Female Secretary of Dan Lai Party Cell "speaks well, does good deeds"
Arriving at Chau Son village, Chau Khe commune (Con Cuong), I met Party cell secretary La Thi Van. The villagers enthusiastically showed me the way and said: O Van is working with village and commune cadres to help poor households build houses on schedule. O is the pride of our village!
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Khanh Ly - Quynh An •26/04/2025
Following the instructions of the locals, we went to the area where houses were being built for the poor. From afar, we heard the bustling laughter of many people helping Mr. La Van Lien and Ms. La Thi Xuan pour the foundation to build a solid house.
Chairwoman of Chau Khe Commune Women's Union Hoang Thi My Hanh pointed to a young woman with a pretty, chubby face, wearing work clothes, who was enthusiastically shoveling sand to mix concrete, and introduced: Ms. La Thi Van, born in 1996, Secretary of the Chau Son village Party Cell and also the only female village Party Cell Secretary in Chau Khe commune.
The young "leader" of Chau Son village smiled brightly to welcome guests and happily said: This time, the village has 3 poor households receiving support to build houses at a rate of 60 million VND/household.
Although the Party Cell and the Village Management Board have assigned residential groups to help households build houses, the leaders are always present to work with the people to arouse the spirit of solidarity, mutual love and mutual assistance in the village.
Talking to us in the old, degraded house right next to the new house being built, Mr. La Van Lien and his wife, Mrs. La Thi Xuan - one of the three disadvantaged households receiving housing support, emotionally said: Our family is a poor household with many children. If it weren't for the financial support from the Party and the State, the support and help of the villagers, especially the village leaders like Party Secretary La Thi Van, we would never have dreamed of having a new house in our whole life.
Wiping the sweat from her flushed face and encouraging the villagers to continue their unfinished work, Chau Son Village Party Secretary La Thi Van took us home after checking the progress of the house construction for other poor households.
It is known that due to difficult circumstances, Ms. La Thi Van finished secondary school and then quit to stay home to work and produce; but unlike many other Dan Lai girls who got married, had children and then only focused on housework and farming, Ms. La Thi Van has more than 10 years of experience in movement activities in the village.
As a daughter of the Dan Lai community, Ms. La Thi Van clearly understands the characteristics, customs, habits as well as the wishes of the people. Therefore, the "leader" of Chau Son village women always shows enthusiasm, dynamism, dedication to movement activities, simplicity, and harmony with the people; at the same time, she sets an example in "practicing what she preaches" to do well in mass mobilization work in implementing emulation movements in the village and hamlet.
In addition, she also strives to develop the family economy, growing acacia and met trees combined with raising livestock to increase income. Thanks to her own efforts, in 2019, Ms. La Thi Van was honored to join the Party, admitted at the same time as her husband, who was then the Deputy of Chau Son village.
Trusted by the Party and loved by the people, in early 2021, Ms. La Thi Van was elected as Secretary of the Chau Son village Party Cell. Ms. Van became the "leader" of the village - the first Dan Lai woman to become a village leader, and also the youngest Party Cell Secretary in Chau Khe commune and Con Cuong district at that time.
Chau Son village is a difficult area, with 221 households and 907 people. People's lives are difficult (the whole village has 154 poor households). Men go to work far away, women stay home to raise livestock, and do whatever they are hired to do, because there is little land for production, only 50% of people in the village have fields, and the average size of a house with fields is only about 200-300m².
Therefore, to fulfill the role of "taking the lead" for a young female Party cell secretary like Ms. La Thi Van is not easy. However, thanks to her skill in propagating and mobilizing people to change their thinking and working habits, develop production, plant forests, raise grass carp in cages, develop livestock and poultry to increase income, maintain environmental sanitation in the village and always set an example in all activities, Chau Son Village Party Cell Secretary La Thi Van is trusted by the people.
The work of developing young party members in the Dan Lai community is also of interest to Secretary La Thi Van and the Chau Son village Party Cell. On average, the Party Cell admits 1 new party member each year. In 2024 alone, the Chau Son village Party Cell has 3 more party members, including 2 comrades from the youth union and farmers' association, and 1 comrade who is a demobilized soldier.
Currently, Chau Son village Party Cell has 25 party members, in which, in addition to Party Cell Secretary La Thi Van, there are 2 other female party members from Dan Lai, Ms. La Thi Nguyet (born 1986) and Ms. La Thi May (born 1987) - Head of Chau Son village Farmers' Association.
The exemplary pioneering spirit of the female “leader” of Chau Son village is also reflected in her spirit of overcoming difficulties and staying with the people and the village. Chau Son village has 2 residential clusters, divided into 4 groups, of which Khe Nong group is about 30 kilometers from the village center.
To get to this area, you have to cross 4 streams and a rocky, muddy road, only a few short sections are paved with concrete. There are 51 households with nearly 500 people here, living mainly on their own, with young workers working far away, mostly the elderly and children. There are no party members in the group, so to maintain communication channels and facilitate management, Khe Nong has a cluster leader, deputy cluster leader, and each association has a representative to connect with the central village cluster.
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Because of the difficult roads, during the rainy season or when the weather is unfavorable, the residential area in Khe Nong is often isolated; the phone signal in this area is also unstable. Therefore, according to Party Cell Secretary La Thi Van, when there are urgent problems and phone communication is not possible, she has to personally go there.
It is known that since 2023, Chau Son is one of two villages in Chau Khe commune chosen by the Women's Union of Con Cuong district and Chau Khe commune to build the model of "Community Communication Team". The team has 8 members including the village party cell secretary, village chief, head of the women's association, head of the farmers' association, representative of the Front's working committee, self-management team of prestigious people in the community...
Under the leadership of Party Cell Secretary La Thi Van, the Chau Son village community media team has carried out many propaganda activities well. In particular, it pays special attention to the prevention of child marriage and gender-based violence.
In addition, thanks to the Party cell, management board, and communication team of the village stepping up propaganda work, emphasizing the consequences and implications of child marriage, the number of violations in Chau Son village has decreased significantly compared to before. In 2024, there were only 2 cases of child marriage in the village.
Her husband works far away, she is alone taking care of two small children, busy with family matters, but the young female "leader" of Chau Son village, La Thi Van, still overcomes difficulties, fulfilling her roles as a wife, mother, daughter-in-law, and fulfilling her responsibilities to the Party and the people.
Her efforts have been recognized by the people, Party committees and authorities at all levels. In 2024, she was recognized by the Nghe An Provincial Women's Union as a typical ethnic minority and religious woman for the period 2021-2024; at the same time, she was a typical delegate of Con Cuong district to attend the 4th Congress of Ethnic Minorities of Nghe An province, honored to sit in the position of the Presidium with the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Committee, Provincial Fatherland Front Committee and other levels and sectors.
Talking to us about the role of the “leader” in Chau Son village, Chau Khe commune Party Secretary Kha Van Kien commented: “Comrade La Thi Van is one of the young, dynamic village and hamlet Party cell secretaries who “says what she says and does what she does” in the area; a person with a high sense of responsibility, exemplary in all movements; a shining example for ethnic minority women to learn from and follow.”