There is a Hue countryside in Lam Dong: Part 2: Early settlement

There is a Hue countryside in Lam Dong land (Part 1)

Part 2: Early settlement

 

In an article published in Lam Dong Newspaper in early spring 1978, journalist Vu Thuoc described the new economic zone of Hue people in Lam Dong, a vivid picture of the countryside was drawn by the author with beautiful and emotional language: “Reaching the top of Ma Oi slope, the whole new economic zone of Huong Lam was exposed in sight. The pretty, cozy houses were arranged in square lots, leaning against the mountainside; the vast fields stretched out as far as the eye could see, surrounding the villages; the rows of sweet potatoes with purple flowers, the cassava fields with straight stems as tall as chopsticks, weaving all over the hilltops. And in the distance, behind the dense green bamboo hedge, was the clear, calm Dong Nai River flowing downstream. The voices of children studying echoed, standing on the top of Ma Oi slope, one could hear them very clearly…”.

Da Huoai district center, where many Hue people settle

As we mentioned in the previous issue, the 2 regiments with 1,800 young volunteers in Hue, after completing the work of opening roads, reclaiming land, establishing villages, and leveling fields, prepared to welcome people in. After the Tet Mau Ngo 1978, the first group of migrants with more than 100 households including nearly 700 people, volunteers to build the new economic zone of Huong Lam (the name means Huong River combined with Lam Dong) shouldered their burdens and set off.

Over a cup of coffee in the morning nearly fifty years later, the old men and women who went to build the new economy at that time recalled to us as if it were yesterday, the memories still very fresh, even though time had passed quite far. They recalled that the convoy carrying people from Hue turned at the Madagui intersection on Highway 20 and stopped at Cang waterfall, about 7-8 kilometers from the settlement. All the young and old carried their burdens and walked together. The wild mountains and forests, the terrifying sounds of wild animals, the steep Ma Oi slope in front of them seemed to threaten everyone's steps.

The rain in the forest began to pour heavily, the sky was covered with water. The houses where the people were staying were not yet completed. A few hastily built shelters were just enough for people to avoid the rain. Beds, tables, cabinets, shoulder poles, pots, rice, and even the altar were all piled up outside in the wet air. The sounds of old people coughing, children crying, dogs barking, chickens crowing impatiently, filled a corner of the primeval forest...

Hue people in Da Lay commune take care of flowers to beautify the village road.

Upon receiving news that the households had arrived, both youth shock regiments were ordered to stop clearing the fields and welcome the people. The elderly, children and all the household items of 100 households were carried into the new village by the youth shock troops.

“New village”, at first hearing, many people were happy because they thought that when they got there, houses, fields, gardens, wells, lights, rice were available. Unexpectedly, as soon as they arrived, comrade Nguyen Thai Long - Head of the Command Board of the new economic zone, pointed and declared: “Phu An village, Thuan Hoa village, Thuan Thanh village… here!”.

All the people looked in bewilderment following the officer's arm. It was a forest that had been burned down by American toxic chemicals, leaving only a few charred tree trunks like pillars supporting the sky. Surrounding it were cogon grass and wild plants as tall as a person's head. In the midst of those cogon grass and thorny grass patches, the planning team had only just planted a few boundary posts and stretched ropes to divide the residential boundaries for each household. It was still pouring rain. The road had to be trampled through the cogon grass, covered with mud and water up to the neck. The youth volunteers had given their sturdy huts to the people to temporarily stay in; they went out to the forest to cover themselves with plastic sheets, the wind and rain tore them, and they were soaked everywhere.

Faced with a situation full of difficulties and uncertainties, many households were pessimistic and discouraged from the beginning. Some people went straight to the Regional Command to demand to be returned to their hometowns, refusing to stay. Faced with that situation, the Command assigned each other to go down and live with the people day and night, trying to convince, explain, and encourage each person. The youth volunteers, some chopped wood, some cut grass, some erected poles, and gathered together to build sturdy huts for the people. Just a few days later, temporary single-roof huts were erected, reassuring everyone. Then, from the foundation of those initial huts, nine months later, houses sprang up and each household had a square garden of 1,000 square meters, which began to blossom and bear fruit...

