Uncle Ba Be

Starting with an affirmation: “Those who were students of Tay Thuy Anh High School in the 70s and 80s, certainly will not forget the house of “Uncle Ba Be” next to the school. Because during the 3 years of school, every day I witnessed many students coming to the house to ask for rainwater to drink because my house had 3 rainwater tanks”.

Her story made the whole audience silent. As for me, I missed my dad so much.

Born into a farming family, with a hard-working and diligent nature, working hard all his life, my father was truly an "old farmer" of Thuyen Do village, one of the three villages of Thuy Phuc commune, Thai Thuy district, Thai Binh province. In 1959, my father was elected as the head of a low-level agricultural cooperative. By 1965, my commune had merged from five cooperatives to two, and my father continued to be the head of the Do-Phuc Cooperative.

As the head of the cooperative, my father mobilized members to build a canal system for irrigation, apply soil preparation techniques, improve fields with manure and green manure, develop the movement of growing water fern as fertilizer, innovate, expand varieties, plant sparsely, less chestnut, etc. Names such as Moc Tuyen, Bao Thai, Nong nghiep 8... were mentioned many times by my father in the commune's agricultural radio program.

The reform of applying science and technology to agriculture, concretizing the movement of "rice exceeding the weight, soldiers exceeding the level" has helped my commune achieve 5 tons of rice/ha, contributing to achieving and exceeding the target of contributing to the obligation. My father was awarded the "5 tons" badge, the production team of Hamlet 5 of the Do - Phuc Cooperative, of which he was the head, was considered a "Socialist Labor Team". My grandmother told me in detail about my father and the story of how he became a "wise old farmer" in the eyes of the village.

Later, when I grew up, I understood that the name "5-ton homeland" and the lyrics: " Five tons of rice to contribute to the fight against the Americans/ Our homeland's fields do not want to rest for a single day" in the song "Five-ton song" by musician Nguyen Van Ty also originated from that.

In the following years, my father led the cooperative to intensively cultivate rice and organized concentrated pig, buffalo and cow farms, and developed many other industries in his spare time such as: growing mulberry, raising silkworms, weaving, making bricks, etc., creating jobs and improving the lives of members. At that time, I was about 10 years old, sometimes following my mother to participate in the tree planting movement at the "Ancestors' Garden", sometimes following my father to the cooperative's "Uncle Ho's Fish Pond".

Although he was the head of the cooperative, my father was very honest and never abused the commune's rice or gave his wife and children more than he could chew. My seven siblings and I grew up on sweet potatoes, cassava, and pickles, but my father's teaching "Be clean when hungry, and fragrant when ragged" still follows me to this day.

At that time, every house in my hometown had at least one water tank to store rainwater. My family could make bricks and burn lime, and my brother was a construction worker, so my father built three water tanks to store rainwater, both for our own use and for students to drink.

During recess, dozens of people rushed in at once, so my father drilled holes in dozens of coconut shells and used bamboo sticks as handles to serve them. Every year, my family also let a few siblings who lived far away stay and study, contributing rice to cook together, the main dishes were stir-fried morning glory with pork fat, boiled cabbage, and braised fish.

Dad has passed away, but every time I meet the generations of former students of Tay Thuy Anh High School, no matter where they are, memories of "Uncle Ba Be", the story of the "old farmer" of Do - Phuc Cooperative and the image of my beloved dad come flooding back to my mind.

Source: https://baobinhphuoc.com.vn/news/19/171162/bac-ba-be