Bring a warm spring to the villagers

The road leading to A Doi Do village, A Doi commune, where the Pa Ko and Van Kieu people live in Huong Hoa district (Quang Tri), seems to be wearing a new coat this spring. When the cold of late winter gradually fades, the spring colors bring abundance to many villages in the west of Quang Tri. The change brings with it the aspirations of the Pa Ko and Van Kieu people for a prosperous and happy life. To have such changes, the people here cannot help but mention the soldiers wearing "green uniforms" who day and night stick together and accompany the people to bring "a prosperous spring" to the highland villages.

Giving "fishing rods" to help people escape poverty

We arrived at A Doi, Thanh, and Ba Tang communes of the mountainous district of Huong Hoa on a day of pouring rain. It had been a long time since the mountainous district had rain. The rain in the forest quenched the thirst of the cassava hills and banana gardens that the locals planted in rows full of fruit in preparation for traders to buy during Tet. Along the road to the village, clumps of bright red poinsettia flowers signaled a prosperous spring. Stopping in front of a 2-storey house under construction, Lieutenant Colonel Tran Duc Tu - Political Commissar of Ba Tang Border Post, Quang Tri Border Guard (BĐBP) introduced: "This is the house of Mr. Ho Van Danh, head of A Doi Do village, A Doi commune, a Van Kieu ethnic known for his diligence. He and his wife saved up and built this 2-storey house themselves."

Border guards on border patrol.

This Tet, Mr. Danh's family is happier in their new house after many years of saving and working hard with all kinds of jobs, from loading goods for traders in the Lao Bao border gate area, to working as a construction worker, growing bananas, raising cows... Mr. Danh said that thanks to the Border Guard's guidance on how to do business, with the money he saved, he bought a tractor to plow for hire for the villagers, planted bananas, raised 8 cows, planted cassava... earning hundreds of millions of dong each year. As for Mr. Ho Van Chung's family in Thanh commune, Huong Hoa district, many years ago, they did not have any means of production, they did whatever they were hired to do. Because they did not have money to make ends meet, Mr. Chung went to the other side of the border many times to work for hire, bringing goods back to sell for profit. Knowing his family's situation, the local government and Thanh Border Guard Station gave the family 2 breeding cows so that Mr. Chung had capital to do business. At the same time, Thanh Border Guard Station also sent officers and soldiers down to instruct them on how to raise cattle. Mr. Ho Van Chung said: "When we were given breeding cows, the border guards also gave us instructions on how to raise them to develop a herd. Only then can we escape poverty." According to Mr. Chung, when we had breeding cows, the Border Guard regularly came to check and gave us instructions on how to build barns and graze them in a concentrated manner. From the first breeding cows, Mr. Chung raised them for breeding and now his family's herd has grown to 6-7 cows. "I have sold many cows to get money to buy land to grow cassava, bananas, and lolot. Currently, my family earns 200-250 million VND per year from farming and raising cattle. We are no longer poor and our children can study properly," Mr. Chung said happily.

Officers and soldiers of Pa Thom Border Guard Station (Dien Bien) propagate legal policies to the Cong ethnic people in Pung Bon village.

Not only Mr. Chung, but many other poor households were also given breeding cows like that. Mr. Ho Van Khua, Chairman of the Farmers' Association of Thanh Commune, said: The Border Guard gave poor households breeding cows and provided instructions on care and breeding techniques. People who received the breeding cows learned how to raise and prevent epidemics, so their lives improved, many households escaped poverty and had a more prosperous life than in previous years.

“Only when people are well-off can the border be stable”, with that motto, officers and soldiers of Quang Tri Border Guard always determine that the task of protecting national sovereignty and border security must be associated with support and companionship work, being a “bridge” to help people in border areas develop the economy and reduce poverty.

With the spirit of "The station is home, the border is homeland, and ethnic people are blood brothers", in recent times, Quang Tri Border Guard has actively and effectively implemented movements such as: Border shelters, breeding cows for the poor, charity kitchens, helping children go to school, literacy classes... Thanks to that, many households have escaped poverty, improved their lives, and their children have been able to go to school.

Accompanying compatriots at the border

The model of donating livestock breeds by the Border Guard has gradually improved the lives of ethnic minorities, guided them in how to grow crops and raise livestock, contributed to increasing income as well as creating stable jobs, helping people have a stable income. Lieutenant Colonel Tran Duc Tu, Political Commissar of Ba Tang Border Guard Station, said: To help ethnic minorities in border areas, Border Guard officers and soldiers regularly coordinate with Party Committees and local authorities of communes to help people develop the economy.

Nam Dinh Provincial Border Guard mobilized officers and soldiers to help local people harvest rice.

“Only when people are well-off can the border be stable”, with that motto, officers and soldiers of Quang Tri Border Guard always determine that the task of protecting national sovereignty and border security must be associated with the work of supporting, accompanying, and being a “bridge” to help people in border areas develop the economy and reduce poverty. Units under the provincial Border Guard have actively called on and mobilized philanthropists with various resources to support the implementation of programs and models for people in border areas, bringing about practical results. From 2009 to present, the provincial Border Guard has built 120 “Border Warm Homes” houses and civil works, clean water wells in disadvantaged villages, remote areas of the border area with a total value of over 12 billion VND; donated 51 breeding cows, 20 pairs of breeding goats worth over 620 million VND; built nearly 10 km of "Border Light" with a total value of 800 million VND. In the program "Accompanying women in the border areas", the unit drilled 21 wells to build domestic water for people, 1 clean water system worth more than 1 billion VND and 22 civil works worth nearly 3 billion VND. Colonel Ngo Xuan Thuong, Deputy Political Commissar of Quang Tri Border Guard, said that in order to successfully complete the task of managing and protecting territorial sovereignty and national border security, Quang Tri Border Guard is closely attached to the people, relies on the people, promotes the strength of great national unity and the local political system. Quang Tri Border Guard identifies that supporting people in border areas to develop socio-economy is a regular and long-term political task.

Officers and soldiers of Chieng Tuong Border Guard Station (Son La) propagate and mobilize people to change crop and livestock structure and develop family economy.

Major General Van Ngoc Que, Deputy Chief of Political Affairs, Border Guard Command affirmed that in recent years, the Party and State have had many policies to invest in socio-economic development, bringing practical results in many aspects, contributing to improving the lives of people in border areas. With the responsible participation of the Border Guard as well as all levels, sectors, local Party committees and authorities, the implementation of socio-economic development programs in ethnic minority and mountainous areas has achieved many encouraging results. The lives of people in remote and isolated border areas have gradually stabilized, people are assured to stay in their villages, together with the Border Guard to firmly protect the national border security and sovereignty.

Article: Viet Ton/Tin Tuc Newspaper Photo: VNA Presentation: VT

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