'Poverty escape' applications

Elderly people "ask to escape poverty"

In the early winter drizzle, we returned to Cam Thang village, Cam Son commune (Anh Son), where people were buzzing about the poverty escape applications of three elderly people in the village.

“In 2018, Cam Thang village had 5 poor households, all of whom were elderly and disabled. This year, during the review process, 3 households voluntarily withdrew from the poor household list, including a 99-year-old man living alone,” said Ms. Cao Thi Loc - Party cell secretary.

Following Mrs. Loc, we visited Mr. Pham Viet Linh (born in 1920) - the most "famous" person in the village, because he is nearly 100 years old, lives alone but still asks to escape poverty. The small house is hidden in the middle of the garden, inside is filled with dry firewood, Mr. Linh is lying down listening to the news program on an old radio.

He told about his situation: “My wife passed away 63 years ago, I raised 5 children, 4 boys and 1 girl by myself, now 2 boys have passed away, 3 are left. My children live nearby but don’t want to bother me, because I am able to take care of them, I have money to subsidize the elderly.” Living alone, Mr. Linh is self-sufficient in meals and other living expenses, the monthly expenses are mainly covered by the 270,000 VND subsidy for the elderly. Therefore, he lives frugally, doesn’t waste anything, cooks completely with firewood, only uses electricity for lighting, each month he only spends about 20,000 VND on electricity.

Asked about the application to escape poverty, Mr. Pham Viet Linh replied: “Listening to the radio, I heard that Mrs. Do Thi Mo from Thanh Hoa came to the commune to ask to be removed from the list of poor households. At the same time, the village and commune officials came to survey, so I also expressed my wish to withdraw. Because I am old, have received subsidies from the State, and when needed, I have the help of my children and grandchildren.”

Local people take care of production and livestock to escape poverty.

Nine years younger than Mr. Pham Viet Linh, Mrs. Dinh Thi Tri (90 years old) has also just applied to escape poverty. Mrs. Tri lives with her daughter, Cao Thi Huong (born in 1960), who has suffered from mental illness since childhood. The mother and daughter are no longer able to work. Their daily lives depend on the allowance for the elderly and the disabled, the total amount is less than 700,000 VND. "This money must be spent frugally, mainly to buy food and medicine. When there is a severe shortage or serious illness, they call their children and grandchildren who live nearby," said Mrs. Tri. She has seven children, in addition to Ms. Huong, there are four sons and two daughters, most of whom live in the commune. Currently, she has 25 grandchildren, 17 great-grandchildren and one great-great-grandchild. Therefore, according to her, writing an application to escape poverty is to set an example for her children and grandchildren to rise up in life.

Mrs. Tran Thi Quy (born in 1932), in the same village, currently living alone, also applied to escape poverty.

Ms. Ngo Thi Huyen - Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of Anh Son district said: "Cam Thang village is the leading unit in applying for poverty reduction. From Cam Thang, 2 other households in Cam Son commune have also voluntarily applied. In addition, Tam Son commune also has 5 households applying for poverty reduction...".

Spread the spirit of overcoming difficulties

Going to Thach Ngan - one of the communes that initiated the movement of writing petitions to withdraw from poverty in Con Cuong district, we received good news when this year there were more new petitions. The first was the petition of Mr. Kha Van Tuat (Ke Gia village) written on October 16, followed by Mr. Ha Dai Ngoan (Dong Tam village) written on October 23.

Mr. Kha Van Tuat in Thach Ngan - Con Cuong asked to be removed from poverty.

After Mr. Tuat and Mr. Ngoan, in Thach Ngan, there are 6 more households that have submitted applications to escape poverty status. They are Mr. Lu Van Hoai in Tong Xan village; Vi Van Tam in Ke Gia village; Bui Duc Minh in Dong Tam village; Lo Thi Chuyen, Lo Van Chong and Nguyen Huu Anh in Khe Dong village. These households all have the same reason: their family's economy is now stable.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Hang - a commune policy officer said that although Thach Ngan is a poor commune with many socio-economic difficulties, people are always conscious of rising up to escape poverty, gradually overcoming the mentality of waiting and relying on others. From 2012 to 2018, the whole commune had 34 households applying to escape poverty, of which the highest number was in 2014 with 15 applications. In particular, in 2017, Mr. Luong Van Quang (Dong Thang village) was being treated for stomach cancer but still applied to escape poverty.

Mr. Kha Van Tuat worked hard to improve his life and wrote an application to escape poverty.

It can be said that Con Cuong is the leading locality in the movement of people writing applications to escape poverty. Before 2018, the whole district had a total of more than 380 people writing applications. This year 2019, by the end of October, nearly 20 households had written applications, starting in Thach Ngan commune, followed by Lang Khe, Chau Khe and Luc Da communes. From Con Cuong, the movement began to spread to Anh Son district, and according to the information we have just received, Quy Chau district has received an application to escape poverty from Mr. Vi Van Hung in Na Xen village, Chau Hanh commune.

Mr. Le Van Thuy - Head of the Department of Labor - Wages, Department of Labor - Invalids and Social Affairs said: "Currently, localities are urgently reviewing poor and near-poor households. The applications for poverty alleviation in Con Cuong, Anh Son and Quy Chau will have a positive impact in encouraging people to eliminate the mindset of waiting and relying on others, overcome difficulties, and be determined to escape poverty and gradually stabilize their lives."