Solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics in the '3 best' commune
(Baonghean.vn) - The spirit of solidarity between religions has helped Ky Tan commune, Tan Ky mountainous district make great strides, becoming one of the leading units in the district in socio-economic development.
When farmers donate "inch of gold"
Ky Tan (Tan Ky) is a purely agricultural commune, with a population of over 6,700 people, of which 20% are Catholics, so mobilizing people to unite to build new rural areas is of great significance. In 2015, the commune planned to build a road nearly 1 km long in the center of the commune, a horizontal axis connecting National Highway 15B with Ho Chi Minh Road.
The difficulty is that this road is entirely located on the two-crop land of the parishioners in the commune. The commune leaders have agreed to mobilize mass organizations to persuade and persuade the parishioners to donate land to build the road.
 |
| Catholics and non-Catholics in Ky Tan commune (Tan Ky) unanimously donated land to open a rural road. Photo: Mai Thao |
According to Mr. Trinh Huy Toan - Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, at first, some households did not agree to support because this was land for production, rice cultivation to provide food, meeting the daily needs of the family. If donated to build a road, there would be no land for production, cultivation, life would certainly be difficult.
The commune's organizations coordinated with the Pastoral Council of Quy Hau Parish to mobilize and persuade, and finally the households whose land was included in the planning agreed to donate land for road construction.
 |
| After the road was completed, the Catholic and non-Catholic people of Ky Tan commune (Tan Ky) planted flowers along both sides and named it the Great Unity Flower Road. Photo: Mai Thao |
Mr. Ho Sy Quang - Head of the Front Work Committee of Quy Hau hamlet said,The people were really excited when the parish priest and the Pastoral Council quickly agreed with the policy.of the locality. From there, arouse the spirit of solidarity between religions, towards the goal of building a rich and beautiful homeland, first of all, having a spacious road, contributing to soon bringing Ky Tan commune to the new rural finish line.
For Ky Tan farmers, every inch of land is considered “an inch of gold”, a means of production and a long-term source of livelihood, so mobilizing people to donate land to build rural transport infrastructure is not easy. However, based on the right policy, serving the interests of the people, Catholics and non-Catholics are willing to donate their “inches of gold” to serve the common interests of the whole society.
The road of great solidarity flowers
There are poor families whose rice fields are a large asset but they still voluntarily donate their land for the common good. Among them, the family of Mr. Nguyen Van Le, a member of the Pastoral Council of Quy Hau Diocese, has more than 1,500 m2 The two-rice land was included in the road construction planning. Without hesitation, Mr. Le voluntarily donated the entire area of land and did not ask for compensation.
 |
| Priest Ngo Van Hau (3rd from left) - Parish Priest of Quy Hau had a friendly conversation with leaders of Tan Ky district and Ky Tan commune. Photo: CSCC |
Mr. Le said: "The new road of the commune goes through the farmland of my family, I donated the entire 1,500 m2rice fields. The important thing is that the people in the commune have more clean, beautiful, spacious roads for convenient travel, and I will renovate the cultivated land elsewhere for production.
Not only Mr. Nguyen Van Le but also many households in Quy Hau hamlet voluntarily donated a total of 04 hectares of agricultural land to build a nearly 01 km road, serving the travel needs and socio-economic development of the locality. The road was poured with 23cm thick concrete, 11m wide with 04 lanes. Of which, the State supported 655 tons of cement, the people contributed 1.3 billion VND and was quickly completed after 05 months of construction.
 |
| Leaders of Ky Tan commune (Tan Ky) congratulated the parish priest and the pastoral council of Quy Hau parish on the occasion of Christmas 2020. Photo: CSCC |
After the road was completed, the officials and people of Ky Tan commune planted more than 300 bougainvillea trees and flower grass covering the roadside, installed 18 high-pressure lamps and 18 security cameras. Each person did their own job, all together making the road more brilliant and naming it the Great Unity Flower Road.
Mr. Pham Dinh Hieu, a parishioner of Quy Hau parish, said: "I have not been to many places, but I must admit that in Ky Tan commune, the Catholic community is truly united. The leaders of the Party Committee, the People's Committee, the parish priest, and the parish pastoral council are all united."
The strength of solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics has helped Ky Tan commune complete 31km of standard rural concrete roads with a total capital of more than 22 billion VND, of which Catholics and non-Catholics contributed 9 billion VND.
 |
| The solidarity between Catholics and non-Catholics has helped Ky Tan commune (Tan Ky) soon reach the new rural finish line. Photo: Archive |
Thanks to that, in 2018, Ky Tan was recognized as a commune meeting new rural standards, reaching the finish line 2 years earlier than the original plan. At the same time, it received noble awards such as the Emulation Flag of the Prime Minister and the Third Class Labor Medal of the President.
“In my opinion, Ky Tan commune has three best qualities compared to other localities: the spirit of solidarity and attachment between Catholic and non-Catholic people; achieving sustainable new rural standards and being a unit with a flower road that can be said to be beautiful. All of these factors come from consensus, unanimity, and working towards the goal of building a rich and beautiful homeland.”