Warmth and prosperity in Van Phan parish

(Baonghean) - Van Phan Parish, Dien Van Commune, Dien Chau District is considered a typical example in the emulation movement to develop the economy, help each other eliminate hunger, reduce poverty, "live a good life and follow good religion", build a prosperous and happy life...

Dien Van Commune has 3 km of coastline and a large flat area, where the Bung River originates, which is very convenient for farming, fishing, seafood processing, commercial services, small-scale industrial production and craft villages. Exploiting this advantage, the parishioners of Van Phan parish (with 370 households; 2,300 people) have "exploded" into production and business, creating new jobs. Some households make rice paper, peanut candy, rattan and bamboo products for export, while others provide fishing services, weaving nets, raising and processing aquatic and seafood products. Families with a lot of capital open workshops for civil carpentry, trade in machinery and supplies, and pool capital for their children to go abroad to work. The family of Mr. Vu Chinh, a parishioner in the all-Catholic hamlet of Dong Ha is a typical example.

Before 1985, he and his neighbors "only looked at the salt grains and fish for everything", so many families fell into a state of constant poverty. Now it is different, the Party and the State encourage all economic sectors to overcome difficulties and strive to become rich legitimately, along with the Resolution of the 29th session of the Dien Chau District Party Committee on "Developing the coastal economy associated with expanding the trade and service industry" has changed the way of thinking and working of the Van Phan Catholics. Mr. Chinh said: "The spacious high-rise house with production facilities and the money to raise 3 children to go to university are thanks to him maintaining and developing the confectionery business!". His family's confectionery production facility regularly has 10 workers, and is closed from the stage of purchasing raw materials such as peanuts, rice paper, sugar, molasses to transporting and consuming products. On average, each month produces 15 boxes of candy. After deducting expenses and paying workers, each year the profit is from 80 to 100 million VND.

Bottling Van Phan fish sauce at Van Phan Seafood Joint Stock Company Photo: Van Truong

In Van Phan parish, there are also hundreds of parishioners' families who have become rich from producing peanut candy. Mr. Tran Van Quyen, Chairman of the Commune Fatherland Front, excitedly said: "The Resolution on developing the coastal economic area of ​​the District Party Committee has opened up new business opportunities for the people. Currently, the hamlet has 130 households making confectionery, 120 other households doing civil and commercial carpentry, attracting 600 workers with stable jobs. Now every family has enough to eat and save, can build spacious houses, buy expensive living facilities, and no longer have to sell salt for hire like 4-5 years ago!"

Walking on the asphalted, concreted village road, looking at the tall buildings reflecting on the Bung River, I felt really happy, because this spring, not only Dong Ha hamlet has prospered from its profession, but Dien Van commune has two more craft villages recognized by the province and district as peanut candy and bamboo weaving villages for export. The three craft villages have created jobs for 1,700 workers, with an income of 1.5 million to 2 million VND per person per month. Peanut candy with the brand name "Van Phan" is not only consumed in the district and province but also reaches out to markets in the North and South such as Hai Phong, Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and even Laos. Thanks to that, it not only solves jobs for workers in the commune but also solves the problem for 600 people outside the commune to buy peanuts as raw materials and consume products.

In a conversation with the Chairman of Dien Van Commune People's Committee, Mr. Hoang Minh Long said: The commune has done a thorough ideological work, helping people understand correctly the introduction of new occupations, introducing high-yield plant and animal varieties into cultivation and raising as well as building infrastructure and solving employment, improving the lives of Catholic and non-Catholic people, creating conditions for people to travel to study, produce and do business, and get medical examination and treatment easily and conveniently... The team of village chiefs and mass organizations in the two Catholic hamlets has been strengthened, and young, healthy Catholics with high school education have been arranged to directly serve as heads of the Farmers' Association, Women's Association, and Youth Union secretaries.

Thanks to that, people are united, contributing their efforts and money to build their homeland. In particular, the commune boldly implemented solutions to develop small-scale industries and craft villages, creating breakthroughs in the new rural construction program. The commune held dozens of meetings in hamlets for people to discuss, contribute ideas, and propose solutions to implement the program and project on developing craft villages, producing clean salt, building boats to go far out to sea to catch big and delicious fish, purchasing raw materials for processing fish sauce, making peanut candy. Directing mass organizations to coordinate with functional agencies in the district to open training classes on shrimp and crab farming, making bamboo and rattan for export, producing clean salt using tarpaulin technology, standing as a credit guarantee for loans of tens of billions of VND from the Policy Bank for poor households to borrow to invest in production and business.

The highlight in infrastructure construction is that the commune promptly proposed open, reasonable, and legal policies and guidelines, with the spirit of "The State, the collective, and the people working together". Thanks to that, over the past 5 years, the commune has accessed capital sources for infrastructure construction from the Central and the province. Investing more than 200 billion VND, building more than 10 large and small projects, including 2 bridges across the Bung River and the Vach Bac Canal, renovating and upgrading a 60-hectare salt field, expanding a 50-hectare shrimp and crab farming area for export, upgrading river and sea dykes, building schools and high-rise medical stations.

With the care and support of local Party committees and authorities, Catholics who love God and love the country in Van Phan and Dien Van parishes have overcome difficulties to become rich, contributing with the Party Committee and people of the commune to complete the target of 5,200 tons of salt, 1,200 tons of food, catching and purchasing 1,000 tons of seafood, processing and consuming 40,000 liters of fish sauce, raising 4,500 cattle, 18,000 poultry, the value of handicraft production and services of the craft village is over 100 billion VND/year. The number of rich and well-off households accounts for 60%; more than 80% of households have achieved the title of "Cultural Family", "Sports Family"; 7 units have been recognized by the province and district as "Cultural Village", "Cultural School", 9/9 hamlets have built cultural houses, entertainment areas, and sports grounds. The whole commune has more than 180 Catholic households honored as “Millionaire Farmers” with an income of 60 to 130 million VND/household/year. More than 360 children of Catholics working abroad and studying at universities and colleges have beautified the face of a coastal countryside…

Le Hoai Trung