Why did the most prosperous village become a village of 100% poor households?

(Baonghean.vn) - From a prosperous village of the Khmu people, Keo Nam village (Bac Ly border commune) now only has shabby huts left, with poverty clinging to the villagers.

There was once a prosperous Keo Nam.

In the photo is Keo Nam village before 2012. This is considered one of the most economically prosperous villages of the Khmu people in the border commune of Bac Ly, Ky Son district. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Before 2012, when mentioning Keo Nam village, people would think of the most remote village with a road leading through many dangerous steep hills, but the life of the people here was the most prosperous in the Kho Mu community of Bac Ly border commune.

At that time, Keo Nam village was located about 2 hours away from the center of Bac Ly commune by motorbike. To get to Keo Nam, you had to go through Nhot Kho, Keo Pha Tu villages... Although it was deep, high and far away, at that time, the people in the villages below still lived in makeshift thatched roof houses, but Keo Nam was completely different. The entire Keo Nam village at that time was lined with solid wooden stilt houses, and the surrounding villages were always kept clean.

Men and young people in the village go to work far away, so the children in the village become the breadwinners of the family. Photo: Xuan Hoa

In those years, whenever a guest came to Keo Nam, the villagers would be ready to treat them with chicken and pork. Because at that time, every house in Keo Nam was full of rice, and there were countless pigs and chickens raised in the village. Not only that, every house had a herd of buffalo and cows, some families had a herd of several dozen buffalo and cows. At that time, buffalo and cows were also considered a measure of the wealth of Keo Nam village compared to other villages.

“At that time, I was the Principal of Bac Ly 2 Primary School, so every time I went to inspect teaching at Keo Nam, I was warmly welcomed by the locals. The road to Keo Nam was difficult, but at that time, every family in Keo Nam had plenty to eat and drink, and people's lives were always warm and comfortable. That's why at that time, Keo Nam's remote school always received support from the locals with wood and working days to repair classrooms, so while other villages still had makeshift classrooms, Keo Nam was a rare remote school with solid wooden classrooms with corrugated iron roofs. At that time, Keo Nam was truly a model village for the Khmu people in particular and for many other villages in Bac Ly commune in general," said teacher Nguyen Khac Linh, former Principal of Bac Ly 2 Primary School from 2008 to 2016.

A corner of Keo Nam village today. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Also because of hard work and a comfortable life, at that time when motorbikes were a luxury for the people of Bac Ly commune, in Keo Nam almost every house had a motorbike to travel. There were families that had up to two or three motorbikes for many family members.

“Since the 90s, I went to work in finance in Keo Nam village. At that time, there were only stilt houses and many trees. There were also many motorbikes and cows, some houses had dozens of cows and buffaloes, and some had expensive motorbikes,” Mr. Cut Van Long, Chairman of Bac Ly Commune People's Committee, recalled.

Not only was Keo Nam rich, but in those years it was also considered a clean village in terms of social evils. There were no drug addicts in the village. Every day, the young men and farmers of the village went to the fields to grow rice and sow corn. On holidays, they only toasted each other with a glass of wine. At that time, drugs were something strange to the people here.

Setback after migration

However, since the resettlement of the population in late 2012, life in Keo Nam village has been getting worse, with many families living in makeshift thatched roof houses and poverty. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Anyone who has ever been to Keo Nam in the past, now returning can no longer recognize the prosperous village of the past. The new Keo Nam village has been moved closer to the commune center, about 30 minutes by motorbike from the old village. But unlike the scene of solid wooden stilt houses close together as before, instead there are many makeshift thatched roofs made of bamboo and thatch. There are houses or more literally just huts less than 10m.²The door was so low that one had to stoop to get in.

As for buffaloes, cows, and motorbikes - assets that used to represent the wealth of Keo Nam, not many families now have them. The whole village now has 60 households, 100% of which are poor. When asked, Mr. Luong Pho Bich learned that now the whole village only has ten buffaloes and cows, and only 4 or 5 motorbikes, but they are only the frames, not the whole body. Most of the villagers are women, children, and the elderly.

