Compassionate Support for the Poor (Part 3)

The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP) is considered by the people as a “savior”, a “midwife”, and a kind supporter of the poor. Indeed, in Nghe An province alone, on average, every year there are 80,000 households, of which 10,500 poor households receive loans from the provincial VBSP. From this data, we look for the model of a household , the model of a village and the model of a commune of the poorest and most “unique” ethnic minorities to better understand how VBSP loans affect the changes in the lives of the poor.

Lesson 3: "Labor export" commune

That is Chieu Luu commune, Ky Son border district, Nghe An province. The reason for this name is because among 20 communes and towns of Ky Son, labor export (XKLĐ) in Chieu Luu has become the most popular movement in the district. After a deeper investigation, we found out that the Social Policy Bank (SBP) of Ky Son district is the main source of support to help ethnic minorities Thai, Mong... in the border area find a way out of poverty.

One person borrows capital, the whole commune benefits.

Mr. Lo Van Cang, Chairman of the People's Committee of Chieu Luu Commune, emphasized that the saying "one person borrows capital, the whole commune benefits" is not just for fun or to please the mouth. Because simply everyone can feel it, including tourists from Laos who come here. That is, one worker in a poor household who works abroad will have a new house - a house to eliminate poverty. This house is connected to the other house to form a row of beautiful houses for the village, for the gateway commune of the district.

We had the opportunity to verify that “simple reason” in 11 villages of Chieu Luu from Cu village, Khe Nan village to Lan village, Tat Thoong village… all 11 villages have overseas workers. In Khe Nan village, we were surprised by the bright white house of Mr. Vi Van May, standing out in the middle of the mountains and forests. Inside the house, a grandmother and her grandchild were watching TV. The grandmother is Nguyen Thi Tha, May’s mother. The little girl is the child of Mr. May and his wife.

Ms. Tha said: “May went to Taiwan to work in 2021. In early 2023, she returned to pay back the old capital to the Ky Son District Social Policy Bank, borrowed new capital and brought her wife, Moong Thi Lien, along. The eldest grandson was sent to his grandparents. This time, the couple was able to borrow 300 million VND. The new house was built thanks to the money the couple sent back. More than 1 billion VND.”

Mrs. Nguyen Thi Tha and her grandson in the new house

Mrs. Tha pointed to the small house next door and said that when May went to work abroad, the whole family lived in a temporary house like this. It was a house with wooden pillars, bamboo walls, and a fibro-cement roof. According to Mrs. Tha, the temporary house belonged to her daughter. Her daughter is also working abroad. In a few years, she will return to pay off the loan and build a new house to escape poverty like her brother.

When asked why her son had his first trip abroad, Mrs. Tha confided: “My husband and I are poor, so our children are also poor. But the young generation today does not accept poverty like their parents did in the past, so when the district and commune popularized the policy of working abroad to make a living, and the district's Social Policy Bank lent money, my husband and I urged our son to register immediately. Because our parents are empty-handed, how can we help our children?” After that, Mrs. Tha confided her gratitude: “This house can be considered a “gift” from the State to my mother and me more than half.”

About a kilometer from Mrs. Tha's house is the house of Mr. Kha Van Nam, Secretary of the Party Cell of Hong Tien village. Mr. Nam has a son, Kha Van Thu, who is working in Taiwan. When we arrived, Mr. Nam and his wife were standing looking at a flock of 50 chickens eating bran. Mr. Nam said that this flock of quality chickens would soon be sold to wholesalers. The money from selling the chickens, plus the interest from the 4 buffaloes and the money his son sent home, would pay off the bank loan this year.

Mr. Nam's son borrowed 67 million VND from the Social Policy Bank of Ky Son district to work abroad in July 2022. Previously, the father and son worked as carpenters, but when they were encouraged to work abroad, Mr. Nam advised his son to go because this was an opportunity to go abroad and earn money to develop the economy, helping the family escape poverty. At that time, Mr. Nam's family also lived in a temporary house like Mrs. Tha's. In 2023, the new house was completed, and Mr. Nam's family escaped poverty.

Mr. Luong Van Hoan with his herd of cows in area C5

Leaving Hong Tien village, we sometimes took a motorbike taxi, sometimes "walked" with the commune chairman for two hours in the rain and forest, to C5 (the farm area of ​​Chieu Luu people) to meet Mr. Luong Van Hoan who was herding cows and goats in the Sa Nam Pu Hanh forest area.

When we got there, we saw Mr. Nam sprinkling salt to feed the cows. He was a good-natured man, but he looked tall, dark-skinned, with weathered hair, sharp eyes, and a knife on his hip, just like a “forest man” looking for agarwood. Knowing that we were journalists looking into the story of borrowing money to work abroad, he said: “This is the money that Bien, a Taiwanese worker, sent back to his father to raise cattle. 15 cows, 23 goats, 6 pigs. It looks like that, but it’s 150 million VND. When I first bought it, it was only 60 million VND. That’s a big profit.”

