If you want people to listen, you have to be the first to do it.

Ms. Thao Thi Me propagates and mobilizes people to eliminate bad customs and strive for economic development.

As one of the few people of the 9x generation in the Mong Pa Hoc village, Nhi Son border commune, who received formal training, after graduating from the Forestry University in 2014, Thao Thi Me took responsibility for herself and eagerly brought her knowledge back to serve her fellow countrymen. Being a Mong, she knows that if she wants people to escape poverty, she must first propagate and mobilize them to change their mindset, eliminate backward customs and practices, and the mentality of waiting and relying on others. Then, she must guide them on how to do things, helping them participate in economic development models.

With that in mind, from the first day of graduating from school to work in land administration, participating in the youth movement, then working in the women's union and now being the Chairman of the Commune Fatherland Front Committee, Ms. Thao Thi Me has actively worked with the Party Committee and the association to propagate and mobilize union members, members and people to implement the policies of the Party and the State. First, it was to propagate the implementation of a civilized lifestyle in weddings and funerals, to eliminate early marriage and incestuous marriage, then to grow two crops of rice, to mobilize people to join hands in building new rural areas... And in those movements, Ms. Me herself is also a shining example.

Like the story of eliminating early marriage and incestuous marriage. For generations, many Mong people in her hometown still think that "a buffalo does not marry a cow, a Mong person must marry another Mong person", boys and girls at the age of thirteen or fourteen must get married, they only need to have different surnames to get married. Because of that thinking, not only in Nhi Son, in the Mong ethnic area, there are still stories of two biological sisters having to become in-laws when their children no longer have the same surname... After those incestuous marriages, no child is born healthy, they have to take medicine constantly, life is already poor and becomes even poorer.

Sitting in the university lecture hall, Ms. Me knows that it is a bad custom, like "shackles and yokes" that the Mong people themselves confine and bind the Mong people. To eliminate this bad custom, we must start with the young people and we ourselves must be the pioneers. After graduating from university, she waited for a stable job before getting married at the age of 26. And the person she married was a young man of the Thai ethnic group. Until now, looking at her happy home, no one in the Mong village still has the burden of "not marrying a cow for a buffalo anymore", boys and girls are free to love. In Nhi Son commune, there is no longer the situation of early marriage and incestuous marriage.

Not stopping at implementing movements, Ms. Me also boldly advised the Party Committee and coordinated the mobilization, establishing 2 clubs to preserve the traditional cultural identity of the Mong people in Pa Hoc and Keo Huon villages. After the launching ceremony was organized simply but warmly, the clubs gathered a large number of female members to restore and teach the craft of embroidering patterns on Mong people's dresses. The establishment of the club not only created more jobs and income but also gave more motivation, inspiration, and encouraged Mong women in Nhi Son to make efforts to participate in patriotic emulation movements, develop the economy, and reduce poverty quickly and sustainably.

Not only practicing a civilized lifestyle in weddings, funerals, and preserving cultural values, Ms. Me and her family are also pioneers in many movements such as donating land to expand roads; donating to support the construction of solidarity houses for the poor... Up to now, the commune has had 4/6 villages meeting the NTM standards, the rate of solidified roads reaching 72%. The rate of poor households has decreased from 70.86% (in 2020) to 22.17% (in 2025). People in the commune have donated over 500 million VND to support the construction and repair of 28 solidarity houses...

Ms. Me confided: "In every movement, if you want people to trust, listen and follow, you yourself must be the pioneer, go first, do first. Through patriotic emulation movements, you have contributed together with the Party Committee and the government to take care of and significantly improve the material and spiritual life of the people, consolidate and strengthen the great national unity bloc in the area, and maintain border security."

Article and photos: Dong Thanh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/muon-ba-con-nghe-theo-minh-phai-tien-phong-lam-truoc-266674.htm