Deeply attached to the forests of Ky Son
(baonghean.vn)Despite facing numerous hardships and shortages, the military medical personnel at the Drug Rehabilitation Center of Sub-district 50, Nghe An Border Guard, have, with all their dedication and effort, restored health to thousands of people in the villages of Ky Son district who were once seduced by "the brown fairy" (heroin).
The drug rehabilitation center of Sub-district 50 (Nghe An Provincial Border Guard) is located in Muong Xen town, Ky Son district, Nghe An province.
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The center's facilities were very poor, consisting of only four basic rooms, ten beds, a drying cabinet for instruments, medicine, and addiction treatment protocols; there were no oxygen tanks. With a staff of two doctors, three medical assistants, and one pharmacist, they took turns closely monitoring patients day and night, helping them overcome withdrawal symptoms and recover their health. On many occasions, the number of patients was so overwhelming that they had to sleep on plastic sheets in the middle of the room, with the staff giving up hammocks to hang in the garden to use as makeshift beds. Once, border guard posts organized a visit to the center for village elders, community leaders, and relatives of the addicts. The addicts, in their drug-induced frenzy, were struggling, their eyes foaming at the mouth. The nurses and medical assistants held them down, fanning them and wiping away the foam. The soldiers were also drenched in sweat. Seeing this firsthand, the village elders and community leaders understood that no evil spirit had come to take away the young men of their village. Everyone saw the poison of opium, how it destroyed families and homes. They will return to join the soldiers in mobilizing the villagers to eradicate opium poppy plants, preventing criminals from bringing drugs into their forest land.
After more than 10 years of development, the Sub-district 50 Rehabilitation Center has successfully rehabilitated thousands of villagers in the Ky Son forest area. During my time working here, I truly understood the dedication of the doctors at the Sub-district 50 Rehabilitation Center. Many nights, 100% of them stayed awake because addicts sent from other areas were experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms. For example, Luong Van Lang and Luong Van Khuu from Tang Phan village, Na Ngoi commune, have both recovered and are deeply remorseful and grateful to the soldiers. Just last night, there was news from Xieng Tam village, My Li commune, that a young man named Vi Van Li suffered respiratory failure during a severe withdrawal episode. The on-duty team, led by professional medical officer Major Nguyen Lam Hau and medical officer Lieutenant Nguyen Cao Linh, braved the forest in the middle of the night to intervene promptly. Vi Van Li has now passed the critical stage and has been brought back to the center to continue his rehabilitation.
Combining Eastern and Western medicine in addiction treatment, the team of doctors and medical staff approached patients with the same compassion as if they were family. Patients received acupuncture and massage combined with Western medicine to alleviate withdrawal symptoms, and were gently guided to gradually adapt to light work. Thanks to this approach, patients could usually overcome withdrawal symptoms within a week and return to normal working lives within about a month.
There are cases like Kha Bao Kham in Pha Danh, Quang Van Quyen, 56 years old in Chieu Luu commune,... who had been addicted to drugs for 28-30 years, and were successfully treated at the rehabilitation center. Lo Phong Chuyen in My Ly commune overcame his addiction after only a week. He confided: "I've been addicted to drugs for 10 years now, and I tried to quit once before, but when I went back to working in the forest to cut timber, I was tempted by friends and relapsed. My wife and I have two children; our eldest daughter is in 11th grade at the district's boarding school. This time, I'm determined to quit so I can work on the farm with my wife and provide for our daughter's education, instead of going to the forest to cut timber again."
Lying next to Chuyen in bed was Vi Van Ly, also from My Ly commune. A former soldier who returned from military service in 1998, he also worked in the forest cutting wood and has been addicted since 2000. Ly tried to quit on his own for a time, but then relapsed into addiction. Ly said emotionally, “I’m going to quit, but this time I’ll never smoke again.” Old man Luong Van Long, from Tang Phan village, Na Ngoi commune, was formerly a shaman. After religious ceremonies, people often gave him opium to smoke. Because of this, he became addicted in 1979. “I’m more than half my age now, addicted to opium, but I have to quit, to set an example for my children and grandchildren.” In the corner of the room, where a wooden platform sits on the floor, a woman with dark circles under her eyes from many sleepless nights sits beside her young husband, who is in the process of overcoming his addiction. They are the young couple Mac Dang Khoa and Kha Thi Xuan, from Hoa Ly village, My Ly commune, who got married last year. Wanting to provide a comfortable life for his family, Khoa followed his friends into the forest to cut wood and was subsequently lured into drug addiction for over four months. With the encouragement and guidance of the village elders and chief, Khoa and his wife traveled over 40 kilometers through the forest to a rehabilitation center. His wife, Xuan, quickly wiped away two tears and said to me, "I can endure any hardship, I just hope he succeeds in overcoming his addiction!"
Besides the arduous task of fighting for the lives of countless patients at this rehabilitation center, every year the team of doctors here also organizes medical teams to go to remote villages to provide free medical examinations and medicine to ethnic minority people; coordinating with local Party committees, authorities, and border guard posts to effectively carry out propaganda and mobilization work to encourage community-based drug rehabilitation, which has contributed to a significant reduction in the rate of drug addicts in the villages of this border district.
In the diary that Lieutenant-Doctor Tran Nam Thang, in charge of the rehabilitation center, gave me during our recent field trip for community rehabilitation: “My Ly: 30, Pha Danh: 30, Chieu Luu: 61, Muong Tip: 42, Na Ngoi: 38, Nam Can: 38, Keng Du: 32, Ta Ca: 28, Huu Kiem: 24. Total 324 rehabilitation cases. An increase of 200 cases compared to the assigned target.”
Despite the many difficulties and hardships ahead, the soldiers in green uniforms at the Sub-district 50 drug rehabilitation center have instilled in our hearts the noble virtue that President Ho Chi Minh taught: "For the people, forget yourself; for the people, sacrifice yourself."
Text and photos: Thuan Thang