New Year's wishes of resettled people in Hua Na

(Baonghean) - Tet is near, but many people in the resettlement area of ​​Hua Na Hydropower Plant (Dong Van Commune - Que Phong) do not have enough rice to eat 2 meals a day. "I hope that in the new year, people will be divided land for production", said Mr. Lo Van Ngan in Muong Hinh village, which is also the opinion of the people here...

Dong Van Commune has 10 villages, of which 4 are part of the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement program: Muong Hinh, Pu Duoc, Pu Khon and Pieng Van. Chairman of Dong Van Commune People's Committee, Mr. Lang Van Tuan, shared: "On the new land, the lives of resettled people are facing two major difficulties, which are lack of water for daily life and lack of land for production. For a long time, people in the villages have been living on relief rice and gathering for a living. Only Pieng Van village is less difficult than the rest."

The family of Pieng Van village chief Lo Dinh Thi (second from left) selects seeds for next season.

It has been a long time since I had a bowl of white rice made by the people of Pieng Van village, or a cup of water from the forest that was roasted and buried by the people of Pieng Van, then boiled and drunk since the day I came here in 2006, when I was in my old village. The people of Pieng Van are still as simple, sincere, and hospitable as ever.

Mr. Lo Dinh Thi - Head of Pieng Van village, while catching worms in the vegetable garden at the beginning of the season, confided: "Moving to the new village has advantages of electricity, roads, schools, and stations. When we were in the old village, there was no electricity, and the roads were difficult to travel. From Pieng Van village (old) to the center of Dong Van commune, it took nearly 3 kilometers, wading through nearly a dozen deep streams, and during the rainy season, we had to endure the situation of being cut off by the rising water of the streams. The distance in terms of transportation means that all outside communication is extremely limited, most of the products made and caught are only for the family. Once, Mr. Huyen (from the same village) caught a lot of fish, could not eat them all, waded through the stream to bring the fish to Dong Van commune to sell, during the rainy season, the stream water rose so high that he almost died. Pieng Van people also brought fish to Kim Son town to sell during the peak fish season (April to September every year) but were also forced to lower the price by buyers! Fish can be eaten all year round, and as for upland rice, every family has at least more than a dozen bags of rice stacked in the kitchen, never lacking. eat all. Some families have five or seven buffaloes and cows, some have over 20. Some families have nearly 50, like the family of the village secretary Lo Hong Ngan. My family also has over 30 cows."

Since moving to a new place, Pieng Van has been better off than the other villages because it "has savings" and can reclaim distant hills to grow rice, corn, etc. Partly because when moving to the new village, the Pieng Van people did not sell their buffaloes and cows cheaply, but brought them along. Secretary Lo Hong Ngan's family spent several days moving nearly 30 buffaloes and cows to the new village, bringing along dry straw and bamboo to make barns for the buffaloes and cows to live in. Each house has at least 2 or 3 cows. With buffaloes and cows, Pieng Van people go to find distant hills to reclaim land to grow rice, cassava, and corn. Each family has rice to eat for 6 to 9 months of the year. The family of Village Chief Thi, Secretary Ngan, in addition to rice, also has sticky rice, to make cakes this Tet. The Village Chief is happy: "Thanks to reclaiming a few plots of land, otherwise it would be like the other villages".

Every family in Pieng Van has at least a few cows giving birth, and each year they can sell a calf for over ten million dong. "That is a temporary solution while people wait for land to be divided for production. In the long term, we must have land," said village chief Thi sadly.

Through Muong Hinh, Pu Duoc and Pu Khon villages. People in these three villages spend their days going to the forest to pick up food, trap birds, and find fish in the streams to make a living. Innocent children play on the new road, not wearing enough warm clothes but still laughing happily, the children do not know the hardships of adults.

Mr. Lo Van Ngan in Muong Hinh village has had to eat thin porridge and wild vegetables instead of rice for the past month. He told us in a sad voice: "I've been here for 2 years, I don't have any land. The rice from the old village was brought out last year, the money from selling buffalo and cows is almost gone, I don't dare spend anymore, I have to save it for when I get sick." Most of the people in Muong Hinh village live in a state of daily food shortage. Here, we saw Lo Thi Thom, 7 years old, in Pu Duoc village, holding a handful of cold rice in her hand and eating it deliciously.

Ms. Lo Thi Tham was sitting sewing clothes in front of her house. It was almost noon, but her kitchen was still cold. Her husband and children had not returned from the forest. In the kitchen, I only saw a little cold rice. Ms. Tham said to wait for her father and children to return from the forest. If they caught any birds or squirrels, they could take them to the shop to sell for money to buy rice.

People in Muong Hinh, Pu Duoc and Pu Khon villages are eagerly waiting for land to produce. "I miss my fields and my fields but I don't have any land to cultivate." Mr. Ngan's sentiment in Muong Hinh is also the desire of people in the 4 villages of the Hua Na Hydropower resettlement area on the new land of Dong Van.

Tet is near, only seeing the bright colors and the faint sound of pounding rice in Pieng Van village, otherwise, people are working very hard.

Thu Huong