"That through the hardship..."
The historic flash flood at the end of June 2011 caused a lot of damage and loss to the ethnic people in the mountainous districts of Ky Son and Tuong Duong. Hundreds of families are living in extremely miserable conditions, with hunger lurking every day. But through this, we can see more of the spirit of mutual support, sharing, love and helping each other in difficult times. "A piece of food when hungry is worth a whole package when full" sent by people all over the province to the people in distress.
The historic flash flood at the end of June 2011 caused a lot of damage and loss to the ethnic people in the mountainous districts of Ky Son and Tuong Duong. Hundreds of families are living in extremely miserable conditions, with hunger lurking every day. But through this, we can see more of the spirit of mutual support, sharing, love and helping each other in difficult times. "A piece of food when hungry is worth a whole package when full" sent by people all over the province to the people in distress.
Soldiers of the Martyrs' Remains Collection Group (Provincial Military Command) help people of Muong Xen town (Ky Son) overcome the consequences of flash floods.
Present in Luu Kien commune (Tuong Duong) when the flood passed, everywhere was still submerged in mud, houses were ruined, devastated, many other houses were about to be swept away by the water due to landslides. In that "boiling water and fire" scene, people who were not damaged or suffered minor damage quickly came to help families whose houses collapsed and were severely damaged to clean up their belongings.
At that time, Tuong Duong district youth union promptly mobilized more than 20 members to help people in Khe Kien village (Luu Kien commune) overcome the consequences of the flood. The road from Luu Kien to Nam Can and Na Ngoi communes (Ky Son) had many sections with high water levels, making it impossible to cross by wading or using road vehicles, while the need for travel for rescue was very high.
The locals immediately used bamboo to form rafts, taking turns rowing back and forth to transport people and vehicles. It is worth mentioning that the traffic was very crowded, rowing the rafts was not easy, but the people who took on this job were completely voluntary, not taking any money, even though they had to wade in thick muddy water all day.
Up in Muong Xen Town, Ky Son District, the devastation and destruction after the flood was even more severe. Mud was everywhere on the roads, belongings were swept away and scattered on both sides, but there was absolutely no sign of theft or fighting.
An unbelievable story for the lowlands is that on the day of the flash flood, the husband of Ms. Loc Thi Oanh in Cau Tam village, Ta Ca commune had to go to Muong Xen. The flood suddenly came, in the situation of "running from the flood", her husband parked his motorbike and joined everyone to help the flooded families move their belongings to higher places. The road was flooded, he waded home to see if his family had suffered any damage. Worried about arranging the house, the next day Ms. Oanh's husband remembered the motorbike but could not remember where it was. The couple was sure that it had been swept away by the flood.
On the 5th day after the flood, Ms. Oanh had to go to Block 2 - Muong Xen and could not believe it when she saw her motorbike parked on a high place by the roadside. Just like in Tuong Duong, in extremely difficult circumstances, people here helped and supported each other.
Not only helping to rearrange furniture and clean the house, many families also cooked for neighbors who had lost all their property, then brought them to temporary homes so they would not have to live in the open air. Mr. Lo Van Tuan, who spent several days leaving his housework to help families that suffered heavy losses, confided: "In front of everyone's misfortune and suffering, I could not bear to stand by and watch. In times of trouble, I am the luckier one, so I will try to help people as much as I can." Even while the floodwaters were rising, there were people who went to help and rescue their neighbors, but when they returned, their houses had been swept away or collapsed.
Witnessing the kindness in times of trouble in Ky Son and Tuong Duong, we suddenly remembered a few years ago, the flood washed away a section of the inter-commune road in Luc Da, Con Cuong district. Some people immediately built a wooden bridge to make a temporary bridge, each time they had to pay a toll of 20,000 VND, regardless of whether they were farmers, teachers or students. Or like in the flood at the end of 2010, in some districts the national highway was heavily flooded, motorbikes could not pass, people brought ox carts for those in need to take them across. And of course, the toll was not low, in some places it was up to 50,000 VND/trip.
Only then did we truly understand the lyrics: "Only through adversity can we understand each other's hearts...".
Cong Kien
