The 'Matchmakers' and Spiritual Support

"The matchmaker" of the village

To better understand the creative and effective ways of propaganda and mobilization of prestigious people in Anh Son district, we were led by the Head of the District Ethnic Affairs Department to visit the house of Mrs. Ha Thi Chinh in village 11, Hoa Son commune. Looking at her four healthy grandchildren running around in the yard, Mrs. Chinh said that Village Chief Luong Van Thai was the one who acted as a "matchmaker" for her three sons as well as 25 other couples in the village.

According to the concept of the Thai ethnic group, every person is born with 3 fathers and 3 mothers: biological parents, parents of husband (wife) and "matchmaker parents". "Matchmaker parents" play the role of matchmaker in the concept of marriage and the spiritual and cultural life of the people. With that position, Mr. Thai has skillfully advised young couples to carry out the family planning campaign well to focus on economic development and find ways to stabilize their lives. He is also the one who resolves local problems to mobilize people to agree to build new rural areas together, thanks to that, up to now, village 11 has only 9/146 households, poor, more than 20 households have become well-off.

Especially in village 11, over the past 6 years, the "No third child" club has maintained regular activities. The establishment and operation of the club has created a big change in the concept of the people here. Previously, everyone in the village believed that having many children, especially boys, was better. Therefore, there was no shortage of families with 9-10 children, making life extremely difficult. To eliminate this concept, the Party Committee, the government, the village leaders, and prestigious people had to spend a long time propagating and mobilizing.

“Since the “No Third Child” Club was established, no couple has had a third child. Even among 20 couples of childbearing age, there are about 7-8 couples who have only daughters and have committed to only having 2 children. To achieve that result, people still talk a lot about the Head of Village 11, Luong Van Thai.”

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy An - Head of Ethnic Affairs Department of Anh Son district

A prestigious person of village 11, Hoa Son commune (Anh Son), Mr. Luong Van Thai (far right) is propagating about family planning policy at Mrs. Ha Thi Chinh's house. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Nghe An currently has 1,240 prestigious people among ethnic minorities, of which 200 have been actively working in recent times and have been recognized by the Provincial People's Committee and organizations this year. They are village elders, village chiefs, ward chiefs, party cell secretaries, clan leaders, veterans, retired cadres, good producers... who are trusted and respected by the people.

Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Ethnic Minorities Committee said that for many years, prestigious people in the ethnic minority community have been the "extended arms" of local Party committees and authorities at the grassroots level. Especially in the border areas, prestigious people have worked with all levels and sectors, especially the Provincial Border Guard, to actively propagate and mobilize people to fight against crimes and social evils, firmly protecting national sovereignty and border security.

Typical prestigious individuals were honored at the 2nd Conference to honor typical prestigious people among ethnic minorities in Nghe An province - 2019. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Need young and prestigious people

As a prestigious person in Na An village (Chau Thanh commune, Quy Hop district), for many years, Mr. Ha Van Thai (born in 1947) has always been aware of his responsibility to the community and the village. However, he has many concerns. That is, there is still a lack of specific regulations on responsibilities, obligations and ways to carry out the tasks that prestigious people need to do.

In addition, the provision of information and training on knowledge of the Party's guidelines and policies, the State's policies and laws, ethnic and poverty reduction programs, as well as skills in propaganda and mobilizing the people for prestigious people are still very limited.

Village elder Cu Chia Chu (born 1944) in Mo Nung village (Muong Long commune, Ky Son district) confided that currently, the prestigious people in the villages are mainly the elderly, lacking typical factors from the young force.

The reason is that most of these forces tend to work far away, the rest do not have a proper awareness of their role and responsibility to the community, so they are not very interested in participating in social activities. Meanwhile, because of their old age, remote living area, and difficulty in traveling, it is very difficult for Mr. Chu himself as well as the village elders and prestigious people living in the area to closely grasp and be present in time to grasp the actual situation or resolve conflicts and disputes.

Mr. Cut Man Noi - a prestigious person of Noong De village, Nam Can commune (Ky Son) analyzed for the people the harmful effects of illegal border crossing. Photo: PV

To overcome difficulties and shortcomings, at the Conference to honor prestigious people among ethnic minorities in Nghe An province, comrade Nguyen Van Thong - Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee clearly stated 5 key tasks in the coming time.

It emphasizes the importance of training, providing information, and creating favorable conditions for prestigious people to promote their roles in all areas of social life. Strengthening inspection and supervision work, promptly detecting and advising and proposing to Party committees and authorities to remove difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing regimes and policies as well as taking care of the material and spiritual life of this group.

Party committees and authorities at all levels, especially at the grassroots level, need to strengthen leadership, orient tasks and activities for prestigious people; regularly organize training on knowledge and skills in mass mobilization work; provide information on socio-economic development and new policies and guidelines for prestigious people.

Promote the role of social supervision and criticism of prestigious people; create conditions for prestigious people to participate in giving opinions on building local socio-economic development programs and plans.

Promoting the role of prestigious people is an important factor contributing to maintaining political stability in ethnic minority areas, so this must be carried out regularly and continuously, both serving long-term needs and at the same time associated with the task of solving urgent problems arising in each locality. Only then can we maximize the dynamism, enthusiasm and creative thinking of prestigious people in the process of economic development, building community solidarity towards a sustainable prosperous life.