New aspirations in the frontier

QTO - The Van Kieu and Pa Ko people in the border commune of Lia have always had a tradition of passionate patriotism. Under the light of the Party and Uncle Ho, that love has never faded but has been increasingly nurtured. In wartime as well as in peacetime, the people of this mountainous region are not afraid of hardships and difficulties, always united in following the revolution, always united in preserving and determined to build a beautiful and rich homeland and country.

Land of Revolution

During the resistance war against the French, the Van Kieu and Pa Ko people in the Lia communes lived almost separately from the residents along Route 9. With the revolutionary mobilization of patriotic organizations and a sense of responsibility to protect the Fatherland from invaders, the people here rose up in revolt, contributing to the establishment of a revolutionary government in Huong Hoa on August 25, 1945.

After the success of the August Revolution, many outstanding Van Kieu and Pa Ko people were admitted to the Party; many Party cells in the Lia ethnic minority area were established. Taking advantage of their knowledge of the terrain, forests, mountains, rivers and streams, the people protected the safety of revolutionary cadres; at the same time, they increased labor and production to provide food for cadres, contributing to support the Huong Hoa revolutionary area. The people here supported, coordinated, directly participated and contributed to winning many major battles and campaigns, especially the victory of the Tri Thien- Hue campaign that took place in Huong Hoa from March 8 to March 26, 1975.

Developing cassava in Lia commune - Photo: KS

From hardships, many shining examples of patriotism have emerged. A typical example is Mrs. Gia Vung, born in 1933, a Pa Ko ethnic group, in the old A Tuc commune. At the age of 10, Gia Vung voluntarily asked her family to join the revolution; joined the guerrillas and then the Truong Son army. Within 10 years (1961-1971), Gia Vung directly participated in 35 large and small battles and destroyed nearly 100 enemies. Notably, this brave Pa Ko girl shot down American planes twice. With her glorious achievements, she was honored to be awarded by the Party and the State with nearly 20 medals of various types; 1 Badge of Brave Soldier to Destroy America, 3 Badges of Determined Victory level 1, 1 Medal of Independence first class. "When the enemy comes to our house, even women will fight", that was the slogan of the people of Lia region during the resistance war against the French and the Americans. “For me, fighting and dedicating my youth for the independence and freedom of the nation is happiness. I hope that the younger generation will uphold the tradition of solidarity, always practice revolutionary ethics, study, work and labor well to contribute to building the village and homeland to become more and more prosperous,” Ms. Hon expressed her wish.

The American-killing hero Gia Vung (middle) always passes on the revolutionary "fire" to the younger generation - Photo: KS

Overcome difficulties and rise up

After liberation, the people of Lia commune united to overcome the consequences of war and build a new life. People converted crops and livestock, applied scientific and technological advances to production; appropriately exploited forest products, maintained and developed traditional crafts such as leaf enamel, weaving, forging, etc. to create many typical goods. Thanks to that, the commune now has more than 1,000 hectares of various crops, bringing high economic efficiency such as cassava, rubber, bananas, fruit trees, etc. The livestock herd has grown to more than 8,500 heads such as buffalo, cows, goats, pigs, etc. This land is gradually changing its skin and flesh.

From hardship, more and more examples of learning and following Uncle Ho in economic development, poverty reduction, and preserving national cultural identity have emerged. Typical examples are households: Ho Kro in Moi village; Ho Ta Co in Thuan 5 village, who have changed their production from growing low-yield, low-quality trees to growing rubber. Rubber has brought stable income to families (more than 80 million VND/year/household). Thanks to that, they have the conditions to build spacious houses and invest in better education for their children.

Pa Ko people in Lia commune preserve traditional weaving craft - Photo: KS

In the field of cultural preservation, artisan Ho Cu Chanh often weaves rattan, bamboo, and rattan items; teaches his children and those who are passionate about weaving to learn the craft. Or Mr. Ho Van Lap, in A Rong village, is passionate about blacksmithing; village elder Ho Van Hao, in A May village, is not only good at singing folk songs and playing musical instruments, but also good at making musical instruments such as drums and ta lu lutes; holds the main rituals in performing major festivals of the Pa Ko people such as Arieu Ping festival (grave-exhumation ceremony), Aza (new rice celebration)... Responding to the movement to build new rural areas, although their families' economic circumstances are still very difficult, two Van Kieu households in the commune, Ho Van Lat and Ho Van Chun, in Ba Vieng village, volunteered to donate nearly 1,000m2 of land to build Ba Vieng school, Thanh Kindergarten...

“After its establishment on July 1, 2025, Lia commune has opened a new direction for development. Therefore, local cadres and people always promote the revolutionary tradition, solidarity, and strive to achieve results in many areas of social life. In the coming time, we will focus on building a government that is close to the people, for the people, and understands the people; orienting the conversion of ineffective crops to new crops such as rubber and durian. At the same time, there will be solutions to exploit the potential and advantages to develop community tourism ; coordinate with Laos to build a border market to exchange and promote trade and service development in the Vietnam - Laos twinned villages”, Chairman of Lia commune People's Committee Tran Dinh Dung expressed his determination.

Lia commune was merged from 3 communes: Old Lia (merging 2 communes A Xing and A Tuc in 2019), Thanh and Thuan. Lia land is very unique because it not only develops agricultural economy, trade and commerce but also has many beautiful cultural identities of Van Kieu and Pa Ko people preserved for generations. With the convergence of many potentials and advantages of a fairly large land, Lia commune has had and is having many opportunities to break through in the period of integration and development.

Ko Kan Suong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/xa-hoi/202509/khat-vong-moi-noi-mien-bien-vien-f4e46a0/