Spring in homes warm with solidarity

The joy of a new home

This spring, Mrs. Lo Thi Loi (71 years old) and her grandson Vi Van Thanh, a third grader in Tung Huong village, were excited to celebrate Tet in the "Happy House" that still smelled of lime and mortar. Thanh's father (Mrs. Loi's son) passed away early, and his mother remarried, so the two of them lived together in a makeshift, dilapidated house.

Sharing Thanh's situation, through the "March Border Month" program held in Tam Quang commune, the Central Committee of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union called on philanthropists to donate 80 million VND to build a "Happy House" for the grandmother and grandchild.

The construction team of Tam Quang Border Guard Station and villagers supported the dismantling and construction work, and the Tam Quang commune government donated 10 million VND to contribute to the cost of installing doors to complete the house.

Talking to us, Mrs. Lo Thi Loi emotionally said: “The old house was on a steep and high slope, transporting materials was difficult, fortunately thanks to the construction team of Tam Quang Border Guard Station and the local people who worked tirelessly in the sun and rain, the house was completed after more than 3 months of construction. Now my grandmother and I have performed the ceremony and moved in, preparing to welcome the new year, we are so happy, we cannot express it in words…”.

Sharing the joy, Mr. Lo Dinh Quang (72 years old), Head of the Association of War Veterans in Son Ha village, expressed: This spring, my family is happier because the State has supported the cost of repairing and upgrading our house. During the implementation process, the villagers and the Association of War Veterans helped with working days to clean up, raise the foundation, spread cement, and build a roof for the yard. Brothers and relatives also supported working days for construction, so we were able to save costs and ensure quality. My family is very grateful.

Thanks to the community's joint efforts, many houses in the border commune of Tam Quang have been supported to be newly built or permanently repaired, with special priority given to the elderly, the weak, the disabled, and orphans.

A typical example is the case of Phan Tu Tuong - an orphan whose mother lives with her grandfather over 80 years old in Son Ha village. The Party Committee, the government of Tam Quang commune and the Board of Directors of Tuong Duong 2 High School called for support from organizations and individuals to build a "House of Love" worth more than 80 million VND. Now he has finished grade 12 and is studying auto electrics in Vinh city.

In 2023, the whole Tam Quang commune has 125 households and in 2024, 41 households will have their houses renovated and repaired under the National target programs on poverty reduction, the National target program on development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas and sources of funding and support from individuals and organizations. In addition, although there are many difficulties, the locality tries to support some households in especially difficult circumstances, with an average of 10 million VND per household to complete the criteria.

The whole political system got involved

Tam Quang is a commune with a 12.688 km long border adjacent to Muong Chuon cluster, Vieng Thoong district, Bolikhamxay province (Laos) with 11 villages, population of 2,039 households/8,240 people, of which ethnic minorities account for 63.93%.

This is also the first mountainous commune in Nghe An to meet the new rural standards and is now continuing to build an advanced new rural area. In particular, the criterion of "residential housing" is identified as an important basis to assess the changes in the socio-economic life of the people.

Therefore, along with propaganda work and promoting the internal strength of each family, the Steering Committee for mobilizing and supporting the construction of houses for the poor and people with housing difficulties in Tam Quang commune (Steering Committee 1838) directly inspected and reviewed each village and hamlet; thereby, counting 225 households in need of renovating and repairing houses in the period of 2023-2025.

To gain consensus and bring about high efficiency, in addition to resources from the National target program on poverty reduction, the National target program on development of ethnic minority and mountainous areas, Program 1838... Tam Quang commune has proactively called for socialized resources, mobilized sponsorship and support from individuals and organizations; at the same time, promoted the internal strength of the entire political system to join hands to eliminate temporary houses for poor households.

For example, to implement the housing program for 84 poor and near-poor households in the area from the Ministry of Public Security's budget, the government has assigned officials and civil servants to be in charge of each household; at the same time, mobilized the participation of the entire political system, the accompaniment of Tam Quang Border Guard Station, and the Commune Police force to help poor households dismantle old houses, level, and build foundations to assemble new houses. The cost of building a house foundation ranges from 5,000,000 - 6,500,000 VND/foundation. In addition, the locality has called for socialization in many forms such as supporting sand, gravel, cement, mobilizing working days... to help households in especially difficult circumstances complete the foundation and build houses.

There are places like Son Ha village where the terrain is complex, transporting raw materials is difficult, and hills must be leveled to make the foundation, but with the participation of the entire political system, including the heads of the commune-level Party Committees and authorities, village and hamlet cadres closely following each situation and each subject to promptly deploy support plans, the work of assembling and completing prefabricated houses is still guaranteed to be on schedule.

Mr. Mai Ngoc Lam - Head of Son Ha village said: Promoting the spirit of solidarity in the community, the people in the village joined hands to help households dismantle temporary houses, move furniture, level the ground to build new houses, including more than 50 houses of the Ministry of Public Security. Currently, in the village there are no more temporary houses, only more than 20 semi-permanent houses in need of repair to meet the 3 hard criteria (hard walls, hard roofs, hard floors).

In Tam Bong village, the movement of helping each other repair and build new houses that meet the "3 hard" criteria has also been enthusiastically responded by the people. The village also has 3 groups of workers helping with foundations, leveling the ground and construction labor at low prices. "Currently, there are no more thatched houses in the village, only 10 semi-permanent houses with completed repair and upgrade documents.

In 2024, 4 households will be supported for repairs, and 1 disadvantaged household will be supported for new construction, that is Ms. Luong Thi Lien (born in 1942), who lives alone. This year, Ms. Lien will be able to welcome Spring in her new house, and everyone in the village is happy," said Mr. Luong Van Thanh - Head of Tam Bong village.

Visiting newly built and repaired houses in time to welcome the Spring of At Ty in the area, Ms. Kha Thi Hien - Chairman of Tam Quang Commune People's Committee said: Currently, the locality has eliminated temporary and dilapidated houses, however, there are still about 57 semi-permanent houses (not meeting the 3 hard criteria of the Ministry of Construction on housing in new rural construction (hard foundation, hard frame, hard roof), of which, there are 5 households in the area of ​​new construction and 52 in the area of ​​repair.

With the motto "leaving no one behind", the commune aims to eliminate houses that do not meet the 3 hard criteria by the first half of 2025 with an implementation cost of 1,550,000,000 VND.

The solid roofs, warm with people's love and Party spirit in Tam Quang commune not only help poor households gain more confidence and motivation to escape poverty and stabilize their lives, but also contribute to helping this border commune overcome difficulties to soon reach the finish line of advanced new rural areas.