Giving Uncle Ho's photo to the elderly in Da Lay commune, Da Huoai district

After that first batch, about a year later, there were 500 households with more than 2,000 people, then the next groups with a total of 3,000 households came to settle in the new land of Huong Lam. The later the conditions became more favorable. Reading the old article with the simple words of journalist Vu Thuoc, we also rejoiced with the memories of the people of Hue on the first day of settling in the new homeland: “The comrades in the Construction Command took us to visit the people, walking all day without leaving the cassava forests and sweet potato fields. There were weddings decorated with purple sweet potato flower vases of loyalty and happiness. This crop, the people estimated to harvest about 3,000 tons of sweet potatoes and more than 2,000 tons of cassava. Sweet potatoes with tubers weighed several kilograms, and cassava with bushes yielded hundreds of tubers. The first crop of rice was lost due to the flood, but a few dozen tons were salvaged, the people kept them for seeds for this season…”.

According to Do Duc Du's memory, in just over a year, welcoming the Lunar New Year of the Goat in 1979, in the new economic zone of Huong Lam, there were more than 300 households that had built solid houses. All the houses were built in a unified style designed by the Regional Command. Each house had two rooms and three wings. Houses with many people were built larger. The gardens around the residential land were all the same, each family had 1,000 square meters. The roads from the central area to the teams and to the households were all built with wide foundations, high soil, and sturdy grass banks. One side was against the mountainside, the other side was spread out in front of the fields. People worked in the collective fields, sharing their income according to work points. A garden, a house was private property; the entire vast field of rice, corn, and potatoes was public property.

In the early days of settlement, without a cooperative yet, people who left their homeland with nothing worked hard to build and maintain a more and more stable life. House building and garden care were all done in their spare time, and many households worked at night. People in the new economic zone launched a movement of “going home empty-handed and coming back with something” to bring bamboo and thatch back to build their own houses. Single-parent families were helped by the teams. And gradually the village began to become more spacious. In the middle of each house there was an altar, a picture of Uncle Ho, a new year calendar, and even folk paintings brought from Hue.

That year, the Year of the Goat 1979, every home garden was filled with a bed of chrysanthemums. The yellow color of the familiar flower was like a sacred connection between the people of Hue who went to build a new economic zone and their hometown along the Huong River. Along with chrysanthemums, people also brought banana bushes, jackfruit trees, gourds, and chili peppers from their homeland...

Mr. Tran Van Khuyen, a Hue native, has been present in the new economic zone since the early days.

When the last youth volunteer team left Huong Lam, they had time to take care of the education of the children in the new economic zone. Teacher Le Ngoc Anh, a former youth volunteer of Hue City and former Head of the Education Department of Da Teh District, recalled: Among the people who went to the new economic zone, there were up to 800 children who were going to school or were of school age. At that time, it was not difficult to build schools, but there was a lack of teachers, books and equipment. The Command Board struggled to find a solution, from primary to secondary school, and high school, they could not send the children far away. When there was a shortage of teachers, they even recruited those with college, university or high school degrees from the youth volunteer force. They were non-professional teachers such as Le Ngoc Anh, Tran Phuc Tuu, Tran Minh Tri, Ngo Quang My, Thai Quang Tuan, Truong Hoa, Ngo Van Thanh, Tran Hoa, Hoang Thi Hong, Nguyen Van Tam, Tran Quang. Books, pens and teaching programs were requested from the Lam Dong Department of Education in Da Lat and from Hue in Hue. Tables, chairs and classrooms were all made of bamboo. Necessity is the mother of invention, enthusiasm has made people, from old to young, in the new land more steadfast and confident in overcoming difficulties...

Talking to me in the morning in the beautiful land of "distant Hue" today, Mr. Nguyen Minh Tanh - Chairman of the People's Committee of Da Lay commune, who was born in the early days when the Hue City youth volunteers reclaimed and opened up the land, said: "I belong to the generation that grew up when the new homeland was formed, but through each story of memories of grandparents, aunts and uncles about the early days of starting a business, we can imagine how difficult and arduous those days were. We have inherited a whole heritage of cultural and historical roots of the ancient capital, the culture of the Central Highlands and the precious traditions of our ancestors in the time of opening up the land. The history of Da Lay land always reminds us to live and work in a way that is worthy of the blood, sweat and tears of the previous generations...".

(TO BE CONTINUED)

Part 3: The prosperous Da Lay countryside today

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/van-hoa-nghe-thuat/202505/co-mot-mien-que-hue-tren-dat-lam-dong-ky-2-buoi-dau-lap-cu-1c45d5c/