Helping people develop their economy.
(Baonghean)The Ngoc Lam Border Guard Post (Nghe An Border Guard Command) is tasked with managing 35 km of border line and 11 border markers between Vietnam and Laos, and is responsible for three border communes: Thanh Son, Ngoc Lam, and Hanh Lam in Thanh Chuong district, primarily inhabited by people resettled from the Ban Ve Hydropower Project. In recent times, in addition to firmly protecting border sovereignty and security, and maintaining social order and safety, the officers and soldiers of the Ngoc Lam Border Guard Post have also actively assisted the resettled people in adapting to farming methods in their new land.
On the way to the resettlement area, Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nhu Tuan, Political Officer of Ngoc Lam Border Guard Post, shared with us: "The ethnic minority people from the high mountains of Tuong Duong district who came here face many difficulties and hardships. Their living standards are lower than the general average of the people in the district. Just the fact that they were previously accustomed to slash-and-burn farming and now have to work with different farming methods has left them bewildered and slow to adapt. Some households have returned to their old villages to slash-and-burn farming."
How to help the local people quickly settle in the new land was a constant question in the Party committee and the unit's command. After many meetings, an initiative was conceived to apply the station's livestock farming model to help the people (annual revenue from the station's increased production reaches over 50 million VND). The unit unanimously agreed to select a number of disadvantaged families, focusing their efforts on guiding them to become familiar with the new farming methods.
Officers and soldiers of Ngoc Lam Border Guard Station help local people plant rice.
To begin the project, the unit selected experienced officers and soldiers in farming and production to go to the area and mobilize families to focus on developing production and livestock farming. "We focused on helping people develop their economy and alleviate poverty so that they would have enough to eat and feel secure in settling in this new land," Lieutenant Colonel Tuan explained.
And to gain the trust and cooperation of the local people, there was no other way than for the border guards to roll up their sleeves and get to work. “In the early days, when the border guards brought out buffaloes to plow and harrow the land for planting rice and peanuts, the people were surprised, because in their old villages, buffaloes were only used to pull timber, and they had never seen a buffalo pulling a rake with many teeth to till the land before. Sometimes, when the soldiers guided the people in sowing seedlings and transplanting rice, they followed the process correctly, but after only a few days, the weather turned too cold, and the seedlings died before they had a chance to take root. The people questioned: The officers' instructions were incorrect. So the soldiers explained everything in detail, then contacted suppliers to get seeds, transplanted seedlings and rice again from scratch, and cared for and monitored them until harvest day… Only with such specific and meticulous guidance did the people believe and follow their instructions,” recalled Major Tran Van Khoa, Deputy Head of the Community Mobilization Team.
Following the introduction by Lieutenant Colonel Tuan, we visited the family of Mr. Luong Van Phuong (in Muong village, Ngoc Lam commune) to witness firsthand the initial achievements: The family currently raises 3 buffaloes and a flock of over 100 chickens and ducks. Within the family's property, there is a 1,500m2 fish pond, 1,700m2 of rice paddies, and 12,000m2 of acacia, cassava, and tea plantations... all thriving. Mr. Phuong excitedly shared: Thanks to the Border Guard's assistance, last year's livestock farming and short-term crop cultivation yielded an income of 35 million VND. Near Mr. Phuong's family is the family of Mr. Luong Van Than (also in Muong village, Ngoc Lam commune), who, with the Border Guard's assistance, currently owns 2,000m2 of rice paddies, an 8,000m2 fish pond, 15,000m2 of forest land planted with acacia and cassava, and a 1,500m2 tea garden. In addition, the family raises over 70 poultry. On average, their annual income from livestock farming is over 30 million VND, essentially lifting them out of poverty.
In addition to assisting the people in building economic development models in the area, the Party Committee and Command of Ngoc Lam Border Guard Station also directed the mass mobilization team and youth union to coordinate with local authorities and organizations to contribute thousands of man-days to help the people of Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam communes build new houses, improve land for gardening, and actively promote the effective restructuring of crop and livestock production; and proposed to the Management Board of Hydropower Plant 2 and the Agriculture Department of Thanh Chuong district to organize training courses to help people develop household economies.
Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nhu Tuan stated: In the coming time, the unit will continue to invest manpower and time to assist and guide in order to improve the effectiveness of family economic development models; at the same time, it will continue to survey, plan, and expand new models in the villages of the resettled ethnic minority communities in Thanh Son and Ngoc Lam communes.
Text and photos: Hung Phong
