Wherever there is difficulty, there are Youth Union cadres.

(Baonghean.vn) - Once known as a "difficult land", now Western Nghe An is changing day by day. This achievement has the great contribution of the youth union members on the economic, cultural, social security fronts... with the spirit of "wherever there is a need, there is youth, where there is difficulty, there is youth".

Union members join hands to build new countryside

Tri Le (Que Phong) these days is bustling with the spirit of building a new countryside. In that process, opening the road to the village is always one of the most difficult and arduous tasks that attracts many forces to participate, especially the youth union members in the area. The sun has just risen, but the bumpy and narrow forest road leading from Don village to Huoi Moi 2 village of the Mong people in Tri Le commune has nearly 1,000 union members enthusiastically crossing the forest and mountains to join hands to open the road.

The trail, which was less than an arm’s length wide and always buried during the rainy and flood days, has been completely upgraded, with a width of nearly 3m and a length of more than 8km. In particular, the sections passing through dangerous streams have been built with 2 new bridges, nearly 17m long. Since the large bridge and wide road were built, hundreds of Mong people are no longer isolated during the rainy and flood days, and can easily trade to consume agricultural products, so their lives have gradually changed.

More than 800 youth union members of Que Phong district are working hard to build a road connecting the villages from Na Puc (Chau Thon) to Muong Long (Tri Le). Photo: Thanh Quynh

Mr. Vi Van Tinh - Head of Na Puc village (Chau Thon commune) said: "Na Puc is far from the center of the district, most of the people are ethnic minorities, so it is very difficult to invest in infrastructure. Meanwhile, many roads are seriously degraded, causing significant impacts on production development. However, with the joint efforts of more than 800 youth union members from dozens of youth union branches in the district to clear and dig the soil, the road from Na Puc village to Muong Long of Tri Le with a length of nearly 10 km has been successful beyond expectations. Since receiving help from the youth union members, I and many other people have had more motivation to actively repair many other roads along the village to help make travel convenient and safe."

Que Phong is still one of the 64 poor districts in the country, but in recent years, the district has achieved many remarkable achievements in the new rural movement. A special contribution to this program is the youth union force.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Hiep, Secretary of the District Youth Union, shared: “In the 5 years of implementing the campaign "Youth join hands to build new countryside", the Youth Union chapters at all levels in Que Phong, in coordination with socio-political organizations, have propagated and mobilized people and families of Youth Union members to donate land to open roads with a total length of over 50km; dredged and repaired 25km of irrigation canals in the fields worth 500 million VND; poured 20km of rural roads worth an estimated 900 million VND. Mobilized people to donate land to open new roads with a length of nearly 1,000m, wider than 2.5m...

Along with that, the youth union members of the whole district have organized environmental sanitation campaigns, collected garbage, cleared and cleaned village roads, alleys, and beautified the youth-managed roads. Up to now, the face of the countryside has changed significantly, cultural life has changed positively, backward customs have been eliminated and replaced by typical cultural families and cultural villages...

Promote the movement of self-reliance and career establishment

This season, the orange garden of Mr. Cao Duy Khoi (born 1986) has entered the peak ripening season. This is the second crop of orange trees with high yield and outstanding quality on Minh Kinh hill (Minh Hop, Quy Hop). After the achievements he is achieving, he does not forget to mention the attention of the female Secretary of the commune Youth Union Kieu Thi Lien, although still very young, she has devoted herself to each orange and grapefruit tree of the members from the time they are planted until they are fully ripe.

Recalling the time from 2005, when he graduated from the College of Industrial Fine Arts (Bien Hoa City, Dong Nai) with a major in graphics and tried to find a job in a foreign land but to no avail. He returned to his hometown and was encouraged by the commune's union officials to stay and start a business. With the capital he had saved and the loan support from the union members in the commune that Ms. Lien called for, he invested in 5 sao of oranges. In early 2014, he borrowed money to expand the area, bringing the total area of ​​the orange garden to more than 60 sao.

Ms. Kieu Thi Lien - Secretary of the Minh Hop Commune Youth Union at the orange garden of member Cao Duy Khoi (far left). Photo: Thanh Quynh

With the guidance of the Commune Youth Union Secretary, he and other youth union members actively participated in all training sessions of the union on orange growing techniques, plant care, safe use of fertilizers and pesticides, etc. Thanks to that, he learned and exchanged a lot of experience in the field of orange growing and care.

