New color at the foot of Puxailaileng

(Baonghean) -There was a time when the land at the foot of Puxailaileng Mountain in the mountainous district of Ky Son was the territory of bandits and drug addicts, where opium smoke was more abundant than clouds and mountains, and people's lives were deprived in every way. Now, this land has changed rapidly, the economy and society are developing day by day, people are well fed, warmly clothed, sick people are treated by doctors, children go to school, the image of opium poppy is only in memory...

Small village at the foot of Puxailaileng mountain range. Photo: Tran Hai

The bus from Vinh City to Ky Son departed at dawn. It was drizzling and cold, but the bus was unusually warm. I have traveled by bus from North to South, through many different regions, but perhaps this was the first time I heard so many "languages". The small bus had only about thirty seats but was full of Kinh, Thai, and Mong people. In the lively, friendly atmosphere, I started talking to a woman with a kind face and a bright smile sitting next to me. Her name was Gia Y Soa from Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district. Soa said she had just sold several tons of cassava and ginger, so she went to Vinh market to buy some things to prepare for Tet. With her were a few other women sitting behind, all of them radiant and cheerful. Surely anyone who has ever seen the smiles of Mong girls and women can feel their honesty, simplicity, and strange beauty.

From Vinh City to Ky Son District, the asphalt road is now smooth, the car runs smoothly, it only takes six hours for the driver to drop off passengers at the last stop, Muong Xen Town. I decided to wander to Puxai to make my steps less desolate. The weather in Ky Son is much colder than in Vinh, but there is no rain so the road to Na Ngoi commune is dry and poetic. On both sides of the road, wild flowers compete to show their colors, in the distance are golden rice fields waiting to be harvested. In the past, from Luu Kien intersection, National Highway 7 (in Luu Kien commune, Tuong Duong) to Na Ngoi (Ky Son), it took several days to walk. But now the road has been cleared, it only takes a few hours by motorbike to overcome several winding slopes to reach the commune committee center.

Coming to Na Ngoi, the first impression that catches the eyes of strangers is the solid, spacious houses located on the mountainside, grocery stores, and shops growing close together. People find everything here, from local products to goods from the lowlands such as clothes, shoes, household electricity, production tools, etc. Not only grocery stores, Na Ngoi commune also has coffee shops, restaurants, and car repair shops. Looking at these things is enough to know that people's lives have been and are changing every day.

Na Ngoi Commune People's Committee is located right at the foot of Puxailaileng Mountain, the mountain known as the "roof" of Nghe An, covered in clouds all year round. In the cold late afternoon of the year, the working atmosphere at the Commune People's Committee is still very serious. Although busy with many tasks, the Vice Chairman of Na Ngoi Commune - Xong Xai Xo still talked intimately with the reporter. As a Mong, a former soldier, Comrade Xo's speaking style is very open and sincere. After a few polite sentences, the Vice Chairman read out the situation of economic - cultural - social - security development in the commune for us to listen to. The numbers were long, the events were dense and complicated, but Mr. Xo remembered them all clearly, without any hesitation or confusion. That is, the current area of ​​wet rice fields is 299 hectares, upland rice fields are 735 hectares, the estimated yield is 6 tons/ha; Ginger 371 ha, estimated yield of 1,855 tons/ha; LVN 10 corn area 57 ha, estimated yield of 3.5 quintals/sao; local corn 435 ha, yield of 2 quintals/sao, total harvest estimated at 1,840 tons; galangal 87 ha, total output estimated at 4,350 tons; Shan snow tea has been planted on 120 ha, the area currently being harvested is 10 ha; cassava, vegetables and beans are about 247 ha, an increase of 6 ha compared to the same period last year. The total herd of livestock and poultry in the commune is currently up to 15,875, of which 1,559 are cows, 1,028 are buffaloes, 295 are goats, and 1,754 are pigs. The commune has only 838 households with 5,243 people, but achieving such a number of livestock is a great achievement.

