Winning the lawsuit thanks to the maternal love of a… cow

Dispute over stray cattle

Tan Son village, Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district is one of the most remote villages of the border commune of Mon Son. The 204 households here live mainly by raising cattle, growing acacia, sugarcane and some other agricultural products. Cattle, buffalo and cows are often grazed in the farm areas or forest land, hills around the village. Therefore, the cases of cattle straying to other houses, or mistakenly identifying cattle and buffaloes often occur. And when households argue about this issue, even get into fights, the village's mediation team is always the one who stands up to "judge", in which the key role is Mr. Ha Van Canh - head of the mediation team, head of Tan Son village.

Mr. Ha Van Canh shares his experiences in mediation at the grassroots level. Photo on the right corner: judicial officers of Mon Son commune guide people through procedures at the commune People's Committee. Photo: Hoai Thu

Mr. Canh recalled that in 2018, there was a conflict in the village between 5 households that let their cows roam freely on 2 farms close to each other. Each side had a herd of about ten cows, including 2 leading bulls that had quite similar "appearances" and were the same age.

One day, a bull suddenly disappeared, so a household in the South took the remaining bull and brought it home, claiming it was his, even though the other households in the group all claimed it was not his. After the two households in the South and the North filed a petition inviting the mediation team to come and settle the case, an argument broke out at the homes of the two families. They discussed it three times but no one gave in, both sides claimed the cow was theirs. In that situation, the mediation team requested that the disputed cow be released with the herd of cows, in which there was its mother cow.

In 2019, the whole province had 5 collectives and 21 individuals receiving Certificates of Merit from the Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee for outstanding achievements in grassroots mediation work, including Mr. Ha Van Canh and Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi.

Everyone compared the cow's fur color and concluded that these two were mother and calf, meaning that the cow belonged to the northern family. However, the person who held the cow still did not agree. Mr. Ha Van Canh then decided to let all the cows loose and herd them up the mountain, keeping only the disputed bull. The whole herd quickly followed the old path up the mountain to find grass, only the mother cow, after walking a few steps, turned around and called her calf to go with her. "At that time, everyone cheered and confirmed that they were the mother and calf. The person who held the cow also acknowledged and agreed to return the cow. So the motherly love of the cow helped the mediators "try the case" successfully, resolving the conflict between the households" - Mr. Ha Van Canh happily recounted.

Angry neighbors for 10 years

Also a mediator, Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi, Hamlet 7, Quynh Ba Commune, Quynh Luu District, is 70 years old this year, with more than 30 years of experience in village work as Party cell secretary, village chief and head of the mediation team of Hamlet 7.

As a retired soldier, Mr. Khoi manages and participates in local movements with a quick and decisive style. Talking about the reconciliation cases in the village, Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi said that in the past few years, the cases of family conflicts and conflicts between households have decreased significantly. Occasionally, there are only a few cases of land disputes and often the intervention of the commune and district levels is required.

During his decades of participating in local work, what he remembers most is being angry with his neighbor for 10 years when he persuaded and campaigned to open roads to build new rural areas.

Mediators from Quynh Ba and Quynh Thanh communes of Quynh Luu district participate in grassroots mediation. Photo: Hoai Thu

Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi recalled that those were the years when people's lives were still difficult and the roads were not convenient. The hamlet executive committee mobilized people to clear trees and donate land and trees to open the main road leading to the hamlet. Most of the hamlet's 135 households agreed and actively supported. Only one household did not agree to have their bamboo bush destroyed. That bush covered nearly half of the road, but he refused to let it be destroyed.

Faced with that situation, Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi personally went to persuade the neighbor to agree to destroy the pheo bush. Before coming to his house to persuade him, Mr. Khoi had arranged his forces to wait, as soon as he "gave the order", they would immediately cut it down. And after a long time of talking, confiding, and persuading, when the neighbor began to listen, Mr. Khoi immediately told everyone to "take action" immediately. Thanks to that, the road could be completed. However, "every time he passed by my house, I greeted him loudly, but he was angry and did not answer. He was angry with me for 10 years, but gradually he forgot about the past and became happy again" - Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi recounted.

Quynh Thanh commune judicial officers guide people through administrative procedures at the One-Stop Center. Photo: Hoai Thu

When talking about the mediations at the grassroots level, Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi's eyes lit up with joy. Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi is a person who likes to write poems, poems praising the scenery of his hometown and the good relationships between people in life. He once spent all the money he received when the state awarded the 35-year Party membership badge to print poetry books to give to his friends. Let me borrow Mr. Pham Ngoc Khoi's poems to talk about the enthusiasm of the grassroots mediators, who are the ones who "eat at home and carry the prison and the whole village" with the desire to contribute to building solidarity in the village:

“The right things are done with care.

Despite difficulties, keep moving forward and never retreat.

For the people, not for "me"

"Moving mountains and filling seas" will surely lead to success

As a red servant
"Hundred hear, one see" the word DONG is engraved"