We jokingly asked: "Just this amount of money, when you pay off the loan to the district's Social Policy Bank, your family will still have a lot to "keep". Mr. Hoan chuckled: "In 2022, Bien borrowed 80 million VND from the Ky Son District Social Policy Bank to go to work abroad. Now my father and I have almost paid it all, only 10 million VND left. The loan term was 3 years but my father and I paid the debt early. The district's Social Policy Bank is so supportive, so kind, who would dare to "keep" the money in their pocket?"

The “Bien” that Mr. Hoan mentioned is Luong Van Bien, the third son. Before going to work abroad, Bien followed his father to work on the farm. All year round, rain or shine, he only had enough to eat, and he did not have a TV or refrigerator like now. We asked him for fun: “When you go to work abroad, is your family better off than when you worked on the farm?” Mr. Nam laughed again: “If your son works abroad for a year, the whole family will escape poverty, so how much better will it be?”

Commune point for borrowing capital from the Bank for Social Policies

“Chieu Luu commune is a “special” commune because it is a poor commune “infected” with drugs. But this is a commune with many overseas workers. They borrow capital and repay it fairly, the best in Ky Son district. Since borrowing from the Social Policy Fund, the bad debt of Chieu Luu workers is “zero dong”. The loan capital has been clearly promoted. The policy of overseas workers is continuing to be implemented more widely to prove that the humane and superior loan capital of the State is implemented in accordance with the Party’s will and the people’s heart as the core function of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies”.

Mr. Vi Hoe - Secretary of Ky Son District Party Committee

Economic spearhead of the gateway commune.

Like Mr. Lo Van Cang, Mr. La Van Tay, the Party Secretary of the commune are all new cadres of Chieu Luu commune, but both of them are very "passionate" and "well-versed" in labor export. For example, they have a firm grasp of the number of labor export workers in each village; each country; the number of people who have gone, returned and are staying.

Mr. Tay said: “Chieu Luu used to be the hottest spot in Ky Son for drugs. It was so “hot” that whenever there were green leaves scattered on Khe Nan bridge, it was a sign that there were drugs in the forest. When the regular police came to the commune, it was an opportunity for the authorities to eliminate 100% of this evil in 2020. A poor commune that was also infected with drugs would become even poorer.” Mr. Tay cited this story to emphasize that the Chieu Luu Party Committee determined that for border communes, only labor export could eliminate poverty. Labor export is the economic “spearhead” that helps poor border communes to be strong in all aspects, especially security and defense. “We pay special attention, so when implementing the policy, the entire political system gets involved smoothly. Because the Party’s intention is clear. The rest is in the hearts of the people,” Mr. Tay commented.

Talking about “people’s hearts”, Mr. Cang said that at first, the most difficult thing was to find a way to propagate and mobilize the villagers to go to work abroad. The difficulty was because in all 11 villages, very few people graduated from high school; few people went out of the commune and district; awareness was limited; fear of going abroad to do hard labor with low wages. Recognizing this as the main obstacle, local leaders coordinated with the district’s Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs, labor export recruitment companies and the district’s Social Policy Bank to hold a conference to discuss the benefits of labor export with the main workers of the 11 villages. The orders, which countries to go to, what to do, and the specific salary were announced here.

One of many beautiful houses of families with overseas laborers along Hong Tien village

The most current news is that when the district's Social Policy Bank created favorable conditions for loans, the villagers were surprised, because before they needed capital to do business but did not know who to borrow from. Now the district's Social Policy Bank lends each overseas worker 100 million VND/three-year cycle, the villagers realize "100 million VND is a huge amount, we can borrow capital and have a job, which is a rare opportunity to eliminate the poverty that has been lingering for generations". Mr. Cang happily said: "This discovery proves that the people are in agreement. Therefore, they signed up to work abroad. Next, representatives of the commune People's Committee, the district's Social Policy Bank and the loan group of each village went to each house of the overseas worker to examine, count assets, identify heirs, and then sign the decision to transfer to the district's Social Policy Bank. The district's Social Policy Bank reviewed it one last time before granting the loan".

Mr. Cang summarized: “At this time, Chieu Luu has 153 overseas workers. 152 people continue to stay and work in Taiwan, Korea, Japan, Algeria, Poland and China. Currently, the commune has 73 beautiful houses “growing up” in 11 villages near and far, which are the homes of 73 households that escaped poverty thanks to overseas workers. There will be many more new houses in the near future.”

Source: https://thoibaonganhang.vn/tro-luc-an-tinh-cua-nguoi-ngheo-bai-3-155976.html