Harvest Day and the Story of Contributing Straw

(Baonghean.vn) - In recent days, with a high sense of vigilance, to prevent the fire from lasting and spreading, people in Luan Phuong hamlet, Dong Van commune (Thanh Chuong) have organized a straw donation to help the affected family. This is a rare story in this rural area.

The household that received help from the hamlet was Mr. Nguyen The Tho's family, whose straw had burned four times. The first time, the straw house caught fire on the afternoon of June 20, burning down all the straw from the newly harvested winter-spring crop. The second time, the straw house caught fire on the night of September 18, burning down nearly 5 sao of summer-autumn straw. There were about 2 carts of wet straw left, which were partially burned at noon on September 26 while being dried on the village road. On the night of September 27, when the straw had been dried, it caught fire again, burning down all the remaining straw.

Every day, Mr. Tho and his wife go to each household to collect and gather the straw given by the people.

Mr. Tho's family is currently raising two cows, while the house has no straw left. After the first fire, some households in Luan Phuong hamlet used to support his family by giving away all the fresh corn and corn husks when harvesting corn, drying them, and then using them as cow feed. This amount of feed has run out. Now that the rice in the fields has been harvested, many households in the hamlet have decided to help Mr. Tho's family with dry straw for storage.

Mr. Le The Hung, a villager, said: "Mr. Tho's house was completely burned down, so everyone in the village sympathized with him, some more, some less, and contributed a few bundles of straw to help his family overcome the disaster."

Mr. Nguyen The Tho's straw shed was burned and damaged.

Every day, Mr. Tho and his wife used their ox cart to go around the village, to each household to collect and gather the straw donated by the villagers. After bringing the carts of straw that the villagers donated, he then transferred them to a relative's house in the commune to store. According to him, doing so was safer, because the amount of straw stored in his house had burned down for the fourth time.

Since the day all the straw was burned, the couple has received many phone calls asking for their condolences and messages to “come and get some straw.” Mr. Tho shared: “While my family was in trouble and had no food to feed the animals, receiving help like this from the villagers was very precious and touching. Because I was so worried after the fire, I got sick, so I haven’t collected all the straw that the villagers gave me. Roughly, it’s about 5 oxcarts of straw, and if we add grass and corn, the cows can eat until the first day of the new year.”

Talking about the story of donating straw to help the family affected by the fire, Mr. Tran Dang Giap - Secretary of the Luan Phuong hamlet Party Cell said: "From the past until now, for the first time, in the middle of the harvest season, the people here donate straw to give. It is indeed a rare event, but it is a continuation of the long-standing tradition of mutual support and assistance of the people in the hamlet. We support and hope that people will continue to promote these acts of kindness."

Huy Thu