Life of Dan Lai people after 20 years of moving to a new place

The house of Mrs. La Thi Nguyet's family is located right in the center of Cua Rao village, Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district. It is a level 4 house, although quite old, but the living conditions are quite adequate. The house of the Dan Lai people, but the arrangement and decoration are quite similar to many families in the rural areas of Nghe An.

Dan Lai people go into the forest to harvest bamboo. Photo: My Ha

In Cua Rao village, Mrs. La Thi Nguyet's family is a special family because since 2013, this is the first household to voluntarily write an application to escape poverty.

Previously, in 1999, when there was a plan to relocateDan Lai peopleIn the core zone of Pu Mat National Park, she was one of the first people to sign the list to move to new housing.

Ms. La Thi Nguyet happily shared with commune officials about the bumper corn harvest. Photo: My Ha

In addition to growing rice, Dan Lai people have learned to grow other crops to increase their income. Photo: My Ha

Currently, her family is living with her son and his wife. Compared to the neighbors, their life is considered "well-off", but all members are still very hard-working and diligent.

This season, her family's newly harvested rice is neatly stacked in bags that fill a corner of the yard. Half of the small kitchen is used to dry corn. Taking advantage of the empty garden, Mrs. Nguyet also grows sesame and green vegetables, enough to eat and also sells a few more yen to people at the market...

This year's harvest season, many families have enough rice and are not worried about hunger. Photo: My Ha

The wasteland was converted into rice fields and clean water was provided for Dan Lai people to produce and live. Photo: My Ha

After many years of living in a new place, although she has gotten used to the new life and speaks Kinh fluently, Ms. Nguyet is still very shy when talking about herself. The woman with dark skin typical of the Dan Lai people said: “Compared to before, our life is much better now. My family raises 5 buffaloes, 4 cows, plus chickens and pigs, and grows 4 sao of rice and crops. Life is no longer lacking in food and clothing.”

Cua Rao village is the first resettlement village of the Dan Lai people. After nearly 20 years of moving to the Cua Rao resettlement area, the people's lives have changed a lot. From the initial 20 households, up to now, Cua Rao village has 36 households with 152 people, life has gradually stabilized, children have received full education. The change is reflected not only in economic life but also in awareness and thinking.

The road to Cua Rao village is shaded by green trees. Photo: My Ha

Talking about Cua Rao village, Mr. Luong Viet Tung - Head of the Ethnic Affairs Department of Con Cuong district, formerly Chairman of the People's Committee of Mon Son commune, is the person who knows the most. Even though he has now moved to a new field, he still remembers the list of each household and each person's circumstances very clearly.

During his work in Mon Son, he also said that due to the unique characteristics, it was very difficult to stabilize the lives and change the habits of the Dan Lai people who came to the resettlement area. Initially, most of the people only knew how to go into the forest to catch animals, go down to the stream to catch fish, and lived a self-sufficient life, completely dependent on nature.

A corner of Cua Rao village. Photo: My Ha

To help the people, the Con Cuong district government has allocated funds to renovate more than 2 hours of fallow land to make rice fields, and provided land for people to grow crops. The people are also "guided by hand" to gradually get acquainted with raising livestock, growing crops, and developing the economy. Cua Rao village is now also known as the village of the elderly and children because most of the people of working age have gone to work far away or gone into the forest to make acacia.

Mr. Ngan Van Truong - Vice Chairman of Mon Son commune also said: PeopleDan LaiHardworking, diligent. Awareness changed, they know how to go to work, earn money to save for the family, raise children to go to school.

Not only Khe Ran resettlement area, the resettlement life of Dan Lai people in Tan Son village (Mon Son commune), Thach Son village, Ba Ha village (Thach Ngan commune) has also gradually changed. Dan Lai people in resettlement villages, 13-14 people have gone to work abroad, about 30 people have gone to work for companies outside the province, economic development is no longer limited to the village.

Elephant grass is grown by many families in the village to raise livestock. Photo: My Ha

Goat farming model at Dan Lai household. Photo: My Ha

Returning to their new hometown and living with the local people, the bad customs of incestuous marriage and early marriage are gradually being eliminated, many new economic models have been formed, children can go to school near home, many families have escaped poverty and a prosperous life is coming closer to the people here...

My Ha