Dynamic and exemplary female village chief

(Baonghean) -Close, enthusiastic, always fulfilling her responsibilities towards the villagers, she is loved and respected by the villagers. And that is also the motivation for her to wholeheartedly serve the villagers, lead the village movement to develop, Minh Chau village becomes one of the bright spots in the Western region. That is Ms. Vi Thi Chuong, head of Minh Chau village, Chau Hanh commune, Quy Chau district.

Recently, during a business trip to Quy Chau district, when we went to Minh Chau village, Chau Hanh commune to learn about the factors that create success in building solid houses for poor households, we met village chief Vi Thi Chuong. After a moment of surprise, I was captivated by the enthusiasm of the female village chief. Pointing to the newly built stilt houses with bright red tiled roofs, Ms. Chuong said: To build solid houses for poor households like that, with the support of 8.4 million VND from the State, the district's Social Policy Bank lent 8 million VND under the Government's Program 167, each poor household had to mobilize additional funds from brothers and relatives. In which, the villagers contributed their efforts and working days. According to the long-standing agreement of Minh Chau village, when a household builds or repairs a house, each worker in the village contributes at least one working day. By doing so, in the past three years, 43 households in Minh Chau village have contributed to completing four “167 houses” for poor households to have stable housing so that they can develop their economy and raise their children. With the unique and effective leadership of village chief Vi Thi Chuong, Minh Chau village has become one of the typical examples in the movement of solidarity and mutual assistance to eliminate dilapidated and makeshift houses, as well as to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty.

A corner of Minh Chau cultural village.

Ms. Chuong has been the village chief since the end of 2004, so it has been nearly 10 years. In these highland villages, for a long time now, the roles of village elders and village chiefs have been taken on by men. Through the village chief, all the people's work, all policies, regimes, and guidelines from all levels of government reach the people. Therefore, the position of village chief plays a very important role, especially in bringing the Party's policies and the State's laws to the people in remote areas. That is why, up to now, men have often been elected to the role of "carrying the prison and the village chief", so nearly 10 years ago, Ms. Vi Thi Chuong accepted the position of village chief, which was a big change for the people of Minh Chau village.

Before that, for many years she was the head of the women's association, then the village health worker. Ms. Chuong has helped all households in the village to take care of their health and develop their family economy. Ms. Chuong said that nearly 20 years ago, her family took the lead in reclaiming "na noi" (small plots of water-filled rice fields) and growing wet rice. Seeing that her wet rice cultivation was effective, the villagers also encouraged each other to do the same and growing rice in the wet rice fields in Minh Chau village has now become the main source of income. Up to now, Ms. Chuong has maintained the trust of the villagers and has performed well the assigned tasks. When she first held the "position" of village chief, Ms. Chuong also encountered criticism from many elderly people in the village, because for generations, men had held this position. However, with her enthusiasm and dedication, Ms. Chuong has proven to the entire village that female village chiefs can do as well as men.

Immediately after taking the position of village chief, Ms. Chuong and the members of the village's association went to each house, grasped the feelings and aspirations of the villagers, and at the same time collected everyone's opinions to build a new village convention. From the approved convention, the two Thai families, Vi and Luong, in Minh Chau have strengthened solidarity, pushed back backward customs, fought against social evils, and ensured good village security. In 2005, Minh Chau was one of the highland villages in Western Nghe An that was soon recognized as a cultural village. Since then, Minh Chau has always maintained the image of a cultural village with economic and social development movements, ensuring national defense and security. Minh Chau under her leadership has no drug addiction among young people. Saying goodbye to Ms. Vi Thi Chuong to go to the main road, I was still convinced by the image of a dynamic female village chief, devoted to the villagers and hoped that the Western region would have more village chiefs like her.

Article and photos: Nguyen Son