"Red seeds" in La Hu village

The La Hu ethnic group is one of 14 ethnic groups with a very small population, with 12,113 people (according to the results of the socio-economic survey of 53 ethnic groups from 2019) and living mostly in Muong Te district, Lai Chau province. When making this series of articles, we had the opportunity to meet typical La Hu Party cell secretaries and party members. Although they may be different in age, work..., they all have one thing in common: they are the "nuclei" that act as "bridges" between the Party and their villages and people; helping people "have bright heads and warm stomachs"...

Thanks to the policies of the Party and the State, the villages of the La Hu people are gradually changing.

Vanguard Party members go first

Born and raised on a difficult land in Cha Ke village, at the age of 10, the nomadic life brought Po Lo Hu's family to Pha Bu village, Pa U commune, Muong Te district, Lai Chau province, more than 60km from their hometown. Hu's childhood, like many La Hu people here, was spent wandering with their parents and grandparents through the forests to make a living. The period of unstable settlement is the reason why the poverty rate of the La Hu people is the second highest among the 54 ethnic groups in the country.

Mr. Hu confided: “At that time, nomadic life was very hard, economic development was difficult, and food was scarce. Now, thanks to the policies of the Party and the State, the lives of the La Hu people have changed, they live in place and are stable. The State also helps the locals with good roads, making it easier to do business.”

Mr. Po Lo Hu is a typical party member who has made many positive contributions to the community.

In 2011, when he was just 30 years old, Mr. Po Lo Hu was an outstanding mass person who was honored to join the Party and was the first La Hu Party member of Pha Pu village. At that time, Mr. Hu was helped and introduced by Mr. Ly Sa Pu, then Secretary of the Party Committee of Pa U commune, to be trained and admitted to the Party.

Mr. Hu said that in 2010, when Mr. Ly Sa Pu promoted and encouraged him to join the Party, he always remembered Mr. Pu's words that he joined the Party to help the villagers eliminate poverty. Those simple and familiar words touched the young man's heart, igniting in him a desire to contribute to the people and the Party right from his own village.

Living in a place where “looking up you can see the sky, looking down you can see the deep abyss and deep forest”, with harsh weather, combined with the low starting point of his family and his people, as a party member, Party Cell Secretary and Village Chief, Mr. Po Lo Hu has researched and learned to build his family’s economy. After many years of hard work, Mr. Hu now has billions of dong in assets, with a herd of more than 100 buffaloes and cows, dozens of hectares of cinnamon, cardamom, cardamom, ginseng, etc.

Over the years, Mr. Po Lo Hu has also helped hundreds of households in the village and commune. Not only creating jobs, every year, Mr. Hu gives rice to hungry families; households without capital and business experience, he lends money without interest, and then guides them on how to do business. From the farm economic model of the Party Secretary and Head of Pha Bu Po Lo Hu village, up to now, in Pa U commune, many other models have appeared in Mu Chi, Tham Pa, Nhu Ma, U Ma, Xa Ho villages...

Confiding in us, Ms. Ly Mo Nu, a resident of Pha Bu village, Pa U commune, happily shared that Mr. Po Lo Hu is an example for the villagers to follow. Over the past years, thanks to Mr. Hu's help, the villagers have been able to overcome poverty.

“Now it is not as difficult as before, so my children can study better. Not only my family, but many households in the village now live better than before. Everyone in the village is very happy,” Ly Mo Nu confided.

Only when the Party cell is strong will people's lives become more and more prosperous.

In 2014, Pha Bu village Party cell was established, Mr. Po Lo Hu was elected as Party cell secretary. Up to now, Pha Bu village Party cell has 6 party members. Since the establishment of the cell, people's lives have changed significantly.

“The entire Pha Bu village currently has 102 households, with 452 people. Before 2014, the poverty rate of Pha Bu village was nearly 100%. However, since the establishment of the Party Cell, the Party members have always been exemplary, leading the way, bringing the Party and State's policies to the people, thereby changing the people a lot. Currently, many households have escaped poverty. The poverty rate of the village is only over 70%,” said Mr. Hu.

Mr. Po Lo Hu is a leading party member who helps change the La Hu ethnic village. (Photo: Provided by the character)

“For difficult areas where people’s lives are limited in terms of awareness and development level, typical examples like this are very valuable. Party members like Mr. Po Lo Hu are both people who live directly at the grassroots level and are also ethnic minorities who have prestige with the people. Through their practical work, they have created a spreading influence and are examples to encourage and help, mobilizing local people to learn and follow, also helping the socio-economic situation of the commune to gradually improve.”

Mr. Dao Van Thuc, Party Secretary of Pa U commune, Muong Te district, Lai Chau province

Remembering the days of hard work to eliminate the "white party member" list in the La Hu ethnic minority area in Pa U commune, former Party Secretary of Ly Sa Pu commune still cannot forget that he was one of the first people to "nurture" party members in that difficult place.

According to Mr. Ly Sa Pu, in a life with many backward customs, day after day, month after month, La Hu men and women drink alcohol and smoke tobacco, in the house there is more alcohol than rice, life depends only on nature, shifting cultivation, nomadic life, then for them: mentioning the two words "party member" is like a vague, distant concept.

“Before 2000, the Party Cells had very few Party members and at that time the commune was only a Party Cell, not a Party Committee. Therefore, to establish a Party Committee with 30 Party members, we had to encourage everyone to go to school and attend Party training classes. Thanks to that, we were able to gradually establish a Party Committee. There were countless difficulties, but I had to try very hard to find any qualified people and encourage them to strive to join the Party,” former Party Secretary of Pa U Ly Sa Pu commune recounted.

La Hu boys and girls before 2015, just went to school to learn how to read and write, then dropped out, got married at 13-15 years old, and from then on, they were stuck digging bamboo shoots and cassava in the forest, not knowing how to grow rice, and got used to poverty. When food and clothing were still difficult, the awareness of the Party among the people was certainly not complete, they were not very interested in joining the Party.

Reporters had the opportunity to visit the La Hu people to learn about life and changes in the La Hu people's area.

In addition, not to mention the Party's regulations, candidates for Party membership must have completed junior high school and not violate population policies... Meanwhile, most of the La Hu people and many other ethnic groups here have low educational levels, and most of them have 3 to 4 children or more. Therefore, finding outstanding people to train and introduce to the Party has been a difficult time for Mr. Ly Sa Pu, as well as the Party Committee of Pa U commune.

However, thanks to the Party's policies, today, the La Hu people in Pa U have abandoned the practice of slash-and-burn cultivation, and have replaced it with terraced rice fields. They no longer let their chickens and pigs roam freely as before, but have herds of cows with stables and grazing areas according to the goals of the New Rural Development Program. People's lives are increasingly prosperous.

From the beginning of the term to October 9, 2024, the Pa U Commune Party Committee has admitted 61 party members, of which 56 are La Hu ethnic people. Without dedicated and responsible party members like Mr. Ly Sa Pu and many other comrades in the future, it would be difficult for young party members to be admitted and for the new Party Cell to be established in this remote and isolated area. And without a strong Party Cell, the lives of the La Hu people would not have changed like this...

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