Bright color of Hoi Poc

(Baonghean) - Huoi Poc used to be a sacred forest and poisonous water, but now it is a picture of prosperity with the green of rice and the growth and development of herds of livestock. Contributing to today's joyful picture are the diligent hands, the active mind, and the patient perseverance of the Secretary of the Youth Union, Luong Van Kieng.

Not to be poor

“From Muong Xen Town to Noong De Village of Nam Can Commune, turn right, follow the small dirt road, all the way to the end of Huoi Poc stream, that’s where your camp is” - Secretary of Noong De Youth Union Luong Van Kieng instructed me over the phone. Sitting on the “iron horse”, driving on a nearly 4 km long forest road, occasionally appearing before our eyes are steep slopes, full of rocks and gravel, there are sections where you have to be steady on the wheel to get past the large rocks on the road. After about 30 minutes, I met a child standing on the side of the road, stopped the car and asked Kieng’s camp, the child nodded: “Uncle, follow me, Uncle Kieng asked me to come out to the road to pick you up”.

Going up the hill, past the small terraced fields that had just been covered with rice, before my eyes was a small house built on the hillside. Luong Van Kieng welcomed me in a work uniform stained with sticky forest sap, a bright smile on his thin, dark face. If the District Youth Union Secretary had not introduced him in advance, it would have been impossible to know that this was a "leader" of the Youth Union, because from the outside, he looked older than his age. Going up the temporary stairs made of tree trunks with the bark still intact, in the corner of the house, a dark-skinned woman was sitting at a loom weaving cloth. Kieng introduced to the guests that this was his wife - Vi Thi Nang. Through conversation, it was learned that Ms. Nang was a girl from Na Loi village, Na Loi commune, a few dozen kilometers away, who followed Kieng here to be his wife since 2001.

The small house of Mr. Luong Van Kieng and his wife in Huoi Poc.

Sitting on the side of the house, Kieng happily chatted. His father died early, his mother raised 9 children alone, Kieng was the 8th child. After finishing 11th grade, Kieng had to drop out of school because of his family's difficult circumstances. At the age of 19, Kieng got married, and his siblings helped him build a small house in the village. He moved out with nothing valuable. The couple's life depended on nearly 1 hectare of land his mother had given him, so they were in need all year round. Many nights, Kieng couldn't close his eyes, he put his hand on his forehead, worried that if he didn't break through, he would be poor forever, while Ky Son had a large land area and few people. Although Khe Huoi Poc was far from home, the land there was very large, and he could go there to develop long-term livestock farming.

Thinking is doing, Kieng discussed with his wife, leaving the house to his mother, and going there to start a business. With the husband and wife in agreement, the young couple brought their living belongings to Huoi Poc stream to build a small house to live in. After observing, Kieng concluded that raising cows, goats, and chickens was the most suitable here, because the hills were wide and there was a lot of food. Thinking so, where would they get the money to buy breeding animals, while his mother and siblings were all poor? Hearing on the radio and TV that the people could borrow money from the social policy bank to do business, the couple headed to Muong Xen town, went to the district social policy bank to ask about how to borrow money. With the bank staff's guidance on how to make a loan application, a short time later the couple had 15 million VND in capital. With that amount of money, he bought 1 cow, 1 breeding goat, and 10 breeding chickens. Combined with animal husbandry, the couple actively cleared the fields, grew rice, and cassava, and took the initiative in food.

