To get to Pieng Lang village, from the center of Nam Giai commune, we have to travel nearly 10km, of which more than 1.6km from the end of Puc village. Traffic is quite difficult. The winding road is sometimes rocky and rough, sometimes muddy and slippery, forcing us to hold on tightly to the saddle of the commune cadre to avoid falling.
The population in Pieng Lang is quite sparse, along the road leading to the village. The house of Party Secretary Ngan Van Minh (born in 1985) is located opposite the village community center. When we visited, the leader of Pieng Lang village was sitting editing text on the computer. Seeing our surprise, Ngan Van Minh said: “The computer is self-equipped, the printer is supported by superiors to print text and documents. At first, when I learned to edit text by myself, I and the village officials were very confused, but we had to persevere. Although I learned "picking up" things, now I am proficient, if I don't know something, I ask the commune officials or teachers at the school in the village.”
In a heartfelt story right after that in the cozy stilt house, Party Secretary Ngan Van Minh shared: After the historic flood in 2007, which took the lives of many people, damaged houses, buried fields and gardens with sand, rocks, trees, and garbage, to ensure safety, a part of the people of Puc and Meo villages had to leave their old residences to settle down in Pieng Lang, earn a living, and start over. The new Pieng Lang village was established in 2009. The beginning was very difficult, seemingly with only two empty hands, difficult and isolated transportation, almost self-sufficient, domestic water had to be taken from streams, and there was no electricity grid. However, "with human strength, rocks and stones can turn into rice". After decades of "struggling" with difficulties and harshness, the lives of the Pieng Lang people have now turned to a new page! Especially after being selected by the District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee as a model to build a skillful mass mobilization model of "transforming backward customs, building cultural life and developing the socio-economic situation of residential areas", people have had many changes in their thinking and working habits.
For example, in the past, people's living conditions were still backward, the whole village had only 21/56 households (accounting for 37.5%) with toilets, the rest discharged waste into the environment. Domestic water mainly used natural water. Livestock and poultry farms were still temporary or free-range, affecting the general environmental sanitation. The application of science and technology in farming and livestock farming was still limited, land and home gardens were mainly planted with mixed plants and plants of low economic value. Now, thanks to "skillful mass mobilization", all 56/56 households have completed toilets, of which the District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee supported 30 million VND, and people contributed 860 million VND to invest in the project; 52/56 households moved their barns out of the house floor, reaching a rate of 92.5%.
Regarding the economy, Party Cell Secretary Ngan Van Minh is concerned: Pieng Lang has been supported with many tree and animal projects to help change people's lives, but not all models are successful. “There used to be passion fruit trees. At first, it was also a livelihood tree, eliminating hunger and reducing poverty. But after a few years, passion fruit trees were affected by pests and diseases, the trees kept dying, the yield decreased so people stopped growing them. Currently, with the support of the District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee, people in the village are implementing a model of growing taro on an area of 6 hectares, with only 15 households participating in the first phase. It is now expanding to the whole village. Taro grown on Pieng Lang land has large, delicious tubers, high economic value, suitable for the farming practices of the people. In addition, people actively grow acacia, cinnamon, so, xoan and 10 hectares of various crops. “Especially in recent years, people's lives in the village have also become more prosperous when livestock farming has been promoted, the whole village now has a total herd of nearly 230 buffaloes and cows, 150 pigs, 30 goats, 2,000 poultry and nearly 2 hectares of fish ponds. There have been a number of households that have established large-scale livestock farms, such as Mr. Lo Van Hiep's household, which grows taro and raises 16 buffaloes, 20 goats, and 500 chickens... The good news is that in 2022, Thanh Tam Agricultural Service Cooperative was established and located in Pieng Lang village, opening up a way to consume agricultural and livestock products for people in difficult road conditions...", Mr. Ngan Van Minh said excitedly.
Taking us to visit some economic models in Pieng Lang village, passing through the green rice fields, Ms. Lu Thi Tien - Vice Chairman of Nam Giai Commune People's Committee said: "That's Cay Noi sticky rice, journalist, very suitable for the terrain and cold climate in Pieng Lang, delicious and has a special aroma. This sticky rice is very sticky when steamed, can be left all day without getting hard. Currently, the whole village has more than ten hectares, bringing high economic value, selling on the market for about 200,000 VND/yen, so people are very excited...".