Keo Nam village is currently home to mainly women and children. Men and young people in the village flock to Quang Nam to make alluvial gold. Photo: Xuan Hoa

The children were in tattered, dirty clothes, their faces smeared with dirt. The women had dark, gaunt faces, the skin clinging to the bones in their tired eyes. Seeing strangers, the children and women quickly hid in dilapidated bamboo houses.

Even the Keo Nam primary school, which used to be so spacious, is now dilapidated, with only rotten wooden planks and rusty corrugated iron roofing remaining. The tables and chairs that were provided have also become dilapidated over time.

“In the past, when people in the old village were well-off, if the school had a broken board or a leaky roof, parents would immediately speak up to fix it. But now that they have moved to the new village, people do not make enough to eat, so even though the school has been damaged for many years, no parents pay attention to it,” said Mr. Moong Van Thong, a teacher at Keo Nam remote school.

Mrs. Luong Me Xan Tay and her current "property". Photo: Xuan Hoa

To find the answer to why a model, prosperous village has now taken such a long step backward, we met Mr. Cut Van Long - Chairman of Bac Ly Commune People's Committee. Mr. Long sadly confided that in the old village, due to the remoteness from the commune center and the scarcity of water resources, in 2012, Ky Son District People's Committee had a policy of dispersing the population to a more favorable location. However, because they did not understand the policy, people thought that the State would invest in all the houses, so many families sold their wooden stilt houses.

However, despite the policy of population dispersion since 2012, after 5 years, Keo Nam village currently only has a separate kindergarten under construction. The separate primary school has just been poured with rocks and is expected to be built in the near future. As for the land leveling and welfare works serving people's lives such as roads and water, there has been no movement yet.

Mr. Luong Pho Bich - Secretary of Keo Nam village Party cell said that after moving to the new place, the road to get there was easier and he knew that people had money to sell their houses. So many people entered the village, taking advantage of the limited awareness of the people to bring "white death" into the village. From a village that was clean of social evils, Keo Nam now has 13 drug addicts living in the house. After running out of money from selling their houses and getting caught up with the "white ghost", many people sold their motorbikes and buffaloes to use drugs. Currently, men and young people in the village flock to Quang Nam to make alluvial gold. Every time they return, they don't see any gains, but what they lose is the increased rate of drug addicts.

"Not counting the 13 addicts at home, the number of addicts at work is not yet fully known" - Mr. Bich said.

Like Mrs. Luong Me Xan Tay (60 years old), who has a son but because of hunger and drug addiction, she had to let her mother live in a damp shack made of makeshift bamboo and thatch. The property in Mrs. Xan Tay’s shack is a plastic water can, a pot and a few bowls. Not only Mrs. Xan Tay but also throughout Keo Nam village, it is not difficult to find houses like that.

From a well-off family with a herd of dozens of buffaloes and cows, since moving to the new village, Ms. Cut Me En's family has fallen into poverty. Photo: Xuan Hoa

Or like the family of Ms. Cut Mother En (born in 1980), who used to be a well-off household in Keo Nam village with a herd of five or seven buffaloes and cows. But now when we met her, her face was gaunt, her body was just skin and bones. Her children were like many other children in Keo Nam village, with dark faces and torn clothes. The reason was because after selling the house in the old village and moving to the new village, Ms. En's husband, Cut Pho En (born in 1984), was a drug addict, spent all the money from selling the house, then sold his car and buffaloes. Now she alone has to go to the fields to grow rice to feed her children.

When will Keo Nam be free from poverty and regain its former life? From Ms. Cut Mother En to Ms. Luong Mother Xan Tay, they can only shake their heads. “We don’t know what to do, we just hope that the authorities at all levels will pay more attention and care to the Keo Nam people” - Mr. Cut Van Long, Chairman of Bac Ly Commune People’s Committee, sadly shared./.

Xuan Hoa