"The giant tree" in the highland border area of ​​Son La

One day in mid-April, the scorching sun and hot winds swept across the border village of Din Chi, Chieng Tuong commune, Yen Chau district, Son La province.

From National Highway 6 from Son La city to Hanoi, at Ta Lang intersection, turn right along the paved and concreted road, we still see the white color of late season Bauhinia flowers and Bauhinia flowers blooming on both sides of the road leading to Din Chi village.

On the 100km journey from Son La city to the center of Chieng Tuong commune, Yen Chau district, stopping to ask people about Mr. Mua Lao U, H'Mong ethnic group, Din Chi village, everyone knows him.

Model Party Member

Standing in front of a traditional H'Mong house made of wood and covered with fibro cement, about 130 square ^meters wide, we saw a man in H'Mong costume standing in front of the door waiting.

Currently, Mr. Mua Lao U's family has 300 plum trees that have yielded fruit.

After a firm handshake with an approachable smile and a firm voice from the host, we were led by Mr. Mua Lao U into the living room, where a prominent picture of Uncle Ho was hung solemnly in the middle of the wall facing the door.

On the left wall, from the outside in and a part of the wall with Uncle Ho's picture, there are many certificates of merit. Among them, there are many certificates of merit from the last century that have been covered with the color of time, such as: First-class Resistance Medal in the resistance war against the US to save the country and Certificate of Merit from the Ministry of Interior in 1989 for outstanding achievements in the mass movement to protect national security...

Since Mr. Mua Lao U pioneered wet rice cultivation, his family no longer had to worry about food shortages like before.

Opening the refrigerator, taking out a bottle of water from the cooler to offer guests a drink, Mr. Mua Lao U boasted: "Thanks to the attention of the Party and the State, Din Chi village has roads, electricity, schools and clean water, so now the use of electrical appliances such as refrigerators, air conditioners, milling machines... is no longer strange to the H'Mong people here."

Pointing to the wall in the middle of the house where the refrigerator is, Mr. Mua Lao U said: "There are nearly 60 bags of rice from the previous crop, not yet eaten, now preparing to harvest the new crop. The H'Mong people in Din Chi village and Chieng Tuong commune have stabilized their lives for many years now, no longer shifting cultivation, replanting opium and not listening to bad people. The backward customs in filial piety, happy events or holidays and Tet have also been eliminated...".

Mr. Mua Lao U's family also bought more electric devices to serve their daily needs.

In a conversation with one of the people considered to be “big trees” in the mountainous border region of Son La, it is known that Mr. Mua Lao U, born on January 15, 1945, has 51 years of Party membership, and has held many positions in the district, commune and village, such as: Deputy Head of the Yen Chau District Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee, Chairman of the Commune People's Committee, Head of Chieng Tuong Commune Police and Secretary of the Din Chi Village Party Cell...

During his time working in the commune in the 90s of the last century, Mr. Mua Lao U was also mentioned as one of the highland cadres who actively propagated and mobilized people to destroy opium poppies, change crops, and successfully mobilized many opium addicts to go to rehabilitation...

After a moment of contemplation, Mr. Mua Lao U said: "In 1992, opium was grown a lot in this area. Everywhere in the highland villages, you could see opium plants and addicts. There was a time when I and an interdisciplinary team walked for several weeks continuously to each household to propagate and encourage people to stop growing opium plants."

Mr. Mua Lao U is considered one of the typical farmers in developing household economy in the border commune of Chieng Tuong.

Many people did not understand, so they were very angry with the working group, and even had actions that endangered the members of the working group. At that time, if I did not act resolutely, it would have been against the policies of the Party and the State. In return, now Din Chi village and the highland villages in the commune no longer have opium addicts, no one has violated the law or had to go to reform because of drug-related issues...

Comrade Tenh Lao Tenh, Secretary and Head of Din Chi village, informed that Mr. Mua Lao U is a very exemplary senior party member. Mr. U's family has 14 children, of which 8 are party members and are exemplary in their work, typical in the economic development of the commune and village. Whenever there is a difficult issue in the village, they ask Mr. Mua Lao U to stand up and propagate and mobilize the people to solve it satisfactorily.

A bright example of the highlands

In the story from the leaders of Chieng Tuong commune and officers and soldiers of Chieng Tuong Border Post, it is known that Mr. Mua Lao U is not only a prestigious person with the people here, but Mr. U is also a typical example and pioneer in economic development.

Mr. Mua Lao U is also a pioneer in building barns to raise livestock and poultry, no longer letting livestock and poultry roam free as before.

