Mr. Hang A Xa is a typical example in propagating, mobilizing, and encouraging people to well implement the policies of the Party and State and unite to develop the economy and society in Lai Chau.
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| Pastor Hang A Xa talks with Mong people about tourism products in Sin Suoi Ho village. |
The Sin Suoi Ho border village has 148 households with more than 700 people, of which 100% are Mong ethnic people. From a village of all poor households, the number of drug addicts accounted for over 80%, after 10 years the village has only 1% of addicts. This result has a great contribution from Mr. Hang A Xa.
Mr. Hang A Xa (born in 1975, Mong ethnic group, in Sin Suoi Ho village, Sin Suoi Ho commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau) was born and raised in Sin Suoi Ho village. As a pastor of the Vietnam Evangelical Church in the North, Mr. Xa regularly encourages people and followers to develop the economy and get rich legitimately; not to believe and listen to bad people who distort policies and guidelines to sabotage the Party and the State, contributing to maintaining security and order in the area and forming a united community of followers.
Living in a family of 12 siblings, he deeply felt his childhood with meals always lacking white rice, no rice to eat but indispensable opium. Mr. Hang A Xa recalled that before 1995, Sin Suoi Ho was a perennial opium growing area, the rate of addicts increased day by day. Since then, the economy has been slow to develop, 100% of households are poor. At that time, he was only 20 years old but determined to help people quit drug addiction, only then could the village develop.
Thinking is doing, Mr. Hang A Xa, together with the Party Secretary, the Village Chief, the village elders and non-addicts, went to each house to campaign. First, they broke all their cigarettes, then took the addicts to the camps in the fields and forests to quit opium. Every day, these addicts would be provided with food by relatives and prestigious people in the village to ensure their health. In this way, the old addicts would quit for the new ones. When they returned to the village, they always had someone to accompany them so that they would not have the chance to relapse. Continuously and persistently for 10 years (from 1995 - 2005), the village basically eliminated opium.
From an opium addict who only knew how to play around and couldn't help his family, Mr. Chang A Hang, Sin Suoi Ho village, has now built a house, developed his economy, and provided his children with a full education. Mr. Chang A Hang shared: He has been addicted to opium since 1990. When his uncle A Xa and the government encouraged him to go to rehab, he and many others went to the fields to quit. After 5 years, he successfully quit. Since then, his health has improved and he built a house near the market and opened a small grocery store. Up to now, his family's life has been more stable and prosperous.
Helping many people in the village to quit opium addiction, from 2005 to 2010, Mr. Hang A Xa, together with the village chief and other prestigious people, continued to mobilize the Mong people here to change their habits, abandon backward customs, and build a civilized economy and lifestyle. First, they asked the commune government to support part of the funding so that people could contribute to building 5km of concrete road in the village. In less than a year, the road was completed.
When the concrete roads were hardened, people continued to change their mindset of protecting the forest, not cutting down the forest as before. People re-planned chicken coops, pig pens, and cows to keep them in captivity, not to let them roam freely. Each household had its own garbage pit to protect the environment. People focused on economic development, propagating orchids, growing cardamom and building a market with 54 stalls to exchange their family's agricultural products. Along with economic development, people also cared about preserving the national cultural identity, forming art troupes to perform at the markets.
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| Pastor Hang A Xa talks with people at the homestay model. |
Based on the available potential, Sin Suoi Ho village has gradually formed community tourism. In 2015, the village was granted a certificate of Sin Suoi Ho Community Tourism Area by Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee. At the end of 2018, Mr. Hang A Xa continued to establish Sin Suoi Ho Heart Cooperative with 12 participating households to link and develop tourism.
From a 100% poor Mong village, Sin Suoi Ho has now become a typical community tourism village in Lai Chau province. 10% of the village's children go to university and college; 100% of the households in the village participate in tourism. From having no economy, now each household in the village has an income of 100 - 400 million/year. The entire Mong ethnic group practices "5 no's" including: no addiction, no waste, no domestic violence, no social evils and no third child. At the ASEAN Tourism Forum (ATF) 2023 held in Indonesia, Sin Suoi Ho community tourism village received the 3rd ASEAN Community Tourism Award.
Mr. Hang A Xa shared that in order for Sin Suoi Ho to achieve the results it has today, it had to go through 5 steps: drug rehabilitation, changing mindset, building land, training human resources and creating unique products. If we want people to believe, we have to be the pioneers. When people agree, they will voluntarily follow.
Assessing the contributions of Pastor Hang A Xa in community building, Vice Chairman of Phong Tho District People's Committee Mai Thi Hong Sim emphasized that Mr. Hang A Xa is a typical example with great influence on the Mong community in the district. The Pastor's creative approach to drug addiction treatment in the community is a "bright spot" in Phong Tho District as well as Lai Chau Province. In particular, the Pastor is a pioneer and guides and helps people do tourism, gradually building Sin Suoi Ho village into a typical tourist destination of the district and province. With his contributions, Phong Tho District People's Committee and Lai Chau Provincial People's Committee have awarded Pastor Hang A Xa many Certificates of Merit.
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