Visiting the border region of Đoọc Mạy to celebrate Independence Day.

Huoi Vieng village, Dooc May commune (Ky Son district). Photo: Hoai Thu

Eliminate the "blank" party branch.

As the fourth-term Party Secretary of Dooc May commune, Mr. Gia Chong Nenh said that every year at the end of August, the people of Dooc May proudly hang the bright red national flag in front of their houses. "Firstly, it's to remember the days of the August Revolution, and secondly, to celebrate Independence Day on September 2nd – the day President Ho Chi Minh read the Declaration of Independence," Mr. Gia Chong Nenh said from the commune headquarters.

Standing at the commune headquarters, one can observe a fairly comprehensive view of the Mong villages in Dooc May. A feeling of peace, joy, and profound sacredness arose as we witnessed the sight of Mong ethnic girls, dressed in their traditional dresses, walking alongside the green uniforms of border guards under the fluttering red flags in the golden sunlight.

The local people and soldiers are living and working together every day with the goal of "completing economic, cultural, and social development targets, maintaining national defense and security, and foreign relations; especially the target of reducing the number of poor households from 65% to 58% in 2019," said Border Guard Major Hoang Van Cong - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Dooc May commune.

A view of Huoi Vieng village, Dooc May border commune, Ky Son district. Photo: Hoai Thu

The 377 households with 1,817 inhabitants of Dooc May commune are all Mong ethnic people, living in 6 villages. Of these 6 villages, 5 have been recognized as cultural villages. Among the 9 Party branches in Dooc May, before 2018, one branch, Huoi Kho, was included in the Provincial Party Committee's Project 01 on "building Party branches and developing Party members in blocks, hamlets, and villages without Party branches or Party members, and blocks, hamlets, and villages at risk of no longer having Party branches in the period 2016-2020". Huoi Kho is the village with the fewest households (25 households), the most remote, and the most difficult to access in Dooc May commune.

Until now, people in Huoi Kho who want to travel to the commune center by motorbike still have to go around through Huoi Tu commune, while those who walk have to climb over treacherous shortcuts through the forest and steep mountains. In 2016, the Huoi Kho Party branch only had 3 members, including 2 local members and 1 member who was the deputy chairman of the commune participating in activities.

Facing the risk of losing its Party branch in Huồi Khơ, the Standing Committee of the Đoọc Mạy Commune Party Committee held a meeting to discuss plans and implement measures to develop Party members there. Mr. Già Gà Rê, Secretary of the Huồi Khơ Party Branch, said that in 2016, as a resident of Noọng Hán village, he was assigned by his superiors to the Huồi Khơ Party Branch to assume the role of secretary. In addition to Mr. Già Gà Rê, the Na Loi Border Guard Post also assigned one Party member from the post to participate in activities at the Huồi Khơ Party Branch.

People in Đoọc Mạy prepare to celebrate Independence Day. Photo by Hoài Thu.

After two years of guiding the people of Huoi Kho in economic development, maintaining security and order, and building a cultural village, by early 2018, the Huoi Kho Party branch had admitted three more members. To date, the Huoi Kho Party branch has seven members, including one probationary member. "Thanks to this, Huoi Kho is now more vibrant than before; the Party branch has escaped the risk of having no members; and the people have developed effective economic models such as passion fruit cultivation and cattle farming, generating high incomes," Mr. Gia Chong Nenh happily stated.

The mark of a "green uniform" party member
“Mr. Gia No Bi’s family was very poor. In 2018, they were lucky to receive a pair of piglets from the border guards at Na Loi Border Guard Post, and their family has become much better off,” said Gia Chong Lau, the head of Huoi Vieng village. Pointing to the pair of fairly large, fat native black pigs in their sturdy pen, Mr. Gia No Bi of Huoi Vieng village happily said: “Now the pigs are very big. Thanks to them, my family will soon have more piglets to raise, to escape poverty. I’m so happy.”

Gia No Bi is one of dozens of families who received breeding pigs from officers and soldiers of the Na Loi Border Guard Post to develop their economy and alleviate poverty. “From 2016 to the present, the Post has donated 20 native black pigs to the people of Dooc May commune for breeding purposes, many of which have reproduced, generating income and creating momentum for economic development for the people,” said Senior Lieutenant Gia Ba Gio, Team Leader of the Community Mobilization Team of the Na Loi Border Guard Post.

Officers and soldiers of the Na Loi Border Guard Post regularly propagate and encourage local people to focus on economic development and participate in border protection. Photo: Hoai Thu

The impact of the Party members of Na Loi Border Guard Post in Dooc May border commune is not only in economic development, but also in covering almost all areas, especially maintaining security and order, foreign relations, and strengthening grassroots Party organizations; building village roads and monitoring the security situation, patrolling, protecting border markers, and maintaining peace in the Dooc May border region, which has 4 km of border with neighboring Laos.

On August 19th, amidst the golden sunshine of the anniversary of the August Revolution, participating in a Women's Club meeting on protecting border sovereignty and security organized by the Women's Association of Dooc May commune in coordination with the Na Loi Border Guard Post, we truly felt the strong bond and the essential role of the Party committee, government, mass organizations, and the soldiers in green uniforms in the remote border villages.

The club has nearly 40 members, spread across the villages. They receive support from border guards, who disseminate legal knowledge to them, enabling them to become information channels that help authorities detect and report signs of crime and instability on both sides of the border. "Thanks to this, for the past three years, Dooc May has been highly praised by superiors for its security and order, becoming a model commune for the 'Drug-Free Commune' initiative, maintaining peace on the border of Ky Son," Secretary Gia Chong Nenh proudly stated.

Officers and soldiers of Na Loi Border Guard Post and people of Dooc May commune participate in protecting the border. Photo: Hoai Thu.

Farewell, Dooc May! We return to the lowlands, carrying with us radiant smiles and vibrant colors from this border commune, which, despite having many impoverished households, is rich in revolutionary spirit and solidarity between the government and all strata of the people. These are precisely the colors that need to be further enhanced in border communes, not only in Ky Son, so that the nation's borders remain peaceful, as Secretary Gia Chong Nenh said: "So that every year, during the joyful Independence Day celebrations, the people of Dooc May will have even stronger faith in the Party and build a prosperous and comfortable village."