Difficult land

My Thanh has 283 households/971 people, mainly Rai ethnic people, located deep in the Song Mong - Ca Pet protective forest, isolated from the outside world. To get there, we had to go through a deserted forest road of nearly 10 km, without phone signal, and cross many bridges and culverts over streams. Among them, Bom Bi culvert at the beginning of the commune is flooded every time it rains heavily, causing the ethnic minorities here to have to worry about returning home early, especially at night, no matter where they go. "The living conditions of the people here are still difficult, not only in terms of material things but also in terms of roads," said Captain Mang Xuan Dam - Chief of My Thanh Commune Police when I arrived at the Commune People's Committee.

More than 10 years ago, when I first came to My Thanh, the first impression I had was the unforgettable cool air of the forest scene. Today, that coolness seems to have disappeared, perhaps due to the consequences of climate change or the shrinking forest area. But that happened a decade ago, what I see before my eyes is that the whole commune has many solidly built houses, with homeowners still sticking to the forest for their lives, keeping the land to grow corn and potatoes. Some households have changed their thinking, switching to crops to increase productivity and bring in high income. "My family cultivates more than 1 hectare of land, previously growing cassava and corn, then partially converting to growing dragon fruit to increase income," said Mr. Tran Van Kho in village 1, a former poor household that has now escaped poverty. For Nguyen Thi Mau's household, there are 1.8 hectares of corn, each crop brings in nearly ten million VND after deducting the cost of investing in fertilizer and seeds. Currently, the corn is in the growing stage and needs to be fertilized and sprayed with pesticides to prevent pests and diseases. In her spare time, Mau and other brothers and sisters in the commune go to the forest to pick mushrooms, betel leaves, collect bamboo shoots, wild honey, herd cows, and protect the forest area they have contracted to improve the family economy.

However, their lives are still difficult, as in recent years the erratic weather has affected crop yields. The refrain of good harvest but low prices, good prices but bad harvest or bad harvest but low prices is frequent, making income unstable... The poverty rate of the commune is still high, with more than 170 households. However, the security and order in the commune is very good, in the first 6 months of the year there was only 1 traffic accident, especially no drug abuse. "The security and order in the commune is always stable, no social evils occur. Especially the drug abuse, so far no cases of drug trafficking, storage or use have been detected. My Thanh - one of the drug-free communes in the district", Captain Mang Xuan Dam happily said.

Many concerns

The above is the reality when we wandered around the commune to admire the beauty of the highland mountains. We liked the sincerity, simplicity, diligence, and compliance with the law of the ethnic minorities here the most. When interacting with them, we saw their aspirations to change their lives amid the special concern of all levels and sectors in promoting national target projects and programs, focusing on national target programs on new rural construction, sustainable poverty reduction in the period of 2021-2025, and socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas in the period of 2021-2030.

They also have aspirations for social justice when they are dissatisfied with deforestation and encroachment on forest land. “Thinking back, I see that I was also wrong for encroaching on forest land… But I hope that the authorities will handle encroachers clearly and fairly, without excluding anyone,” Mr. Kho and Mr. Phuong in village 1, My Thanh commune sincerely expressed their feelings about the current issue of encroachment on forest land.

The wishes of Mr. Kho and Mr. Phuong are also the wishes of the majority of people here. It shows that their awareness of social issues has been raised. They are always grateful to the Party and the State for caring for people in difficult mountainous areas, through policies, programs, projects, preferential loans, and meaningful gifts. Chairman of the People's Committee of Hoang Thi Kha commune informed: "My Thanh is a mountainous commune. In recent years, all levels and sectors have paid attention to mobilizing many resources and promoting ethnic programs, projects, and policies to help and support households to have more conditions to develop production, increase income, and improve their lives. "Currently, the commune is implementing phase 1 (2021 - 2025) of the national target program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2030. Up to now, the commune has solidified the road to the 41-hectare production area, built many clean water systems and toilets; supported poor households with cow breeding...", Ms. Kha added.

Aspiration to rise

Leaving My Thanh on the old road, the green corn fields caught our eyes and the fat cows of the poor household of Quoc Kha in village 1 were grazing on the side of the road. The commune's statistical report showed that the total agricultural land area of ​​the commune was 19,599 hectares, with more than 1,300 livestock including buffaloes, cows, pigs, and goats. Of which, there were more than 60 breeding cows from national target programs supporting poor families. They were being carefully cared for by the families, with the hope of soon escaping poverty. "In a difficult mountainous area, we were very happy to receive cows," Quoc Kha's wife said happily when I stopped the car to approach.

Quoc Kha, like other households, is planning to escape poverty in the future. If a cow gives birth to a female calf, they will keep it and raise it to reproduce and expand the herd. If a male calf is born, they will raise it to adulthood and sell it to invest in buying another female cow. Raising livestock, along with cultivating crops, contributes to improving life and moving away from poverty.

With the spirit of self-reliance, self-improvement, and the desire to rise up, along with the system of lakes, dams, and inter-regional traffic connections; investment programs and policies, production development support, and economic restructuring will create a completely new picture of My Thanh in the future, in which the material and spiritual life of ethnic minorities here will be improved compared to the present.