People in the highlands of Nghe An go to the forest to pick bamboo shoots and send them to the lowlands to fight the epidemic.

Hearing that Quynh Luu district is struggling to fight the epidemic, people in the border commune of Tam Hop (Tuong Duong) invited each other to go to the fields to pick bamboo shoots, banana flowers, vegetables... to contribute to the prevention and control of the Covid-19 epidemic.

Tam Hop is a border commune of the remote district of Tuong Duong, where people's lives are facing many difficulties. The whole commune has 522 households, with 2,485 people, of which 158 are poor and 60 are near-poor.

The majority of the people here are ethnic minorities, mainly Mong, Tay Poong, Thai. People's lives still face many difficulties, but in support of the local government's call, people of all ethnic groups in this border commune have unanimously contributed agricultural products that their families produced themselves, or harvested on their fields to support people facing difficulties due to the epidemic in Quynh Luu.

People go to the forest to pick bamboo shoots. Photo: Dinh Tuan

Mr. Chua Ba Ma, (Mong ethnic group), in Huoi Son village, Tam Hop commune said: “My family is also facing difficulties. We don’t have money to support, but we also want to contribute to sharing the difficulties with people in the epidemic area, so I went to the forest to get bamboo shoots and banana flowers to support. There are many bamboo shoots, just need to climb a few mountains to get to the place to get them. Because I am used to doing it, I only need to get them in an hour to fill the pot. In the village, not only me but also many people volunteer to go get bamboo shoots, banana flowers, wild vegetables... to support people in the epidemic area.”

Similar to the people of Huoi Son village, the Tay Poong and Phong ethnic people these days also cross streams and forests to pick agricultural products to send to the people of Quynh Luu.

After just one day, Tam Hop commune received more than 300 kg of bamboo shoots. Photo: Dinh Tuan

According to Ms. Vieng Thi Diu in Phong village, Tam Hop commune, there has been little rain recently, so to get bamboo shoots, she had to go deep into the forest. Therefore, she had to wake up earlier than usual to go into the forest to get bamboo shoots. Ms. Diu said that when she learned that the commune was collecting donations to support people in Quynh Luu district to prevent and fight the epidemic, she said:

"From early morning, I and some other women in the village invited each other to go to the forest to collect bamboo shoots to support people facing difficulties due to the Covid-19 epidemic. From home to the area where bamboo shoots are, we have to walk for about 2 hours. After picking the bamboo shoots, we put them in bags and carry them back. The road is long, we have to climb many slopes, and we have to carry bamboo shoot bags on our backs, so everyone is tired, but we still feel happy because we have contributed to sharing the difficulties that people in the neighboring district are facing due to the epidemic," said Ms. Diu.

According to data from the People's Committee of Tam Hop commune, after only one day of launching the campaign, the commune received over 300kg of bamboo shoots, nearly 40kg of banana flowers and many other types of vegetables, tubers and fruits voluntarily contributed by the people. All of them will be transferred by the commune to give to the people of Quynh Luu district.

In recent days, Quynh Luu district has continuously recorded Covid-19 cases. To date, the district has recorded more than 40 cases in 10 communes and towns. All are related to the outbreak at Minh An General Hospital. The Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee has decided to socially isolate the entire Quynh Luu district according to Directive 16 from the morning of July 31.