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 neighborhood was Mr. Nguyen The Tho's family, whose straw 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 two 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 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 a 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 supported, he then transferred them to a relative's house in the commune to store. According to him, doing so was safe, because the straw reserve in his house had burned down for the fourth time.

Since the day the straw was burned, the couple received many phone calls, along with messages to “come and get straw”. Mr. Tho shared: “While my family was in trouble, there was no food for livestock, and 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 could not collect all the straw that the villagers gave me. Roughly, we got about 5 oxcarts of straw, and we also got grass and corn, so the cows could 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, 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