The development of the border area here cannot be mentioned without the contribution of the soldiers of Economic-Defense Group 4 who always stay in the village, help the villagers eliminate hunger, reduce poverty, push back backwardness, and contribute with other forces to firmly protect border sovereignty.

We went to Na Nieng village and met Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Nhu Hong, Deputy Political Commissar of the 4th Military Economic Group, while he was enthusiastically instructing the villagers on techniques for building pens, preparing food, and preventing African swine fever for black pigs. Hong shared: “To help the villagers, we have to stay close to the villagers, only then will we know what the villagers need and help them. Therefore, from the Group commander to the cadres and staff, we all assigned each other to go to the grassroots to work with the villagers, helping them develop their economy in the most effective way...”.

Officers and staff of Economic-Defense Group 4 (Military Region 4) instruct people in Tri Le commune (Que Phong, Nghe An) on passion fruit growing techniques.

In a spacious house, Mr. Vi Van Giang, from Na Nieng village, pressed the remote control button to turn on the TV and said: “My family just bought this TV, it's great to watch! Luckily, soldiers from the Economic and Military Group 4 brought electricity to our village, so now many families can watch TV and listen to the radio all day long...”. Pointing to the hillsides covered in green passion fruit vines, Mr. Giang added: “In the past, my village mainly burned fields to grow corn and cassava on that land, but hunger still haunted us. Since soldiers from the Economic and Military Group 4 provided seeds and gave instructions on how to grow passion fruit, each year we earn 40-50 million VND, so almost every family in the village has nearly 1 hectare of passion fruit. The whole village has escaped poverty now.”

Following Mr. Vi Van Thai, Head of Na Nieng village, we also got to “witness” the effective vegetable, rice and livestock farming models of the villagers. At each house, we were told about the imprints and efforts of the soldiers of Economic-Defense Group 4.

In Minh Chau village, the life of the Mong people in the new resettlement village has now stabilized and is improving day by day. Few people know that just a few years ago, although they moved down from the mountainside to live near the commune center, after a period of living, more than 80% of the households in the village returned to their old place. Although the Party Committee, government and mass organizations of the commune organized propaganda and mobilized people to return to the resettlement area, the effectiveness was not high, because the domestic water supply was not enough and there was no electricity grid. Faced with that reality, after a survey, Economic-Defense Group 4 decided to invest in two projects: Connecting the national grid and bringing clean water to the village. After two years of construction, the irrigation project supplying clean water to Minh Chau and Nong villages went into operation.

In the difficult land at the foot of Na Chang Mountain, the “farmers in soldier uniforms” of the 4th Military Economic Group continue to accompany the people in the fight against poverty and backwardness. We believe that the fight will be successful with the passion, determination and qualities of Uncle Ho’s soldiers.

Article and photos: DUC TRUONG

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