After much investment, his orange garden has begun to yield its first harvests, in 2016, it harvested 18 tons of good quality oranges for sale on the market. This year, it is expected that both lots will yield around 30 tons of finished oranges. The average income of one hectare is also from 200 to 250 million VND per crop. Currently, his model is one of the leading examples in the youth start-up movement, thanks to his tireless efforts he has succeeded. His model is often visited and learned by many young union members.

After his success, many union members in the commune have boldly invested in starting a business in their home commune. Currently, Minh Hop has nearly 50 union members developing economic models worth more than 500 million VND and 25-30 union members with economic models worth 200-300 million VND. This is one of the key economic areas for young people in mountainous areas, the leading flag of the youth start-up movement in the province.

Sharing about the success of the youth union movement in the district, Mr. Nguyen Dinh Khiem, Deputy Secretary of the Quy Hop District Youth Union, said: "In recent years, the District Youth Union Standing Committee has promoted and mobilized young people to actively work, produce, strive to establish themselves and start their own businesses, associated with the construction of new economic models such as advertising services, stone carving, mechanics, large-scale livestock farming... and at the same time focused on guiding the establishment of cooperative groups and youth clubs for economic development. Currently, the district has more than 150 models of young union members who are good at doing business, including models with an income of over 200 million VND/year. The District Youth Union Standing Committee organizes training on technology transfer and coordinates with policy banks to support young people to borrow preferential capital sources for economic development".

Deepen social security development

Storm No. 2 passed through with many heavy rains, causing many houses in Huoi Khe, Pha Bun, Nga Ba (Huoi Tu) villages to be almost completely damaged. Immediately after the flash flood, more than 70 Huoi Tu youth union members together with Ky Son district union urgently deployed search and rescue activities, cleaned up houses, cleared water flows and cleaned the environment in the affected areas.

Although his family's rice and vegetable fields are located in the flood zone, Mr. Ho Ba Da (born in 1987), Secretary of the Youth Union of Huoi Tu commune, and many youth union members in the commune still actively participate in relief activities, overcome the consequences, and stabilize people's lives.

The flash flood has caused chaos for the local people. He became the leader of the youth union members in the commune and the district union, gathering more than 1,000 youth union members to regularly attend the scene to help overcome the consequences. Coordinated with local authorities and people to repair and re-roof more than 100 houses. Timely repaired and repaired nearly 50km of roads... to help people start a new life.

Youth Union members of Ky Son district cooperate with local authorities to help people rebuild their houses after damage caused by natural disasters. Photo: Thanh Quynh

Together with the people of the West to overcome the difficulties of natural disasters, it can be said that the Provincial Youth Union has played the role of "leading bird" in all activities of youth union members in the localities. Immediately after the flash flood, the Provincial Youth Union sent cadres to the locality to coordinate and direct the mobilization of forces, deploy rescue activities, and overcome the consequences. To ensure safety and effectiveness in voluntary work to overcome the consequences, the Provincial Youth Union advocated mobilizing local forces. At the same time, it was a bridge to receive relief gifts and support for people affected by flash floods.

Mr. Duong Hoang Vu - Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Youth Union said: "It can be affirmed that the activities and movements of the youth union members in the whole province in the past time have been and continue to be effective, leaving many good images in the hearts of the people. These activities have contributed to the completion of socio-economic development goals in many localities, especially in mountainous districts, where people's lives still face many difficulties.

In the first 6 months of 2017 alone, the Youth Union chapters at all levels in the province have carried out 15 district-level youth projects, more than 308 commune-level youth projects and more than 1,500 branch-level youth projects and tasks such as: building rural roads, dredging canals, and general environmental cleaning. Among them are many typical units in the western region of the province such as Nghia Dan, Anh Son, Ky Son, Quy Hop, Con Cuong, etc.

Along with that, the Youth Entrepreneurship Fund at district level continues to operate effectively, in the first 6 months of 2017, it disbursed 28 projects, creating jobs for more than 41 workers. Some units implemented the management and effective use of loan capital such as: Quy Hop, Nghia Dan, Thanh Chuong, Con Cuong, Anh Son ... In particular, more than 21 training courses on science and technology transfer were organized; continued to maintain and develop 242 youth economic development models with income from 200 million VND/year or more. These achievements have created a stepping stone for youth union members to become a shock force to awaken new vitality in the difficult land of Western Nghe An"./.

Thanh Quynh