"This Tet, Ban Coong is very happy!"
Secretary of the Ban Coong Party Cell (Hanh Dich Commune, Que Phong District, Nghe An Province), Mr. Luong Van Thiet, said: "This year, Tet in Coong Village will be very happy, with food, clothing, and even a cultural house for activities. It's all thanks to the ten years of Hau soldiers staying in the village! Now they are the children of Ban Coong people."
(Baonghean.vn) -Secretary of the Ban Coong Party Cell (Hanh Dich Commune, Que Phong District, Nghe An Province), Mr. Luong Van Thiet, said: "This year, Tet in Coong Village will be very happy, with food, clothing, and even a cultural house for activities. It's all thanks to the ten years of Hau soldiers staying in the village! Now they are the children of Ban Coong people."
I suddenly remembered and asked: "Is this Major Vu Van Hau, an officer of Border Guard Station 517?" Mr. Luong Van Thiet laughed so hard that the bowl of wine he handed me kept swaying: "I thought only the people of Coong village knew him. It turns out everyone knows soldier Hau, and the people of my village are very pleased." Having worked at Station 517 many times, how could I forget Major Vu Van Hau (a mass mobilization officer of the Border Guard Station).
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Now Hau is sitting next to me, still in his experienced military uniform, still affectionate with the people, still with his crew cut, his dark, skinny face, but his eyes are very bright and his smile is very friendly. Originally a boy from Quynh Luu district (Nghe An), he joined the army in 1989; with nearly 20 years in the army, Hau has spent 15 years in the Vietnam - Laos border forest in Que Phong district, in the formation of border post 517.
I still remember clearly that during the difficult years on the border with Laos, Hau was still a brave border guard, patrolling day and night with his teammates, chasing criminals to keep the village peaceful.
Hau confided: "Que Phong, a district known as the poorest district in Nghe An province, the center is still Coong village. A village located in the deep area of Hanh Dich commune, with quite complex terrain. There are only 87 households, 395 people, all of them Thai ethnic group, with 6 clans (Lo, Luong, Chang, Ha, Quang, Vi) living scattered on both banks of Nam Viec river. The people's education level is low, customs and practices are backward, roads are difficult to travel; party members and village management board are both lacking and weak, party cells have to operate together. Mass organizations operate at a slow pace, with low efficiency; social evils occur constantly.
That day, implementing the announcement of the Standing Committee of Nghe An Provincial Party Committee and the plan of the Provincial Border Guard Party Committee to increase the number of Party members for the border communes, Hau asked to return to the Coong village Party cell. "I know that the task is extremely difficult, but as a Party member, I must try to complete the assigned tasks, so that the people trust and respect me!" - Hau confided.
The Party Secretary of the commune, Ms. Kim Thi Tuyen, kept praising: "The Hau troops have a better grasp of the commune's situation than I do! Being proactive, dedicated, and friendly, the Hau troops have attracted a large number of cadres, party members, village elders, and villagers to contribute their intelligence and strength to strengthen the construction of the Party cell, the Management Board, and mass organizations of youth, women, and veterans in the village."
The commune front chairman, Mr. Luong Viet Chau, and the head of the Coong village women's association, Mrs. Luong Thi Chau... were excited and did not hide: the movement in the village had revived. The village chief, Mr. Luong Van Tiep, held up his pipe, puffed out thick smoke, and praised: "The Hau soldiers did what the villagers wanted, so everyone would follow suit and do it well."
Through practice, Hau has trained the Party Committee and village management in mass mobilization work, and how to grasp and handle incidents occurring in the area. Party organizations, government and mass organizations have gradually been consolidated and put into operation. Now 13 households with dilapidated houses in the village have received contributions from mass organizations to repair them. At night, Coong village dances and sings happily, life in the forest land of Coong village is more cozy.
The story of building a cultural house in Coong village that Hau's soldiers proposed was the first time anyone in the village and commune believed it could be done. Hau advised the village and commune to make a request for funding from higher-level agencies and it went smoothly. The commune supported 2 million VND, the district supported 3 million, and the Union of Science and Technology Associations in the capital also sent 12 million VND. Hau and the village chief held a meeting with the villagers and divided them into 6 groups to mobilize people to contribute wood, bamboo, and labor.
Now the village has a very spacious community cultural house. Inside, on the altar of the Fatherland under the Party and National flags is a solemn statue of Uncle Ho. The cultural house also has a cable TV, so it attracts a large number of villagers to participate in activities every night, reducing backward customs and building a new life. The whole village used to have 14 drug addicts, but now the community has joined hands to encourage and help them quit, everyone is happy.
Standing on the dam, looking at the irrigation project that irrigates nearly 40 hectares of rice fields in Coong village, the commune chairman, Mr. Vi Viet Hai, exclaimed: "Without Hau's soldiers coming to the village to help the people, this irrigation project would not have existed." "So without the soldiers, the commune would be helpless? (I asked again). "That's right, the irrigation project belongs to the investment capital of project 134! It's only 570 million VND. Previously, this capital was invested in building for Na Sai village. But they hesitated for a long time because the investment in transporting materials to the village was too large, so they did not accept it. However, Hau's soldiers discussed with the Party cell, the village chief and mass organizations to accept this project to build in Coong village. In fact, with a budget of 570 million VND, it is very difficult to build an irrigation project like this.
Hau affirmed: "We mobilize the people to build our project, the people have contributed their efforts and sweat on our project, then later when they benefit, the villagers will appreciate what the Party - Uncle Ho cares for the people!" Now the irrigation project has been put into use, the recent rainy season has greatly limited flash floods and landslides. Having water for irrigation has created conditions for the villagers to reclaim land to plant 15 more hectares of rice, invest in breeding animals for poultry and livestock. Just counting the village alone, investing in a team to protect the irrigation project to release tens of thousands of fish fry on the water surface of the irrigation project, the average annual profit is tens of millions of dong.
Looking at the prosperous Coong village, I suddenly remembered Hau's family situation back home: his parents were old and always sick; his wife was a teacher, and he had two children who were struggling with many difficulties. Hau could only visit home once every few years. Yet, to everyone, Hau did not talk much about the work he did. But through his pale face and dark eyes, everyone understood how much he obeyed the Party and was loyal to Coong village.
Thuan Thang
