Mount Nàng awakens

That place, known as Nàng Mountain, is steeped in legends; in the past, it was a dense, wild forest untouched by human footsteps. Yet, with the energy of youth, young men and women, barely eighteen or twenty years old, have transformed it into a new homeland. These are the young people of the Tân Kỳ Youth Volunteer Brigade 4.

Youth Volunteer Brigade 4 borders the two communes of Giai Xuan and Tan Hop (particularly disadvantaged communes), mainly inhabited by the Tho ethnic minority. To reach them, one must cross the Vinh slope. After the slope, a fertile red soil "plain" appears before the eyes. Mr. Ha Huy Loi, the deputy team leader, said proudly: "This place has both economic development potential and the opportunity to exploit tourism potential because there are still quite a lot of dense primary forests, with fascinating rock formations and cave systems." He led me to a flat area and pointed: "Look at that mountain over there, journalist!" I briefly saw the mountain range resembling a young woman lying with her hair flowing down to the stream. Below was the vast green expanse of hills covered with fruit trees, corn, and sugarcane. Mr. Loi explained: "The elders of the Tho ethnic group say that for generations, the local people have called this mountain 'Nang Mountain' (Mountain of the Maiden), associated with many legends. Legend says that a group of fairies descended to earth to wander and fell in love with a Tho man named Tha Moong. The Jade Emperor, angered, forbade the fairies from returning to heaven. The two of them transformed the gloomy mountainous region into a fertile land. However, the Jade Emperor always caused difficulties, with year-round droughts, cracked land, and suffering people. The fairy then left with..." Thà Moong carved into the Pu Thèn mountain to draw water from Pù Thơi, creating the Kẻ Thai stream, which now flows abundantly. At the foot of Nàng mountain, for generations, the people have built a shrine, offering incense on the 15th day of the lunar month and during festivals to commemorate the fairy who pioneered this land. I learned that in 1997, initially, only four brothers from the Anh Sơn Youth Volunteer Brigade I were sent to the new land of Tân Kỳ to "open up the land," establishing this new Youth Volunteer Brigade. The beginning was very difficult, but the brothers encouraged each other to persevere, then spread the word to the Thổ people, and they were well-received! Later, nearly 20 young Thổ people joined the Brigade. They went into the forest to cut bamboo and build shelters. With only hoes and shovels, the young people both "cleared the land" and planted corn, potatoes, and peanuts to "make ends meet." They also had to ponder and think strategically about what crops to plant. The land was well-suited to the area. Initially, the General Team planned to plant coffee and rubber trees, as the red basalt soil was ideal for these industrial crops, but they were unsuccessful due to water shortages. Finally, they found a solution: fruit trees such as oranges, longan, and lychee could thrive; while the gently sloping hills were used for sugarcane cultivation, intercropped with other crops in the farms. Now, exactly 10 years later, the General Team has attracted 155 members, creating a prosperous economic zone. Statistics show they have planted 50 hectares of longan and lychee; 10 hectares of oranges, 50 hectares of sugarcane, and 12 hectares of bamboo shoots. In addition, they have planted 760 hectares of timber forests... The average household economy has steadily improved; currently, 80% of households own motorbikes, and 95% of houses are built with tiled roofs. The General Team has also established a youth settlement village for the Tho ethnic group.

A deep and passionate love between young lovers.

We visited the youth village, and Lợi "revealed" that out of 155 members in the entire Youth Brigade, 70 couples (over 80%) had married each other. It's rare, and most marriages involve Kinh people marrying Thổ people. Recently, at a wedding, the village elder of Tân Hợp remarked: "Perhaps the fairy of Nàng Mountain brought these young men and women together." Hearing this, I was even more eager to visit the homes of these young men and women. Passing through the acacia forests, a house with a bright red tiled roof appeared before us, surrounded by lush orchards of longan, lychee, and orange trees, with cows grazing peacefully. This is the home of Trương Văn Chính, a Thổ ethnic minority, and Nguyễn Thị Nga, from Nghĩa Phúc-Tân Kỳ. They were both born in 1980, in their twenties when they first arrived. After getting married, the young couple settled down on 1.7 hectares of land in a remote area, building a temporary thatched hut on the hillside. The couple enthusiastically worked to improve the land for planting various crops. In just three years, they had cultivated 10 acres of peanuts, 200 longan and lychee trees, over 100 orange trees, and raised four cows. Each year they earn over 40 million dong, and in about two years, the entire orchard is expected to generate over 100 million dong per year. Now, they have built a spacious tiled-roof house.

On the other side of the hill is the family of Nguyen Anh Tuan, originally from Giang Son-Do Luong, whose wife is Truong Thi Hang, a Tho ethnic minority. Their relationship was initially difficult due to the distance between their families. But they overcame the challenges and have now built a property of over 3 hectares, cultivating more than 600 fruit trees of various kinds, including 200 lychee trees and 120 orange trees... not to mention 5 cows and pigs.

Leaving Vinh slope as evening fell, amidst the vast green expanse of the forest, I could still see the figures of young people "conquering" the mountains and forests. They were creating a miracle, awakening a remote forest region.

Van Truong