The diligent "prisoner"

(Baonghean) -Being a village head is not an easy job, but there is one person who has been doing this job for over 20 years and always completes his duties with tireless enthusiasm and passion. He is Phan Van Song, a parishioner of Phong Thinh commune, Thanh Chuong district.

A few years ago, the road to Phong Thinh commune was still muddy, but now Phong Thinh seems to have a “new coat” with wide, clean asphalt roads. Passing the commune center, our car only took less than 15 minutes to reach Trung Thanh hamlet, a hamlet in the “remote area” of Phong Thinh commune. The hamlet is still mostly agricultural production, the people are simple, and is one of the first 3 hamlets in Thanh Chuong district to be recognized as a provincial Cultural Village.

The person who brought the hamlet movement forward was none other than Hamlet Chief Phan Van Song, an exemplary party member. Talking about him, everyone in the hamlet respected him because there were few people who had been attached to the village and hamlet work for as long as he had. Up to now, he had been doing the job of "carrying the prison and the whole village" for 20 years, 1 month, and 15 days, and a year ago he had intended to retire due to health reasons, but he still could not hand over the work. Mr. Nguyen Huu Son, Secretary of the Phong Thinh Commune Party Committee, admitted: There are few party members who are as diligent, hardworking and contribute as much to the locality as Hamlet Chief Phan Van Song. If he retires, we will truly lack a dedicated cadre.

Mr. Song (right) discussed with Phong Thinh Commune Party Secretary.

Phong Thinh was originally a poor hamlet. When Mr. Phan Van Song became the hamlet chief in 1993, more than 30% of the hamlet's households were poor. The electricity and road systems were still very makeshift, and the people were mainly farmers. Determining that if the hamlet wanted to develop and grow economically, rural transportation was essential, so immediately after being elected as the hamlet chief by the villagers, he mobilized the villagers to clear the bushes and widen the roads... Seeing that this was a correct policy, after a short time of launching, the people of Trung Thanh hamlet enthusiastically donated land, voluntarily cutting down trees in their gardens to make way for the expansion of the village road from 1-1.5 meters to 3-4 meters.

He also worried that Trung Thanh was a hamlet with little rice fields and often flooded, so economic restructuring was something that needed attention. At that time, Mr. Song himself was just a retired worker from the 22/12 Brick Factory, with little experience in farming and livestock farming techniques, but he boldly proposed to the commune and district to bring new techniques and varieties to support and help people develop their economy. The advantage of Trung Thanh hamlet was forest land, so right after the implementation, people quickly approached planting forests and building farms. Therefore, after only a few years, Trung Thanh's economy has improved a lot, the poverty rate has decreased from 30% to only 4% (4 households). The hamlet is also the leading unit of the district in building a cultural hamlet.

With his own strength and completely relying on the people's contributions, he mobilized the people in the village to build concrete roads, build cultural houses, and purchase synchronous and complete cultural facilities. When asked about this work, he said: mobilizing people to donate money to build public works is a sensitive task. Therefore, if not done skillfully and correctly, it can sometimes cause negative effects. Personally, I believe that everything I do is for the people, every penny of the people is public and used for the right purpose. Only then will people believe and support...

With that trust, since 1996, while many places were still struggling to know how to mobilize and organize, Trung Thanh hamlet has completed the construction of a cultural house, completed the village charter and put the hamlet's activities into order. Thanks to that, since 1999 the hamlet has been honored to be recognized as a provincial Cultural Hamlet. Currently, the hamlet has over 90% of cultural families, over 40 children in the hamlet are studying at universities and colleges, and is a unit that is always at the forefront of the movements "All people unite to build a cultural life in residential areas", unite to build new rural areas in the hamlet and in the district.

As a member of the Commune Fatherland Front Committee and the District Catholic Solidarity Committee, Mr. Song has actively participated in building solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics in the entire district. Everyone always remembers the event at Trung Hoa Parish many years ago. At that time, although Mr. Song was criticized by many people, he still persevered in going to each house every night to mobilize people, to propagate the policies of the Party and the State, so that people could understand and support the government's actions.

Thanks to those contributions, he was awarded a certificate of merit twice by the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee, 14 certificates of merit by the Thanh Chuong District Party Committee, and many times attended typical reports. Sharing his experience in doing mass mobilization skillfully and well, he said: The most important thing is to go deep, go close, dare to do, dare to sacrifice... He also joked, "Doing the job of carrying prisoners and general goods, I often have to make up for losses because the allowance is not enough for gas and travel, but I am happy because I have become a boss, have retired but am still trusted and loved by the people".

Article and photos: My Ha