The nucleus of the border village of Nghe An

Tri Le commune, Nghe An province has 18.53km of border with Laos, of which Huoi Moi village alone stretches over 15km. The task of protecting the territory and border security here is no longer the sole responsibility of the armed forces but has the active participation of the people in the village, with the leadership of typical core members.

Mr. Tho Ba Cua (second from left) and officers of Tri Le Border Guard Station propagate regulations on border and landmark protection to villagers.

The village leader of Huoi Moi village, Tho Ba Cua (H'Mong ethnic group, born in 1997), is one of them. Through each story, our impression of Tho Ba Cua becomes clearer. A Tho Ba Cua full of enthusiasm, courage, new thinking, new actions, hidden in a calm, gentle appearance.

Do a good job of propaganda

In early November, following the officers of Tri Le Border Post, the Border Guard Command of Nghe An province, we went up to Huoi Moi village. Huoi Moi village is opposite to Den Din village (Muong Quan district, Houphanh province, Lao People's Democratic Republic). After merging Huoi Moi 2 and Huoi Moi 1, Huoi Moi village has 149 households, nearly 1,000 H'Mong people.

In the thick fog, Huoi Moi village appears with its ancient sa mu roofs, a typical feature of H'Mong villages in the western part of Nghe An. Over the past ten days, it has not been necessary to wear warm scarves or thick cotton coats to keep warm, but the weather has started to get chilly. The peach branches have also started to bud…

Receiving us in his small house, Village Captain Tho Ba Cua confided his story of coming to Vinh city to study primary education with the dream of becoming a teacher, of getting married, of joining the army, of protecting his land, his village, and his country's borders...

Graduated from the Faculty of Primary Education, Nghe An Pedagogical College (now Nghe An University) but could not find a job in his field of study, Tho Ba Cua returned to "ask his wife" to join the military to "train himself". During his military service in Quang Tri, he encouraged himself to overcome all difficulties, complete assigned tasks, and be more worthy of the trust and expectations of his family, as well as the hard sacrifices of his wife when she took care of two small children alone.

Village captain of Huoi Moi Tho Ba Cua.

In 2022, Mr. Cua completed his military service and returned, also ending his time as a probationary party member, becoming an official party member and was trusted and assigned to take on the role of Village Team Leader.

Every month, under the assignment of the Commune Military Command, Tho Ba Cua and representatives of organizations in the village participate in the Border and Landmark Patrol Working Group. The terrain is long, the landmarks are distributed in two different directions, so each patrol usually lasts 2 days, which means the patrol team has to pack rice and set up a tent overnight in the deep forest.

“The road is long, the terrain is complex, and it is very difficult to travel, especially when it is raining and cold, but when we reach the landmark, all our fatigue disappears. Standing in front of the landmark feels very sacred, because it is the boundary of our Fatherland. Whether tired, sunny or rainy, everyone rolls up their sleeves to clean the landmark, cut bushes, and clear the border so that from afar we can see the place that marks our country's territory,” Tho Ba Cua shared.

Nghe An Provincial Border Guard is always close to the people in the border areas to propagate good implementation of the Party's guidelines and policies and the State's policies and laws.

Not only participating in patrolling and protecting the border and landmarks, as the village leader, Tho Ba Cua actively propagates and disseminates to the people the legal regulations related to the field of border security and crime prevention, contributing to ensuring social order in the area.

Mr. Va Ba Cha (Huoi Moi village) said: “In the past, it was normal for Hmong people to cross the border to visit each other in Den Din, but Mr. Cua said that doing so is not allowed. The government does not prohibit us from going to the other side to visit each other or to exchange, trade and do business, but when crossing the border, we must comply with the law and have a permit from the Border Control Station.

Now everyone in the village understands that they are not allowed to clear fields for farming or graze livestock in the border area. If there are strangers crossing the border, they must immediately report to the village management board, the border guards and the police.

There was a time when people from two villages were grazing cattle near the border area, leading to a dispute due to stray cattle. It took a long time, through many meetings between the two families, the two villages and the local authorities, for the matter to be resolved satisfactorily, without affecting the harmonious and good relationship between the people on both sides of the border.

In recent years, thanks to good propaganda work, people's awareness has been raised, similar situations have not occurred, and as a result, security and order and the close solidarity between people on both sides of the border have always been maintained.

Border guards of Nghe An province and three neighboring provinces of Laos, which share a border with Nghe An, regularly conduct joint border patrols.

Recruitment Highlights

Not only in the work of protecting border security, ensuring security and order, and preventing crime, Tho Ba Cua also clearly demonstrates its role in mobilizing local youth to join the army.

Due to the custom of early marriage, along with that, during each military recruitment season, videos often appear on social networks that distort the new recruits during the training process. This has a negative impact on the psychology and thinking of young people called to join the army as well as their relatives, causing the annual military recruitment work in mountainous areas in general and H'Mong villages in particular to encounter many difficulties.

Mr. Cua went to each house, met each person, patiently explained the State's regulations and the Law on Military Service as well as related regimes and policies, so that people could understand that participating in military service is the responsibility and obligation of every citizen towards the country, towards the revolutionary achievements of previous generations.

Patrol team protects border markers and clears the border section through Huoi Moi village. (Photo: TIEN DONG)

From his own story, Mr. Cua analyzed the benefits of young people joining the army, which are being trained in a disciplined environment, studying, striving to mature, and when discharged from the army, they also enjoy preferential treatment in vocational training, employment and the opportunity to work abroad for a limited period. Thanks to that, young people are enlightened, and their families also support and encourage their children. Every year, Huoi Moi always meets the target of young people of military service age participating in the military service examination.

In 2023 alone, the village will send off 6 young men to join the army and welcome 6 soldiers who have completed their service back to their locality.

Evaluating the role and contribution of the young village team leader Tho Ba Cua, Mr. Luong Van Tuan, Commander of the Tri Le Commune Military Command, emphasized that Tho Ba Cua's strengths are his qualifications, steadfastness, and strong attachment to the area. In particular, as the village team leader, he did a good job advising the Party Cell, the Village Management Board, and the Commune Military Command on military recruitment. It can be said that Huoi Moi village does a very good job in the annual military recruitment.

Mr. Tho Ba Cua was honored as a typical example of skillful mass mobilization with the model of "Participating in protecting and preserving the Vietnam-Laos border markers".

In the border commune of Tri Le, village captain Tho Ba Cua is also known by many people for selling local agricultural products on Facebook. Committing to quality, agreeing on prices, and "closing" orders on Facebook, when the harvest is finished, he packs the fresh peaches in styrofoam boxes, transports them to the commune center, and then sends them to customers by car or post.

This way, he reduces costs, time and effort, not to mention, the selling price is stable and somewhat higher than the traditional way of selling.

“Over the years, the Party and State have had many policies for the economic and social development, cultural and spiritual life of ethnic minorities, including the H'Mong people in Huoi Moi.

I hope that the Party and State will have more preferential policies, pay more special attention to transportation, infrastructure, and production land, so that people in mountainous and border areas can escape poverty, develop the economy, and feel secure in their villages, contributing to firmly protecting the national sovereignty and border security," said young party member Tho Ba Cua.

TRAN TRUNG HIEU

Source: https://nhandan.vn/hat-nhan-o-ban-lang-bien-cuong-xu-nghe-post921333.html