A parishioner who has fulfilled his religious and worldly duties for 40 years

In 2022, Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc was honored to be the representative of Nghe An province to attend the Conference to commend the Chairmen of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee at the commune level and Heads of the National Front Work Committee; and was one of the few outstanding individuals to attend the meeting with General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

PV:40 years as Head of the Front Work Committee in the residential area, a very long time with many memories. There are many happy stories, but surely there are also many difficulties and hardships, right?

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc:I started working as the Head of the Front in 1982 and life in my hometown at that time was still very difficult. Our mission at that time was to encourage people to produce well and work together to complete the task.

However, the work back then was not as hard as it is today because the Front was a bridge between organizations, including the Executive Committee. I work for the Front, and the target audience is usually poor households and households in difficulty. Therefore, in this position, I think I can call on organizations and organizations to join hands to support and help the disadvantaged. This is also a special job and in fact, I do it "for free". Therefore, I am completely comfortable with this job, I do it for prestige, because I am also trusted by the people.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc has 40 years of experience as Head of the Front Work Committee in Hamlet 2, Dien Ky Commune, Dien Chau District. Photo: My Ha

PV:You shared that the work of the Front is “like serving a hundred families”. However, I know that although you are the Head of the Front in a very densely populated hamlet, with nearly 400 households, of which 2/3 are Catholics, this hamlet is the leader in many local activities. Could you share the results you have achieved in recent years?

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc:Over the years, I, along with the Party Committee and the Front Committee of the hamlet, have encouraged people to build infrastructure in the commune and in the entire parish with many valuable projects, such as canals serving the fields of 200 million VND/ha, and building rural concrete roads.

People also contributed nearly 2 billion VND, with more than 6,200 working days to widen village roads and alleys. In addition, people also actively supported the renovation of the village's cultural house, soccer field, and volleyball field with a total amount of more than 2 billion VND; voluntarily contributed to building a church to serve religious activities. In 2021, village 2 in general and Ben Den Parish in particular successfully built a model of a civilized, green, clean, and beautiful parish and is the first model of Dien Chau district.

PV:The results that he and the Executive Committee of Village 2 and the people have strived to achieve seem like dry numbers, but in reality, behind that, there must have been a lot of effort and certainly the mass mobilization work was not simple, for example, mobilizing more than 40 households to donate more than 200m²land, gate, surrounding wall, trees and fruit trees...

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc:That was in 2015, to implement the New Rural Development Program, our village was given 400 tons of cement by the district to expand village roads and alleys.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc - second from right at the meeting between the Chairman of the Commune-level Fatherland Front Committee, Head of the National Representative Front Working Committee and General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong. Photo: Internet

At that time, the widest part of the road in our village was only 1.5m, so when there was a plan to widen the road to 3m, the Village Executive Committee met and were all afraid, affirming that it could not be done. However, I was determined to do it. The process of lobbying lasted more than a month, to the point that my wife was angry because she was afraid that her husband would not complete the task. But I said, I am working for the village, for the people, no matter how hard it is, I will try my best.

During the implementation process, we held many self-management meetings and selected the strongest groups to implement first. Wherever I went, I told the people that electricity, roads, schools, and stations were very important and determined the development of the village and hamlet. Meanwhile, where we lived was a parish, on important holidays, people from everywhere came in large numbers, the need for transportation was very high, especially cars. I also told the people that the land in our village was cheap now, but if the road was widened, the land would increase, the price would increase… The people were very excited to hear that.

In some special cases, I go to the house, and if I cannot persuade the husband, I will move on to persuade the wife. If both the husband and wife are having difficulty, I will switch to talking to the children, in a "single-handed" manner.

There is a family, moving the gate costs hundreds of millions of dong, the two grandparents at home are worried, very worried, I go to the house to encourage them to open the gate, later when the child comes back from abroad, has a car, the narrow road is easy to break down the car. Another family is in a bottleneck position, both husband and wife are determined not to release. In this case, I have to meet the two daughters privately to "hit" the psychology of the age of marriage and remind them "if parents are too strict" then few people will hesitate to come...

