Female 'beggar' officer in Ban Ve lake

(Baonghean.vn) - For a long time, the people of Ban Ve Lake have been familiar with the image of Ms. Bui Thi Lan, a statistical officer of Mai Son commune, Tuong Duong, carrying warm clothes, school bags, and shoes that she collected from all over to help poor students. Many people know her and have joined hands with her in charity work, and people often jokingly call her a 'beggar' officer.

After graduating from the University of Archives and Records (now the Academy of Internal Affairs), Ms. Lan returned to work in her hometown (Hoi Son commune, Anh Son district) for several years. In 2004, during a campaign to attract young people to work in difficult border areas, she registered. The place she was assigned to work was Mai Son commune, Tuong Duong district. At that time, Mai Son commune was home to more than 60% of the Kho Mu ethnic group. The road to the center of Mai Son commune was extremely difficult, there was no electricity, and no phone signal.

Ms. Lan often takes advantage of her breaks to go to the village to give clothes to poor children.

“When I first arrived, I thought about going home several times. Being a single woman on a long journey in a place with no electricity, no phone signal, and no acquaintances made me feel very sad. But after entering the village, I saw the children of the local people who did not have enough food and clothes, and I felt sorry for them. At that time, every month I took out a little of my salary to buy candy and cakes as gifts for the poor children, and that was my joy in the beginning in this strange place,” Lan confided.

Ms. Lan and Mai Son commune officials and Border Guard Station gave charity gifts to children in the lake area.

Witnessing the lives of the poor children in the village, she was truly moved to tears. In the freezing winter days in this remote area, they only had thin clothes and no shoes. Therefore, every time she returned to her hometown, she mobilized relatives and friends to ask for warm clothes to bring to these children. Sometimes, she painstakingly sewed clothes to make them more suitable.

From the times she visited the poor children in the village, she fell in love with teacher Lu Van Thinh (born in 1977) who taught at Mai Son Boarding Secondary School, also a Khmu ethnic person. In 2007, he and she got married and from then on, Lan moved to live with her husband's family in Mai Son commune.

Through Ms. Lan's information and advocacy efforts, many organizations and individuals have sent gifts to help Mai Son children.

In 2009, when Ban Ve Hydropower Plant closed its reservoir, her husband's family moved to Thanh Chuong District for resettlement. The headquarters of Mai Son Commune People's Committee was also relocated to a new location, so both husband and wife moved to Huoi To 1 Village, Mai Son Commune to continue working. Life in the new place was quite difficult because only the couple remained and they had two sons in succession, so Lan had to send her eldest child back to her hometown for her grandmother to take care of. However, she still felt that she was more well-off and luckier than many of her fellow countrymen here. She continued to ask for old clothes and books in her hometown and other localities to bring back to help Mai Son children.

“At that time, there was no phone signal, and phones couldn’t take pictures like they can now, so I had to do it myself. Only later, when social media and phones that could take pictures came into existence, did I take pictures of disadvantaged children and share them on my personal Facebook page. Only then did many people learn about the deprivation and disadvantages of children in the Ban Ve Lake area,” Lan confided.

People here call Ms. Lan the "beggar" officer of poor children.

Thanks to her efforts, many volunteer groups and kind-hearted individuals have known her and contacted her to send clothes and shoes to the village to give to the children. When the road to the western part of Nghe An was not yet completed, whenever someone reported to receive charity items, she would take advantage of her day off to take a boat to bring them in. Then she would personally deliver them to the children in the poor villages. Seeing the practicality of her work for the poor children, many cadres and teachers in Mai Son commune also responded to support her in receiving and distributing charity items in the villages.

In particular, in the summer of 2016, with the support of a charity group, she set up a small free library right at her house in Huoi To 1 village. Since then, her house has always been filled with the sounds of children coming to read books. The work of Ms. Lam - the "beggar" cadre is loved and respected by the people in the lake area.

Xuan Hoa