Poverty reduction in the homeland of Bach Dang river

By the end of 2022, Quang Yen town will be one of four localities in the province with no poor households. Housing support - one of the most difficult criteria to escape poverty - has been implemented very effectively by the town.

Joy in new homes

“That effect is the joy, happiness, and improved living conditions of the people,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Thuan, Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of the town. As proof of that, Mr. Thuan took us to visit the new house of Ms. Do Thi Mau and her children (Bau village, Lien Vi commune), one of the communes with many households facing housing difficulties.

The joy of Ms. Do Thi Mau (Bau village, Lien Vi commune) next to her newly completed and put into use house.

Looking at the new house right on the alley of Ms. Mau and her children, we were all happy. “Before, my mother and I lived in an old, dilapidated house that was built 40 years ago and left by my parents. Because we did not have the conditions to build a new house, we had to endure the cold when it rains and the hot when it is sunny,” Ms. Mau shared.

The new house has 2 bedrooms and 1 living room, which has just been put into use, of which the town supported 80 million VND, Ms. Mau saved 70 million VND, the rest was borrowed. Fortunately, thanks to the attention and support of the locality, Ms. Mau was able to work at Song Khoai Industrial Park, with a stable income of 7 million VND per month. Previously, Ms. Mau worked in agriculture, with a low income and an unstable life. Her family situation was difficult, her husband and she divorced, and she raised 2 children alone. Life was difficult, she did not dare to think about building a house. "Luckily, thanks to the support policy of the State, my 3 children and I have escaped poverty, have a roof over our heads and stable jobs, now I just worry about doing business to have money to pay off the debt", Ms. Mau smiled.

Ms. Bui Thi Toan (village 4, Song Khoai commune) shared the joy of her new house with the Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs officers of the commune and town.

I still remember, in the new house with the fragrant smell of mortar of Ms. Bui Thi Toan and her children (village 4, Song Khoai commune) before the spring of 2023, we witnessed the radiant joy on her face. Although she is disabled and her voice is very hard to hear, I still understood what she said: "I have been poor for a long time, now I have escaped. For poor people like us, housing is the most difficult criterion to escape poverty, but we have been supported by agencies and authorities".

Taking us to visit the newly built house on an area of ^​​50m2 , Ms. Toan excitedly said: "The 2-storey house cost 450 million VND, of which 80 million VND came from the town's support, the rest was supported and lent by relatives, helping my mother and I build our long-standing dream". Not only did it help Ms. Toan and her mother have a new house, escape the list of poor households in 2022, Ms. Toan's son was introduced by the Commune People's Committee to work as a worker in Song Khoai Industrial Park with a stable income. She said: "He is trying to work to earn money to pay off the loan to build the house".

The new house of Ms. Bui Thi Toan and her children (village 4, Song Khoai commune) was put into use on the occasion of Lunar New Year 2023.

Not far away is the house of Mr. Bui Van Ut and Mrs. Dinh Thi Thinh, who received support to rebuild on the foundation of the house that had previously collapsed.

He was doing the laundry, she was cooking lunch in the kitchen, excitedly showing us: “From now on, when our children come to visit, we have a place to stay, we don’t have to worry about storms like before. Before, when our children came to visit, we didn’t even have a place to sit...”. Only when they were old enough to escape poverty and live in a new house, the joy and happiness that shined in their eyes was something that is not easy to find in their old age.

The new house of Mr. Bui Van Ut and Mrs. Dinh Thi Thinh (village 4, Song Khoai commune) was completed in time for the Lunar New Year 2023, bringing great joy to them.

With the determination, initiative, flexibility, and skillful mobilization of the town in the context of many difficulties due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, by the end of 2022, Quang Yen had no more poor households. Many families had new houses, jobs were created, their lives turned a new page, and they had the motivation to rise up in life.

Solve the most difficult criteria

Housing construction is the most difficult criterion for Quang Yen in its journey to escape poverty. However, with many solutions, along with the attention of the province, town, localities, organizations, and individuals, in 2022, Quang Yen supported the construction of 28 new houses, repaired 8 houses; supported the construction of 17 new sanitary toilets; the total construction cost is more than 7.7 billion VND.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thuan, Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs of the town, said: In 2022, Quang Yen has reduced the number of poor households by 179. The shortages of poor households in terms of housing, water sources, information, medical services, services, and jobs have been overcome. The town has paid attention to implementing health care support policies for 19,437 people; preferential credit loans for 176 poor households, near-poor households, households that have just escaped poverty, and households that have escaped near-poverty; electricity support for 178 poor households; education support for 681 students of near-poor households and poor households.

Lien Vi commune officials talk with Do Van Luu's mother (Bau village, Lien Vi commune) in the newly built house.

Every year, the town organizes a program to mobilize resources to support poor households with an amount of several billion VND each year. The town currently has 754 near-poor households, determined to reduce the number of near-poor households by 345 by the end of 2023. The town has reviewed 49 households eligible for support to eliminate temporary housing and dilapidated housing; of which support is to build 37 new houses, repair 12 houses; strive to complete by September 2 this year.

To successfully implement this policy, ensuring publicity, transparency, and targeting the right subjects, the Town People's Committee directs the People's Committees of communes, wards, and local functional branches to focus on implementation. In terms of resources, mobilize the combined strength and participation of all levels, branches, agencies, localities, units, and the entire town's political system to participate in supporting the elimination of temporary and dilapidated housing; at the same time, promote the role of the subject of households receiving support.

In fact, many communes have done a very good job in poverty reduction, focusing on the difficult criteria of housing construction. Lien Vi commune has 2,452 households, and by early 2022, it was the commune with the highest number of poor households in the town with 32 households. With the attention and support of Party committees, authorities at all levels, organizations and individuals, by the end of 2022, Lien Vi had eliminated all poor households. The commune is reviewing households in difficult circumstances to support housing construction and job creation.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Hue, a cultural and social officer of Lien Vi commune, shared: The commune has focused on the criteria and targets for poverty reduction that are still lacking, such as housing, health insurance, and assets for accessing information. In 2022, the commune supported the construction of 10 new houses, with a total support amount of nearly 600 million VND, the most compared to the wards and communes of the town. In 2023, the commune will support the construction of 10 new houses and the repair of 2 houses.

When Mr. Do Van Luu (Bau village, Lien Vi commune) built a 2-storey house, everyone in the village was happy for him. This is a family with especially difficult circumstances, Mr. Luu is seriously ill, his mind is often not clear, his 2 children are of school age, his wife left, his 2 mothers are old (first mother and biological mother). The whole family has to live on social welfare.

The commune reviewed and proposed that the town support the cost of building a house for Mr. Luu's family. With that motivation, his family sold a small piece of land next door to have money to build a house; becoming one of 32 households in the commune to escape poverty in 2022.

The determination of leaders, departments, branches, unions, localities, organizations, businesses and individuals in supporting poverty reduction has created a widespread movement in the community, demonstrating the tradition of "mutual love". Thereby contributing to helping the town effectively implement the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction and the emulation movement "The whole country joins hands for the poor, leaving no one behind". Supporting poverty reduction has contributed to improving the quality of life, helping disadvantaged households feel secure in developing production, and rising up to escape poverty sustainably. "Only when the people are strong, the town will be rich and worthy of becoming a future city by 2025 as planned", said a town official when talking to reporters.

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/giam-ngheo-tren-que-huong-bach-dang-giang-3247499.html