'The light is on, but I still remember the moon in the middle of the forest'

Standing member of the Secretariat, Head of the Central Organization Committee Truong Thi Mai; President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee Do Van Chien; Head of the Central Propaganda Department Nguyen Trong Nghia, and delegates inaugurated the Great Unity House for the family of Mr. Lo Van Minh, Kho Mu ethnic group, Co Puc village, Hua Thanh commune, Dien Bien district. Photo: Quang Vinh.

On the 70th anniversary of the Dien Bien Phu Victory (May 7, 1954 - May 7, 2024), when looking back at history, we see even more clearly the great contributions of the ethnic people in the war zones, the resistance safe zones, and tens of thousands of laborers.

The poet To Huu's premonition 70 years ago: "I'm returning to a distant city/ Tall buildings, can I still see the mountains and hills/ Crowded streets, do I still remember the village/ Lights on, do I still remember the piece of moon in the middle of the forest?", until today looking back, it is still a problem that was seen very early.

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5,000 Great Solidarity houses to eliminate dilapidated houses for the poor people of Dien Bien province were carried out very quickly within 9 months, contributing to the meaningful celebration of the 70th anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory.

Before that, to reach the day of victory, "the whole country and the war zone were of one mind", the people were of one mind following the resistance, the safe zone of the people's hearts was the safest place.

Although 70 years have passed, certainly, in the hearts of the people in the resistance zones, the memories of those difficult days are still not forgotten.

Some time ago, when we returned to the Dinh Hoa Safe Zone, we met again Mr. Trieu Dinh Le - the son of the landlord where the newspaper Cuu Quoc (today's Dai Doan Ket) used to be located during the years of resistance against the French. And in Mr. Le's memory - during the resistance war he was only a 10-year-old child - he still clearly remembered the names of each person in the editorial office of the newspaper Cuu Quoc at that time. Nothing is forgotten in the hearts of the people.

There is still a wooden box that the landlord's family lent him to use to store working tools, a wooden tray for the editorial staff to eat on, and even the blanket that journalist Xuan Thuy used to cover himself with... In the memory of the man in Roong Khoa hamlet at the foot of Khau Goai mountain, he still remembers "Mr. Xuan Thuy worked in that house, and the brothers of Cuu Quoc newspaper lived in my house".

To give an example, the people miss the resistance war and the cadres very much. And, over the past 70 years, the Party and State have always paid attention to war zones, safe zones, and resistance bases throughout the country, with specific policies.

In places that have left important marks, they have become historical relics, revolutionary relics that have been ranked and protected. Most of the areas associated with resistance and revolutionary relics have now become destinations for origin tours. In places where relics have been ranked, roads and infrastructure have been invested in. Compared to 70 years ago, the roads to school for children in the mountains are getting closer every day.

But we cannot stop here to compare with those places 70 years ago. We must put the lives of the people in relation to the developed areas today. Basically, the lives of the people in remote areas in general and the old resistance areas are still very difficult. It is a huge distance compared to the big cities today.

In previous years, Mr. Lu Van Que - former Chairman of the Ethnic Advisory Council of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, who is closely associated with ethnic minorities, always said: It is not easy for ethnic minorities to express their feelings. The ethnic minorities do not take credit for their achievements, but the responsibility of those who make policies is not to let the ethnic minorities suffer.

In Dien Bien province, which 70 years ago became a world-famous place, according to data up to March 2023, there are still 7,447 policy households, poor households, and near-poor households living in temporary, dilapidated, and damaged houses in need of support for renovation and repair, of which: The number of poor and near-poor households in need of support for renovation is 5,479 households.

Also according to the information that Mr. Lo Van Mung - Head of the Provincial Party Committee's Mass Mobilization Committee, Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Dien Bien province, discussed with reporters published in Dai Doan Ket newspaper in May 2023, there are still many remote villages and hamlets in Dien Bien province that do not have national grid electricity, so the province has paid attention to investing in rural electricity.

Based on this reality, the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee has developed a Project to Mobilize Support for Building Great Solidarity Houses for Poor Households in Dien Bien Province towards the 70th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory.

The project has great significance on the eve of the 70th Anniversary of Dien Bien Phu Victory.

At the Project Implementation Summary Conference held in March 2024, organized by the Standing Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee in coordination with Dien Bien province, the published data showed that after 9 months of implementation, by January 24, 2024, 5,000 houses had been completed and handed over for use before the Lunar New Year of Giap Thin.

Of these, there are 1,818 built houses, 1,894 traditional wooden houses, and 1,288 steel-frame houses. The completed houses meet quality requirements, with a minimum area of 36 m2 or more. The total cost of building the houses is 489.4 billion VND. After receiving support for building houses from the Project, 1,132 households have escaped poverty, determined to rise up and escape poverty sustainably.

70 years have passed since the Dien Bien Phu victory. The generation of porters and people in the resistance war zone who contributed and sacrificed for the resistance war, through the meeting with Dien Bien soldiers, youth volunteers, and porters directly participating in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign, recently organized by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, are all very old.

There will be people who will no longer be able to attend the Dien Bien Phu Victory Celebration in the following even-numbered years, and this 70th anniversary may very well be the last chance to express our gratitude to them. Therefore, what can be done today must be done before there are people who no longer have enough time to wait, there are veterans, and frontline laborers who are no longer healthy enough to return to the old battlefield.

Removing dilapidated houses for the people of Dien Bien province or any gratitude for the soldiers and laborers participating in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign are all valuable. But after that, more policies are needed to help those lands rise up, change their appearance, and change the lives of the generations of children born after the Victory.

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