Also participating in the delegation, Mr. Lo Van Duc - an officer of the Que Phong District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee said: After completing phase 1 of Plan 03 on building a skillful mass mobilization model, focusing on propagating and mobilizing people to eliminate backward customs in daily life, moving livestock barns out of stilt houses, building and implementing a civilized lifestyle, phase 2 of the plan, the District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee will coordinate with local Party committees, authorities and Party cells, management boards, and village front work committees to mobilize people to renovate mixed gardens combined with building economic models, planting high-value crops, initially 12 households have registered to participate.
“Pieng Lang is a large, flat, peaceful land with water flowing around it, giving people a feeling of elation when they set foot there. In the distance, there is the very sacred Pha Lang cliff…”- the elders in the village explain the name of Pieng Lang village like that. Looking at the many changes in life of Pieng Lang people today, I suddenly remember the saying in the work Lac Season by writer Nguyen Khai “Life arises from death, happiness appears from sacrifices and hardships…”.
According to Ms. Luong Thi Hue - Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Nam Giai Commune: The changes in Pieng Lang today are partly thanks to the exemplary leadership of cadres and party members in the political system of the village. For example, Party Secretary Ngan Van Minh, who followed the people to resettle in Pieng Lang in 2007, initially worked as a police officer, then was trusted by the people to be elected as village chief and then Party Secretary until now. To have the prestige as it is now, the Party Secretary of Pieng Lang border village always maintains the style of talking and doing, taking the lead in all movements and activities. For example, regarding the recent policy of renovating mixed gardens, the family of Party Secretary Ngan Van Minh and Village Chief Le Van Son were the first two households to pioneer a pilot with 50 jackfruit, lychee, longan trees...
In addition, the Pieng Lang Party Cell with 25 pioneering and exemplary Party members also pays great attention to the work of creating sources and training to recruit Party members, especially young Party members, to improve the Party's capacity and fighting strength. On average, each year, the Party Cell recruits 2 young Party members. In 2022, up to this point, 2 outstanding people have been recruited, including Ms. Lo Thi Hien, a Law University graduate, a delegate of the Commune People's Council. Currently, Pieng Lang village has 100% of the heads and deputy heads of mass organizations being Party members, including the Elderly Association.
“The quality of life of the Party cell of Pieng Lang village is increasingly becoming more organized, the issued Resolution focuses on practical issues of the village. The Party cell also assigns Party members to be in charge of 2-3 households to promptly grasp the aspirations and aspirations of the people, encourage them to develop the economy, escape poverty and strictly comply with the Party's policies, the State's laws and local regulations. Many Party member families are pioneers in realizing their aspirations to start a business "taking root and growing trees" on this resettlement land. Such as Mr. Lo Van Thuong's family, Mr. Vi Van Chuong's family (both husband and wife are Party members) with the model of raising buffalo, cows, chickens and fish ponds for high income" - Mr. Quang Van Tuong - Chairman of the Association of War Veterans of Nam Giai commune was assigned by the Commune Party Committee to participate in activities at the Party cell of Pieng Lang village.
Happily, life is gradually getting better, and the education of the children in the village is also getting more attention. Before 2015, no one in the village finished high school, just went to middle school and dropped out to get married. Now, there are no more cases of early marriage in the village, there are students going to college, university, and there are even excellent students in the district. In the 2021-2022 school year, the whole village has 68 students of all levels, of which 27 are junior high school students, 7 are high school students, and 1 is college students. Notably, although it is a border village adjacent to Nam Bong village, Sam To district (Laos), security and order in Pieng Lang is relatively stable, there is no illegal border crossing, no social evils. People are aware of coordinating with functional forces to fight crime, protect borders, landmarks, and village security. “In the community cultural house, there are two mailboxes for detecting and reporting illegal immigration and crime. In addition, whenever people go to the fields and discover any unusual problems, they promptly report to the Party cell, the village management board and the authorities to coordinate the handling,” said an officer of the Front Work Committee of Pieng Lang village.
Returning to Pieng Lang this time, besides recording the positive changes in the thinking and working methods of the people in the misty land of Nam Giai border commune, there are still concerns and worries: When the poverty rate is still high (the whole village has 42 poor households, 9 near-poor households). Seeing us off, the people also confided their thoughts: Hoping that the superiors will pay attention to investing in the road from Puc village to Pieng Lang, they heard that there is a project but it has not been implemented yet. "Currently, the village has a kindergarten and primary school, but when they reach grade 3, the children have to go to the commune center to study semi-boarding, and it is quite difficult to travel during the rainy season. Only when the traffic is smooth can children go to school easily, agricultural products can be consumed, and people's lives can be prosperous..." - Party Cell Secretary Ngan Van Minh expressed.