Ms. Nang confided: The area is not measured in hectares, but each year the couple sows 35 kg of rice seeds and harvests 40 bags of rice. After harvesting, they painstakingly chop the cassava into small pieces, dry it, and use it as food for the chickens. Although the chickens are allowed to roam the hills, we have to store food for them, and when it rains heavily, we can't let them roam, so we spread it to feed them. After more than 10 years of living in Huoi Poc stream, the couple now has a large herd of cows, goats, pigs, and chickens. The couple confided that every year they sell 1-2 cows, a few goats, and sows, no matter how many piglets they give birth to, to raise pigs for meat, and sell them to make money to cover their living expenses and pay off bank loans. The wife is responsible, takes care of all the housework and children, and creates conditions for her husband to participate in social work activities. Currently, Mr. Kieng is the Deputy Secretary of the Party Cell and Secretary of the Noong De Youth Union. In this "remote" place, despite the lack of spirit, the young couple still encouraged each other to work, produce, stabilize their lives, and deserve to be exemplary union leaders for many union members and young people to follow.

Ms. Vi Thi Nang (Mr. Kieng's wife) takes care of the chickens.

Follow Mr. Kieng

Like many other villages in the highlands, the life of the people of Noong De is still difficult, the poverty rate is still high. The reason is mainly because people do not know how to do business, many people are even lazy to work. Many times, Mr. Kieng discussed with the village cadres, encouraging people to develop the economy by raising pigs and chickens. That idea was agreed by the village cadres, but to let people raise pigs effectively is not an easy problem, because up to now, people have raised pigs, but the efficiency is low. Many times reading newspapers, listening to the radio, watching TV, knowing that in many places people help each other to raise pigs in groups very effectively, through many village meetings, Kieng gave his opinion, which was agreed and supported by the cadres and people in the village.

But there are still some people who do not want to work and wait for the government's support policy. Not giving up, Mr. Kieng directly met and encouraged each person, telling them that they must be self-reliant to escape poverty. Life is yours, you also have hands, feet, brains, you just lack perseverance and diligence. Talk less, then talk more, gradually people will understand. So the most difficult task has basically been solved. Mr. Kieng calculated that the village has 120 households, and needs to be divided into many groups, each group of 3-4 households to support pig farming. The first group will be allocated breeding pigs by the village from the state's livestock support project. After the pigs give birth, each household is responsible for supporting 2 sows for the households of other groups. By doing so, up to now, Noong De village has 4 pig farming groups, bringing practical economic benefits to each household, gradually stabilizing their lives.

When I first set foot in Huoi Poc to build a house and start a business, this mountainous area was deserted and few people passed by. But now there are 6 houses, all of which are young couples. Mr. Luong May Thien, one of the 6 households that followed Mr. Kieng to start a business here for 4 years now, confided: Following the way Kieng and his wife did business, I came here to build a house and worked hard to reclaim 8 terraced rice fields around the house. In addition, I also raised many cows and goats... so my family's life is no longer lacking food and work like before. Now in Huoi Poc, not only are there herds of cows, goats, and chickens in large numbers... but there are also terraced rice fields on the hillsides, presenting a picture of abundance for these people who are not resigned to poverty.

As a Party member and Secretary of the Youth Union, Luong Van Kieng always sticks to his duties, regularly returns to the village, and encourages union members and young people to actively participate in movement activities launched by the Youth Union. The regular work that the Secretary of the Youth Union is interested in is mobilizing union members and young people to help families in especially difficult circumstances repair their houses and prepare land for production; clear trees on both sides of the village roads, clean up public sanitation, dredge ditches, manage and repair community water works, etc. Thanks to the active contributions of the Youth Union, Noong De village is increasingly cleaner and more beautiful.

Secretary of the District Youth Union - Ms. Xa Thi Xi, said: Currently, Ky Son has 105 members, young people with good economic models, with an annual income of 40 to 150 million VND. The commendable thing about Ky Son's youth is that most of the models come from small bank loans. Thanks to diligence, hard work, and knowing how to take advantage of local advantages, they have built a stable family life in terms of spirit and material. According to Secretary of the Youth Union Luong Van Kieng, he is one of the typical examples of 105 economic development models of Ky Son's youth. Not only knowing how to rise up to take control of his life, Mr. Kieng is also a good member of the Youth Union doing mass mobilization work, recognized by the people of Noong De village and the Youth Union of Nam Can commune.

Xuan Hoang