The female party secretary in the upstream area of Pu Xung.
(Baonghean) - Introduced by the Party Committee of Bac Son commune (Quy Hop district), we visited Manh village, where the Thai ethnic minority people live along the towering Pu Xung mountain range, to meet a "special" person. That is Ms. Lo Thi Thien - the first and only female Party branch secretary of Bac Son commune today.
Putting aside the busy household and village affairs of the year-end, Ms. Lo Thi Thien welcomed us into her ancient stilt house, nestled amidst lush greenery and fruit trees. The entire Manh village is bustling with the sugarcane and acacia harvest season. From a village classified as extremely disadvantaged, with a very high poverty rate, Manh village has transformed in recent years into one of the wealthiest villages in Bac Son commune, with an annual income exceeding 5 billion VND. This progress is undoubtedly the result of the collective efforts of all the villagers, but the leading figure – the Party branch secretary (?) – also played a significant role.
Out of curiosity, but in our conversation, Ms. Thien kept repeating that she hadn't accomplished much herself, and that it was thanks to the help of all the party members in the branch and the trust and support of all the villagers. Having traveled extensively and interacted with many people in the villages, we somewhat understood the hardships faced by those who "carry the burden of the whole community" like her. Her main position, with minimal allowance, is the branch secretary, but she also holds many other unpaid positions such as head of the Fatherland Front committee, head of the people's mobilization team... and each job is important and requires careful attention.
She recounted that she vividly remembers being elected Party branch secretary in 2006. At that time, she was praised by the villagers for being capable, skilled in household chores, and adept at farming, but becoming Party branch secretary was unprecedented. Even after the Party branch announced the election results, she remained nervous for days. She had served as the head of the village women's association for many years, but becoming Party branch secretary was a different matter altogether. However, with the encouragement of the entire Party branch, her colleagues, and her family, she embarked on her new role with the determination to learn and strive not to disappoint everyone's trust.
Located far from the commune center, the village of Manh is difficult to access, making life even more challenging. Amidst countless worries about household and village affairs, she prioritized poverty alleviation. The village's rice paddies were limited to 7.5 hectares, of which only 4 hectares had access to irrigation; the remaining 3.5 hectares relied on rainwater for cultivation. To ensure food security and improve their lives, the only option was to focus on forest land and develop livestock farming. The Party branch held a meeting and decided to reclaim the land in Thung Manh, introducing sugarcane as the main crop. Households like Lo Van Vinh and Lo Van Khanh, who pioneered the reclamation of land in Thung Manh, received strong support from the Party branch and village committee, serving as models for others to replicate.
Thung Manh is a wide valley nestled amidst the vast Pu Xung forest, located 10 kilometers from the main village. Previously, the villagers mainly cultivated corn and cassava, earning only a meager income. Introducing sugarcane to Thung Manh was a risky move, as the roads were extremely difficult to navigate, and water was scarce. To obtain water for daily use and for cattle, villagers had to trek up the mountain to the Pu Puc water source, bordering Tho Son (Anh Son district), to carry water back. However, the villagers built dams to retain water, and the land in Thung Manh gradually became covered with sugarcane, providing raw materials for the sugar factory – a quiet joy for the village Party Secretary, Luong Thi Thien. Of the 95 households in the village, over 75 are now involved in sugarcane cultivation in Thung Manh. It's wonderful that the total sugarcane area is currently 95 hectares, the land is good, and the people take care of it, so the last harvest yielded 48 million VND/hectare, meaning Thung Manh alone brought in over 4.5 billion VND for the village. Households like Lo Van Vinh, Lo Van Khanh, Lo Van Khoi... have become wealthy households in the commune.
Achieving that income seems to have required a great deal of effort. The expenses included building roads and bridges into the valley. With the support of the sugar factory, over the years, the villagers have contributed 100 million VND and thousands of man-days to level and upgrade 10 km of roads and build three sturdy concrete bridges. As the head of the community mobilization team, she revealed that the secret is to diligently "mobilize, mobilize, and mobilize" so that the people's small contributions become significant, overcoming difficulties. Besides income from sugarcane, the villagers have also begun to earn income from harvesting acacia trees for raw materials, averaging 8 hectares of forest per household. The sugarcane and acacia planting have reduced the area of grassland, leading to a slowdown in the development of the buffalo and cattle herds. However, currently, the village still has 370 buffalo and cattle, with many households growing grass for livestock. The improved living standards of the people have made contributing to the construction of village infrastructure easier.
For the past eight years, taking the lead as Party branch secretary, Ms. Luong Thi Thien has consistently excelled in her duties. The Party branch, which had only 7 members in 2006, now boasts 15 members, proving itself a cornerstone of all community movements. Her joy is intertwined with the changes in the village and its people. She rejoices because the villagers have more food and resources, and because their cultural lives have improved, with no children dropping out of school and nine villagers currently studying at universities and colleges nationwide. Dedicated to her work, wholeheartedly caring for the people, and constantly learning and exploring, Party branch secretary Luong Thi Thien is contributing to writing vibrant new chapters for the village in the upper reaches of Pu Xung.
Cao Duy Thai
