Sounds of winter

If the four seasons are the tones in a piece of music, then winter is a deep, soulful note. Passing through the old days, winter in Ha Tinh today resounds with bustling sounds blending with those deep melodies.

Another winter has come, in every countryside of Ha Tinh, thousands of bustling, warm melodies are resounding.

Winter memories...

At 5:00 a.m. on a winter day, the alarm clock rang, and Mai Thi Vinh (40 years old, living in the Dong Yen resettlement area, Ky Loi commune, Ky Anh town) woke up. On a winter morning, in the pouring wind and rain in the garden, there was the soft sound of boiling oil in a pan on the stove. When everything was done, it was time for Vinh to wake her children up to eat and get ready for school. At exactly 6:30 a.m., her husband went to work at the factory, she took her children to school, then went to the sewing association's workshop in the resettlement area. There, all the women in the association were present to prepare for a new day's work.

For the past 2 years, since the COVID-19 pandemic, the lives of Ms. Vinh's family and many other women in the resettlement area have gradually changed and stabilized. She feels happy to be near her children. She still remembers the previous years, due to the need to make a living, she and her husband had to leave their children with their grandparents to work in the South. The pandemic was complicated, the couple returned, the husband worked as a worker at Formosa Ha Tinh Hung Nghiep Steel Company Limited and she did not know what to do to make a living. At that time, thanks to the sewing association opened by Ms. Tran Thi Thuyet in the same village, she and many women had stable jobs, with an income of 5-7 million VND/person/month.

Workers work at the workshop of the Dong Yen resettlement area garment association (Ky Loi, Ky Anh town).

This year, winter has come to the cozy sewing workshop, in the steady sound of sewing machines, Ms. Vinh remembers the old winters. Those were the cold winters when she was still young. When the radio sounded the news "Northeast Monsoon", she sighed. She feared the days of cold wind and drizzle, having to go to the forest, down to the fields on muddy roads. Along with the sound of wind whistling in her ears, mud sloshing under her feet was the bone-chilling cold.

Then the Vung Ang Economic Zone was built, the entire poor, wild countryside in the middle of winter became factories and construction sites. Factories sprung up, new roads were opened... everything was bustling with the sounds of prosperity. Her family and many villagers moved to the resettlement area and quickly built a new countryside, then a model residential area. Many young people who used to work for hire all over the country, now became factory workers in their hometown.

From a poor, primitive countryside, Ky Anh town has grown full of vitality. Photo: Huy Tung.

This winter, coming to Ms. Vinh and many people in the southernmost countryside of Ha Tinh, still begins with the northeast monsoon but is warmer with the sound of the bustling life in construction sites, factories and spacious schools with the chirping of children reading their lessons...

The sound of ancient temple bells

4:30 am, a winter day. As usual, the bell of Dai Bi pagoda from Dong Quan mountain rang out, spreading far and wide to the villages in Hong Loc commune (Loc Ha). In the cold, foggy winter day, the bell was a familiar sound, waking up many villagers at the foot of Hong mountain to prepare for a new day.

As a famous ancient pagoda with hundreds of years of history, however, due to time and war, after the 1960s, Dai Bi Pagoda became ruins. In 2015, under the mobilization of the local government, philanthropists and people joined hands to contribute nearly 1 billion VND to restore and embellish the pagoda. To promote historical and cultural values, the government also contacted the Ha Tinh Buddhist Sangha to invite monks to preside over and take care of the spiritual and cultural relic.

Dai Bi Pagoda (Hong Loc commune, Loc Ha) is a relic restored and embellished with social mobilization resources.

For many years now, for Mrs. Ho Thi Thoi (70 years old, Trung Son village) and Mrs. Tran Thi Dinh (64 years old, Thuong Phu village), the bell of Dai Bi pagoda has become a familiar sound reminding them to wake up and prepare to go to the pagoda to perform the ceremony. Imbued with Buddhist teachings of doing good, avoiding evil, and living in harmony and love, the women have constantly taught their children and grandchildren to follow suit. Thanks to that, the life of Mrs. Thoi and Mrs. Dinh's family is not only warm and happy, but their children also always strive to improve themselves and constantly share good values ​​with the community.

As a matter of fate, Mr. Phan Trong Hai (born in 1990, son of Mrs. Dinh) is currently the General Director of H&T Investment and Construction Joint Stock Company (abbreviated as HTcons) headquartered in Hanoi and Mr. Pham Ba Toan (born in 1990, son of Mrs. Thoi) has just been appointed as Director of HTcons Branch in Ha Tinh City. They are both people who actively carry out many volunteer activities towards their homeland.

Over the years, the two brothers have implemented a series of programs to support the poor in Loc Ha in particular and Ha Tinh in general with a value of hundreds of millions of VND such as: calling for support for Tet gifts for the elderly, orphans, and those in difficult circumstances; contributing to campaigns calling for support for those in difficult circumstances, natural disasters, epidemics, etc. In addition, from the 2022-2023 school year, Mr. Phan Trong Hai and his friends have connected with the Board of Directors of Nguyen Van Troi High School to establish an annual scholarship fund to support poor students with good academic performance and teachers in difficult circumstances. Up to now, the fund has supported 3 times, each time from 25-30 million VND. These days, Mr. Hai is coordinating with Nguyen Van Troi High School to prepare for the next scholarship award in early December 2023.

Mr. Phan Trong Hai (middle) with friends and the Board of Directors of Nguyen Van Troi High School awarded scholarships to poor but excellent students in February 2023.

Mr. Phan Trong Hai expressed: “The good traditional cultural values ​​of our homeland are always a source of pride and motivation for us to rise up in life. And with that meaning, besides the effort to create success for ourselves and our families, within our ability, we always want to share good things with the community. Starting from volunteer work to help people with difficult lives, poor students who have the will to rise up in life”.

The story of Mrs. Ho Thi Thoi and Mrs. Tran Thi Dinh’s family made me think of the bell of Dai Bi Pagoda and many other pagodas, cultural and historical relics in my homeland. There, along with the efforts of authorities at all levels and people in restoring and embellishing cultural relics in recent times, the good traditional values ​​of the homeland heritage “Hong Mountain - La River” are gradually being awakened and spread in life.

The countryside at the foot of Hong Mountain is increasingly prosperous, resounding with the joyful and happy sounds of winter. In the photo: A corner of the new rural area of ​​Hong Loc commune (Loc Ha) today.

Winter still comes with the cold monsoon winds but now it is warmer because of the prosperity and comfort in all regions. The Party Committee, government and people of Ha Tinh have constantly strived to rise up, in which the resolutions of the provincial Party Congresses over the terms have set out many directions and tasks to promote development in the fields of economy, culture, society, education, health... In particular, Ha Tinh has determined to take culture as an endogenous strength, arousing aspirations and motivation for development and is being implemented by the entire political system with the goal of bringing a prosperous and prosperous life to the homeland.

Another winter has come, although the weather in the Central region is still harsh, life in every rural area of ​​Ha Tinh today is vibrating with countless bustling, warm melodies of prosperity, comfort and love sharing.

Angel

Source: https://baohatinh.vn/nui-hong-song-la/thanh-am-mua-dong/256744.htm