In 1981, when Chieng Tuong commune in general and Din Chi village in particular were the H'Mong people, the H'Mong people only knew how to cultivate crops on the fields, Mr. Mua Lao U was the first person to reclaim wet rice fields for one crop. At that time, he even had to fence his family's fields to avoid livestock from destroying them. Growing wet rice, his family harvested more than 80 bags of rice per crop, and did not have to worry about not having enough rice to eat like before. Up to now, in Din Chi village, there are more than 30 H'Mong households that have learned from Mr. Mua Lao U to cultivate wet rice fields.

In addition to being a pioneer in wet rice cultivation, Mr. Mua Lao U was also the first person in the area to dig ponds to raise fish. In addition to the ponds he gave to his children and grandchildren, Mr. U still has 3 ponds larger than ^1,000m2 , each year releasing about 6,000 juvenile grass carp, tilapia, bighead carp and crucian carp. The villagers also learned from Mr. U's model and dug 34 ponds to raise fish.

In farming, Mr. Mua Lao U was also the first person to invest in a modern sprinkler irrigation system for his family's crop growing area.

Along with farming and fish farming, Mr. Mua Lao U is also a "good hand" in raising livestock and poultry and is a typical person in growing fruit trees and various crops. Currently, Mr. Mua Lao U has more than 400 plum and longan trees; grows more than 1 quintal of corn seeds each season, more than 2 hectares of cassia trees, nearly 1 hectare of forest and a model of growing various vegetables with a modern sprinkler irrigation system.

Following Mr. Mua Lao U to visit the livestock and poultry farming area and the fruit and vegetable growing area, Mr. U said that in recent years, because of his age, he has sold all his cattle and buffaloes, and only raises pigs and poultry to serve his daily needs or to sell when customers have a need. Because the time to take care of fruit trees, crops, and fish ponds also takes a lot of time and effort.

After cutting some elephant grass planted around the pond bank, then throwing it into the fish pond to show me the big grass carp about 5kg floating on the water surface when they see food, Mr. Mua Lao U said, with the farming and livestock model, my family earns nearly 500 million VND each year, without having to worry about food and provisions in daily life.

The border village of Din Chi, Chieng Tuong commune, Yen Chau district has been invested in concrete roads, schools, electricity...

In further discussion with comrade Le Van Manh, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieng Tuong commune, it was learned that: Over the past many years, from the district to the commune, we have always taken advantage of the role of prestigious people like Mr. Mua Lao U to bring the policies and laws of the Party and State to the people here.

Over the years, Mr. Mua Lao U has always been a leading example and an "extended arm" of the local Party Committee and government in propagating and mobilizing people to trust in the leadership of the Party, State, and local government, to unite and help each other in economic development and support each other in poverty reduction.

Mr. Mua Lao U was the first H'Mong person in Din Chi who knew how to dig ponds to raise fish.

Along with that, Mr. U is also a prestigious person who regularly coordinates with the Party Committee, government and Border Guard force to propagate and mobilize people to comply with border regulations, not to graze livestock, cultivate and build houses near the border.

Comrade Le Van Manh, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieng Tuong commune, added: There are many achievements of Mr. U, but most recently, Mr. Mua Lao U helped the commune propagate and mobilize the H'Mong people in Din Chi village to understand and support the district and commune's implementation of the construction of a clean water project to serve the people of Din Chi and Pa Kham 1 villages.

At the beginning of the implementation of the domestic water project, many people in Din Chi village did not support it, affecting the progress of the project. After Mr. Mua Lao U propagated and explained, the households agreed to support it, even voluntarily donated land. The domestic water project has been put into use for more than 3 months and has been very effective.

Many Hmong households in Chieng Tuong commune, Yen Chau district have learned from Mr. Mua Lao U to dig ponds to raise fish.

“Recently, Mr. Mua Lao U was also an active propagandist, mobilizing the villagers to fully participate in the meeting on April 19, creating favorable conditions for the commune to collect opinions from the villagers in Din Chi village on the plan to rearrange and reorganize the commune-level administrative units with high consensus,” added Comrade Le Van Manh, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieng Tuong commune.

On the way back, I suddenly remembered the conversation with the commune leaders and officers and soldiers of the Border Guard Station here when they commented and evaluated Mr. Mua Lao U as not only an exemplary leader in economic development, mobilizing the people of the highlands to comply with policies and laws, but also a pioneer in mobilizing the people to rise up and become rich legitimately. Mr. U is a solid "big tree", a fulcrum contributing to the solidity of the people's hearts in the highland border area of ​​Din Chi, so that the commune and village here can be more peaceful and prosperous...

Source: https://nhandan.vn/cay-dai-thu-noi-vung-cao-bien-gioi-son-la-post874036.html