Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front of Nghia Dan district said: "The results achieved in the economic development movement and new rural construction of the parishioners in the district in recent years have contributed to improving the appearance of the countryside, affirming the role and responsibility of the parishioners in building the homeland and building an increasingly strong national solidarity bloc."

Promoting the tradition of solidarity and patriotism, effectively implementing the Campaign "All people unite to build new rural areas, live a good life and follow good religion", Catholics in Nghia Dan district actively participate in labor, production, economic development, pay attention to investing in cultural and educational causes, do a good job in social security work, unite to help each other rise up, build a healthy and progressive lifestyle, contributing to building an increasingly rich and civilized homeland./.