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc told about mobilizing people in the village to donate land to build roads.

After completing the road expansion, Dien Ky commune was recognized as a new rural commune. On the day of the reception ceremony, I was commended by the Provincial People's Committee, and when I was reported on my achievements, I was really happy. People now keep saying that I was very clever, no one blamed me, and even said that the street should be named after Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc!

PV:People who work in the neighborhood and village are often called “people who eat at home and take care of the village”. It is true that there are many nameless jobs that require hard work and taking responsibility, right?

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc:It was just last year, not that far away. At that time, the Covid-19 epidemic was very "tense", our village was classified as level 16+ because there were 2 F0 patients and more than 200 people in the F1 category, no one could go in or out. At that time, to persuade the F0 and F1 cases to go into quarantine, no one wanted to because they were worried that "no one would take care of the chickens and pigs, no one would raise the buffaloes and cows" and then people would say "no one would know what to eat".

At that time, I would take care of and take care of any questions my neighbors had. In cases where a family had F0, sometimes even relatives did not dare to come or answer the phone. At that time, I personally went to cut grass for the cows, cut bananas for the pigs, and helped the family take care of 100 chickens and clean the barns...

In 2022, Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc received a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister for his outstanding achievements in front work. Photo: My Ha

Or like the campaign to encourage villagers to go to drug rehabilitation, to encourage people to hand over homemade weapons, I also went to each family to talk, advise and from there people became self-aware and self-implemented.

PV:In addition to the role of Head of the Village Front Committee, you are also the Chairman of the Pastoral Council of Ben Den Parish, Dien Ky Commune. How has taking on “two roles” supported you in your work?

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc:Head of Department ModelFront workBeing the Chairman of the Parish Pastoral Council in the Catholic community area will help the work to be more effective. I myself have two roles, so I know how to skillfully combine the Catholic and non-Catholic communities, creating solidarity and a shared responsibility in the village. The social and the Church must harmoniously combine activities in accordance with the provisions of the law, and properly exercise the rights and obligations of citizens.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc (third from left, last row) received a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister at the Conference of Heads of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at the commune level and Heads of the National Outstanding Front Committees in Hanoi. Photo: Internet

When implementing the contents of the action program of the Front, especially in patriotic emulation movements, campaigns chaired by the Vietnam Fatherland Front, self-management activities in residential communities, needing the help and support of the parish priest, the enthusiastic response of the parishioners, Front cadres need to know how to apply situations so that the movement achieves the highest results.

PV:A good layman is also a good citizen. For you, surely you have lived and dedicated yourself to this truth?

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc:A good parishioner is also a good citizen. For me, this is very true. As a parishioner, I must respect God, love everyone, and be a devout sheep. As a citizen, I must comply with the policies of the Party and the State, and fulfill the local regulations. No one is perfect, and it is difficult for anyone to be perfect. But I myself try to get 7 or 8, and the main measure is to win the hearts and trust of the people.

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc has continuously received Certificates of Merit and Certificates of Merit at all levels for many years for his many achievements in the work of the Fatherland Front. Photo: My Ha

PV:You are over 70 years old, have you ever felt tired and wanted to stop working in the village to spend time with your family? To do well the role of a Front Committee Chief, in your opinion, what is the most important factor?

Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc:To be a good Front leader, I think one must first come from the family, "regulating the family and governing the country". The family is the nucleus of society, the cell of society. If your family is exemplary and a role model, the people will listen.

Second, you have to be a good example, know how to listen, and if you get too hot-tempered, you can speak loudly, but then you have to know how to look back and apologize.

Thanks to his good work in mass mobilization, Mr. Nguyen Trung Duc has carried out many outstanding works in the village. Photo: My Ha

At this age, sometimes my children and family want me to retire because they see that I have contributed for many years and feel tired. However, if the people still trust me, I will continue to work, because I am worried that if there is no one to take charge, it will affect the general movement and cause disunity. If the upper and lower villages are not united, it will affect the activities and the cultural and social life. On the contrary, if everyone is united, working together, and being of one mind, I myself will feel healthy.

PV:Thanks for joining the chat!