When my father worked as a population collaborator

(Baonghean) -Mom called to say that Dad had just "taken office" as a village population collaborator. He was doing "home-cooked meals and carrying the burden of the whole village". Mom blamed him for "being old, let him rest to regain his health, what's the point of always "meddling in other people's business...", but Dad had "decided to do it". Mom had to ask her children to intervene.

Calling my father, he explained: "Our village is poor because of outdated concepts, having too many children makes it impossible to escape the vicious cycle. I became a collaborator to propagate to the people around us to know how to plan, to know how to stop at two children like our family, we understand better than them, to advise them on using contraceptive methods, and to take care of reproductive health. That is also a good thing, a good thing. You just let me do it...".

So my father became a village population collaborator. He made a list of couples of childbearing age, couples at risk of "breaking the plan", and then met with them. Sometimes in the fields, on the beach, sometimes over a pot of green tea, advising them, analyzing for them to understand. Fortunately, the "authority" of the old teacher was respected and listened to by many people. My father was very happy.

During the campaign season, my father and the district and commune population officers were busy giving advice, distributing condoms, leaflets, birth control pills... Many farmers, at first, were shy, pouting, "Who would use that monkey stuff?", but after getting used to it, they all came to my father for advice.

My father contributed the 50,000 VND in monthly allowances he received to give as year-end bonuses to households that implemented family planning well. Seeing his eyes sparkle with joy when the village's third-child birth rate dropped significantly last year, I understood that the work of population collaborators like him was truly meaningful...

Nam Phuong