Mr. Phan Van Khoa raises chickens for sale. Photo: Trieu Duong

These are truly joyful and exciting numbers for the people at the foot of Puxai Mountain. Now food is not only enough to eat but also exchanged and traded for money to send children to school, buy vehicles and expensive household items. To achieve these achievements, the people and the government of Na Ngoi commune understand better than anyone else that it is thanks to the attention of the higher-level authorities, who directly and wholeheartedly help the people, including the officers and soldiers of the National Defense Economic Group 4, the 10th Company, and the soldiers of the Na Ngoi Border Post. Overcoming countless hardships of the road, lack of affection, material, and harshness of nature, the people in the westernmost region of Nghe An still stick close to the village every day, every hour, helping their fellow countrymen overcome difficulties and move forward.

Mr. Phan Van Khoa, Head of the Technical Planning Department of the Provincial Youth Union Construction Team 10, said: “Compared to other localities, Na Ngoi has favorable natural conditions for livestock and crop farming. If people receive help with seeds, techniques, and are diligent and hard-working, they will not only be well-off and quickly escape poverty, but also become sustainably rich on their ancestors' land.” Over the years, Team 10 has provided many free seedlings and livestock to the people of Na Ngoi commune, enthusiastically provided technical guidance, and built highly effective economic models.

Years ago, studying in Na Ngoi was as far away as the clouds covering this land. However, now, just setting foot in the gate of Na Ngoi Ethnic Boarding Secondary School, the thought of a land of hunger for knowledge is no longer there. The school is spacious, clean and beautiful, the sound of studying is regular and rhythmic. Mr. Nguyen The Hien - Principal of the school is excited: "The Mong and Kho Mu students are now very studious, coming to school very diligently, there is no more dropping out of school like before. Not only are there good students, but the school also has many excellent students at the district level, some of whom are directly admitted to the provincial Ethnic Boarding School. The high school passing rate is 95.5%, ranking 3rd in the district. Currently, the school has 411 students, of which 318 are entitled to benefits". The preschool generation under the "roof" of Nghe An is also receiving more attentive care from parents. Children are no longer carried to the fields with their parents to endure the cold or left at home, but are sent to kindergartens for teachers to take care of and educate. The whole commune currently has 21 kindergarten classes with 241 children, the attendance rate is over 90%. Along with the caring policies of the Party and the State, teachers in the mountainous areas are staying in class and school day and night, wholeheartedly changing the way of learning in the most remote areas of Nghe An. Soon, Mong and Kho Mu students living at the foot of Puxailaileng mountain will bring the knowledge and letters they have learned to help their people and families gradually escape poverty and backwardness.

In the past, when Na Ngoi people got sick, they had to carry stretchers dozens of kilometers outside the district center to find a doctor to treat them. Therefore, there were cases where people did not receive timely emergency care and died unjustly or suffered lifelong disabilities. But now, the commune health station has been built spaciously, cleanly, and has doctors and nurses on duty day and night, so the primary health care for the people is guaranteed.

Previously, Na Ngoi was considered one of the hot spots for opium cultivation and drug trafficking, illegal border crossing. But in recent years, thanks to the close coordination between the local government and the border guards, exchanging and learning experiences with Muong Moc district (Xieng Khouang - Laos), the security situation in the border area has been maintained. Currently, opium plants in the commune have been completely eradicated, and drug dealers have all been arrested. “Our people no longer grow opium or smoke opium. Anyone who trades drugs is arrested, no one can escape the bright eyes of the border guards and the police. Now people are busy making a living, the swidden land is not used to grow opium but to grow rice, corn, ginger, and galangal to keep their stomachs full and their children have money to go to school,” said Vu Ba Gio, a local resident.

Saying goodbye to Na Ngoi, saying goodbye to the land of white clouds, fog, the hard-working, kind-hearted native people, the soldiers and cadres who stay in the village day and night to help the people, I feel an indescribable emotion. The remoteness and hardship of the border region are being shortened and changed day by day. The people under the “roof” of Nghe An with their diligent, hard-working hands and bright minds will become rich in their own homeland…

Dynasty