Back to Foam Mat

(Baonghean) - A few years ago, when talking about that piece of land, in a previous article, I imagined Xop Mat as "a dog bone". The village lies precariously along the Nam Non River, desolate and desolate as if a tornado had just passed through. Anyone who had set foot on Xop Mat village at that time must have had a similar feeling. But now, when I return to Xop Mat, everything has changed, even though there are still hardships and worries.

Gourd growing model of Xop Mat villagers.

Sad story in Xop Mat

When talking about Xop Mat - a village of the Thai ethnic group in Luong Minh commune, Tuong Duong district, many people still feel a shiver of fear about a residential area "identified" as the "unmarried" village or the "drug capital" in the Western region of Nghe An. How can one not be worried when Xop Mat has only 37 households but has dozens of drug addicts, more than 30 families have members in prison for drug-related crimes. There are families with 3 or 4 generations in a row, grandparents, parents, children, grandchildren all in prison for the crime of trafficking "white death". Even in 2011 when I went to Xop Mat, I saw people "calmly" sitting and smoking and injecting heroin right on the side of the road, not at all shy about the presence of people around.

It is not an exaggeration to say that in Xop Mat it is easier to buy drugs than vegetables. At that time, Xop Mat was located at the foot of the mountain, east of the Nam Non River, and there was a mountain road through Dua village (Luong Minh) to Cao Thang commune in Ky Son district, bordering Laos. This was also the main route for criminals to secretly bring drugs, infiltrate and destroy many communities at the headwaters of the Ca River. In Xop Mat, the drug storm swept away men, women, the elderly, and the young. Dozens of families were destroyed by heroin. The desolate shacks without men, the children born never fully enjoyed the love of their parents; the fields lacked the hands of people to cultivate them; then HIV, then AIDS... All of this turned Xop Mat into a fierce, dark and cold land.

Remember Mr. Lo Viet Luan's family, out of more than 10 people in the family, 8 were addicted and went to jail for drugs, including the father, mother, daughter, son-in-law, and grandchild. Returning to Xop Mat this time, when I went to Mr. Luan's house, I learned that he had died, his wife was arrested and imprisoned for drugs earlier this year, his 2 children were still serving their sentences in Quang Binh province, and his grandchildren were each wandering to a place unknown to anyone. Yet, Mr. Lo Viet Luan used to be a Party Committee member and an official of the People's Committee of Luong Minh commune. His wife also held the position of Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Luong Minh commune. The whirlwind of drugs that swept through Xop Mat created a deadly and rapidly spreading epidemic. There were many smoldering and burning pains in that isolated village by the stream. According to the Thai people's interpretation, "Xop Mat" means a stream or a door, but there was a time when people thought "mat" meant loss, that it was over. And in fact that small copy has gradually disappeared from its original geographical location.

Continuously in 2011 and 2012, Xop Mat village suffered from serious landslides. Many houses were buried by mud, and landslides also caused many other houses to slide down the Nam Non river. Local authorities at all levels decided to relocate the village to a new resettlement area. But before finding a place to plan their accommodation, the villagers had to build temporary camps along the Nam Non river. Then the resettlement area was also planned and formed on the west side of the Nam Non river, less than 1 km from the old village. However, God did not seem to give the villagers a chance, it seemed that God was still angry with Xop Mat for not being able to quit drugs. So the resettlement area continued to collapse when the construction unit had only leveled 2/3 of the land. The Xop Mat villagers had to sigh: God wanted the Xop Mat villagers to stay away from the old village area. For the second time, the resettlement area of ​​Xop Mat village was planned and implemented. The new village is located about 5 km away from the old place, close to the medical center and the community cultural center of Luong Minh commune. Starting from 2014, people have moved to the new place.

Waiting for the happy season to return

We visited the new village of Xop Mat on a day in early June. Xop Mat was bustling under the peak sun of the historic drought season. The first address we wanted to visit was the village chief's house. It turned out that it was the "brother" village chief, not the "sir" village chief as I had imagined. Luong Van Thien welcomed us with a discreet smile and a shy handshake. It was strange that the village chief was only 27 years old and had a name that made a good impression right from the first meeting. Luong Van Thien said that currently, Xop Mat village has 44 households. When moving from their old place to the new resettlement area, all households were supported by the state with moving expenses. Specifically, each household was supported with 20 million VND, for stilt houses, the district supported an additional 4 million VND, and for normal stilt houses, they were supported with 3 million VND. In addition, all families in the village were supported with 1 million VND by the local government to build toilets. Village chief Luong Van Thien took us on a tour of the villagers’ new place of residence. “Coming back here is very reassuring, no worries like the last time. Drugs, landslides. It’s very hard.” Thien also showed us the small vegetable beds, the gourd and squash trellises that have flowered and borne fruit, which the villagers planted and cared for themselves. “The person watering the vegetables is Lo Thi Thai, the one giving the calves water is La Thi Chung. That house is well-off. There are even chickens and pigs,” the village chief pointed and introduced.

Ban Xop Mat currently has 158 people and people of working age account for about 50%. However, as Mr. Luong Trong Phu said: "Here, no one distinguishes between people of working age or not. Everyone has to work to earn a living". Even Mr. Phu himself, although his family has moved to the resettlement area, still has to set up a tent by the Nam Non River near his old residence to do business to make a living. What surprised us was that Mr. Luong Trong Phu and his wife, Ms. Lo Thi Tham, have 2 children, the eldest son Luong May Bun is a 5th year student at Thai Binh Medical University, the youngest daughter Luong Thi Thu Hao is studying at the Faculty of Cultural Management at Vinh University. We saw in the eyes of that couple burning with pride and fervent hope. “It’s also to earn money for your children’s education. My husband and I do petty business, and I have a sewing job. If I do something “bad”, wherever his child leans on, he will “take care” of it” - that’s what Ms. Tham told us. As for her husband, Mr. Phu, a party member in the Xop Mat Party Cell, he thought: if we want the village to change, we have to do it first.

Knowing that, in Xop Mat, returning to life as before is not simple at all. As Ms. Lo Thi Loi, a resident of Xop Mat, said, people are living on the land of a foreign village. That is true, the resettlement area of ​​Xop Mat is planned in La village, another residential village of Luong Minh commune. Each household is handed over land including residential land and garden land of about 200 square meters. This area is only enough to build a house but cannot build more pens to raise pigs or chickens. "If we build a pig pen, it will cause pollution to the neighboring house" - Ms. Lo Thi Loi said. Besides, although they have moved to the resettlement area, people still have to travel nearly 5 km back to their old place to sow seeds and work on the fields. The difficult travel conditions have significantly affected the production and cultivation activities of the people.

This year, there is a severe drought. Village Chief Luong Van Thien said that no family can work in the fields. The corn that was planted was just a hand span long and all burned to death. This was also confirmed by Mr. Lo Van Vui - Head of the Agricultural Department of Luong Minh Commune with a worried mood: "People are going to work everywhere to make a living. Some go to China, Quang Tri, Quang Binh, others go to companies. Those who go out still have money to send back to help their families, but in any house where no one goes, they have to live on vegetables and bamboo shoots." This reality not only affects the lives of the people of Xop Mat but can also create unpredictable consequences in a place once known as the land of "white death".

Saying goodbye to Xop Mat, saying goodbye to the village chief with a gentle smile on his bearded face, we could not help but feel troubled about the small residential area with nearly 70% of the households being poor. We did not dare to think that “mat” meant lost, that it was over, we only hoped that the land called “river mouth, stream” would have clear water again, and that the happy season would be filled with bustling houses.

Dao Tuan - Nhat Lan