Splitting rocks into Na Ngan
"Hearing the news that the district is opening a road, our village is very happy, just like in 1975 when we heard the news of the liberation of the South. That's why Na Ngan has been deserted for the past few days, because everyone has gone to the construction site to open a road to the village..." - Village Chief Lo Xuan Hang said excitedly.
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Na Ngan - joy on the opening day
To get to Xieng Mi village in Nga Mi commune of Tuong Duong district is far, to get to Na Ngan village is even more distant. Mr. Luong Thanh Hai - Chairman of the district said: "Na Ngan is a village that has long been isolated behind the towering rocky mountains. There are no roads, we have to wade through the stream. On the first day of the road opening campaign, 13 villages of Nga Mi commune from all over flocked to Pu Hieng range to set up dozens of makeshift tents next to the precarious mountain ranges to stay and open the road. The district's plan is to concentrate more than 450 people in the commune, to open the Na Ca - Canh - Xop Kho - Na Ngan route, which is over 22 km long, but the Xop Kho - Na Ngan section alone has 6 km of road that must be newly opened.
Through survey, this is an extremely complicated route, the road runs around the Pu Hieng mountainside in the middle of the primeval forest bordering the Pu Huong Nature Reserve. The terrain is dangerous, with many places blocked by rocks, so opening a route that only allows motorbikes to enter the village is not easy.
More than 500 workers braved the cold and rain, the bone-chilling cold still enthusiastically opened the road. Only when arriving here can you feel the bustling, urgent atmosphere, in the middle of the primeval forest, red flags and banners flying all over the sky, the sound of hoes and shovels hitting down loudly, the whole forest seemed to shake. The rhythms of nhuon, xuoi, xap, and opposite each other made you forget your fatigue. Most of the villages exceeded the target, exceeded the time, such as Pieng O village, Na Ca village, Bot village... people took advantage of the night to work. The torches were bright in the night of the forest, shining down on the magical Nam Ngan. Mr. Lu Van Tan - Head of Pieng O village said: "Having a road means having everything, people will do their best to help Na Ngan see the light of civilization..." This route has 4 sections blocked by rocks, there is a 120 meter long section of rocks, the district had to bring in over 2,000 kg of mines to break the rocks. The rock-breaking team had dozens of people working very tensely and dangerously, using ropes to tie themselves to tree roots and cling to the top of the cliff to drill rocks and place mines, below was the Nam Ngan stream. Every time a mine exploded, the villagers shouted to pry up the rocks, the steep cliffs were torn apart to a width of over 3 meters. Mr. Vi Khiem, an officer of the traffic department, confided: "To break rocks effectively and safely, the team used the "ham om" method, which means drilling deep, placing mines deep, when they explode, a large amount of rock will be released. After only 5 days and nights of leveling the forest and cutting the mountain, the villagers created a miracle: clearing the 6 km dangerous road to Na Ngan village. To assist the workers, women's teams, communes and villages carried more food, and the cultural troupe of the district cultural center came to serve, interact with the villagers, and encourage them to happily open the road.
"Silver fields" will have "silver"
That night, as soon as the route was opened, the entire Na Ngan village was brightly lit by torches. They poured out from the beginning of the village carrying gongs and drums to welcome motorbikes to the route. Dozens of motorbikes revved up in the night and stopped in front of the village. The elderly came out to touch the "iron block" that could run and were filled with tears. The village secretary, Vi Duc Thuan, said: "This is the first time the villagers have known about motorbikes. For a long time, when people went to the commune center, they had to walk all day long down the Ngan stream. The most miserable thing was the rainy season, the water flooded the stream, Na Ngan was like an oasis isolated from the outside world, countless people with serious illnesses who could not go to the hospital had to die unjustly. For generations, the villagers mainly lived off the forest, self-sufficient, who knew what bartering was." That night, Na Ngan stayed up all night, happier than on New Year's Day. In the drunkenness of the rice wine, I faintly heard the wind's words: "Pu May, you are far away from 7 streams, 9 hills, just go through the white misty sky gate, don't be afraid of Pu Thec, Pu Hieng high cliffs, deep abysses because Na Ngan has a road, connecting your love with me..." Ms. Vi Thi Ha - Vice Chairman of Nga Mi commune explained: Na Ngan in Thai means silver field, the land here is quite flat and fertile, transportation is difficult so the land potential here has long been forgotten. The road opened today will be a historical milestone, creating a great driving force for people to develop the socio-economy. Mr. Vi Tan Hoi - Vice Chairman of the district added: "With the access road, Na Ngan will soon receive financial support from the State to build a dam, exploit the potential of flat land for growing rice, this will be a breakthrough, stabilize food, people will reduce the area of slash-and-burn cultivation, not have to depend on the forest, have conditions to protect the primary forest...". The teachers were also happy to tears, for a long time every time they went to "camp" in the village, they had to wade through the Ngan stream with sharp rocks, when they got there their clothes were torn, their limbs were bleeding, now they can ride a motorbike into the village, it's so great! After finishing the construction of the Xop Kho-Na Ngan road, however, immediately after that, Na Ngan village continued to mobilize hundreds of workers to repair and widen the road, striving to widen the road by all means so that cars can enter the village.
Kho-Na Kho Styrofoam determined to clear the road
For the past few weeks, Mr. Nguyen Xuan Hai - Vice Chairman of Tuong Duong district, along with his fellow cadres, have been "eating in the wilderness and sleeping in the forest". Their skin is dark, but their eyes always shine with faith: "With a road, the villagers will have everything". Only after living with the people can we see the burning desire for a road. This year's campaign is different from previous years in that it is not spread out, but mainly focused, and completed as it goes. Therefore, the district established a command frame with members participating from the infrastructure department, military, police, medical center... the main force is still human resources, the district supports more excavators to combine with road leveling. For the commune command frame, they are supported with food allowance of 20,000 VND/person/day, the district command frame is 30,000 VND/person/day, in addition, the district also allocates funds to promptly reward units that do well. At the end of the campaign, although the workload was very difficult, the terrain was rugged, and the mountains were blocking the way, with determination, everyone exceeded the assigned targets. For example, Noong Mo village dug and built 359 cubic meters of earth and rock, Pieng O village dug and built 183 cubic meters of earth and rock... In the second phase, Nga My people are gathering hundreds of workers to build the Xop Kho-Na Kho route. This is a dangerous trail, mainly traveled on foot, 8km long. The goal of this phase is to widen and lower the slope to strive for motorbikes to enter Na Kho.
Having just finished the first campaign, the villagers were still tired, so they took up hoes and shovels and set up 12 tents surrounding Pu Kho peak. The campaign lasted 10 days, this section was quite dangerous with many big trees and rocks. Neighboring villages all participated, contributing chickens, bananas, rice, and students took advantage of the opportunity to go into the forest to pick bamboo shoots and wild vegetables to serve the laborers. The road opening atmosphere was bustling, the new road where the villagers had been following the footprints of deer and elk was now gradually revealed. The villagers were determined to clear the road within 10 days, and the two villages would hold a festival to celebrate. On the other side of Na Ca village going to Dinh Tai, there had been a long-standing problem at Phu Pha Tec (rocky mountain), and the villagers were working day and night to clear the road.
On the white clouds, people are still bustling with enthusiasm to open the road, because for the people here, having a road means having everything.
Article and photos: Van Truong
