Female party members "keeping the fire" in the wilderness Part 2: The person who sowed the Party's seeds in Pu Mat

In the middle of the Pu Mat forest (Chau Khe commune, Nghe An), La Thi Van - a female party member of Dan Lai in her twenties, who did not finish high school, has still done what seemed impossible: keeping the village party cell strong with her own enthusiasm. For Van, the argument is simple but firm: "You have to do it for real, and if there are results, people will listen." That is the daily life of the young female Secretary who is sowing the seeds of the Party organization on the Chau Son stream with silent patience.

From kitchen to Secretary

We entered Chau Son when it was getting dark, the wind in the stream carried the smell of damp leaves and the chirping of insects. The atmosphere of National Day 2/9 was still intact: the red flag with yellow star fluttered in front of the silver roof, like small flames in the dark green of Pu Mat. The bumpy red dirt road wound through the acacia trees, crossed the stream that had just turned muddy after the afternoon rain, and led to the Dan Lai village. There, a young Party cell secretary had just returned from a village meeting, his shoulder still clearly marked with the marks of a basket strap.

Party Cell Secretary La Thi Van in a meeting with people of Khe Nong cluster. Photo: Hai Phong

Born in 1996, La Thi Van's childhood was associated with the kitchen fire, the fields, and the streams. After finishing 9th grade, because her family was poor, Van dropped out of school, planted acacia trees, and raised livestock to help her family. "Back then, I only worried about rice and firewood. When I heard about the Party cell, I thought about the commune's affairs, which had nothing to do with me," Van said, her voice dropping.

In the spring of 2016, the sisters in the village elected Van as the Women's Association President. Her hands trembled when holding the notebook, her mouth still mumbled when speaking in front of the crowd, but Van did not refuse. "Our village is still poor, anyone can do it, as long as they do it for real," she said. From village meetings and times of coordinating with organizations, Van gradually learned each task. Without any textbooks, Van's luggage was her eyes to observe, her hands to take notes and her feet not afraid to climb. There were nights when Van sat by the flashlight, practicing writing notes, making lists; the dry numbers gradually took on meaning when behind them were each family, each person in the village.

In 2019, La Thi Van was admitted to the Party; at the same time, her husband - then a village deputy - was also honored to join the Party. "Holding the red card, I trembled. From now on, I have to live differently, not give up halfway," Van recalls. In early 2021, trusted by the Party and loved by the people, Van was elected Secretary of the Chau Son village Party Cell - the first female Secretary of Dan Lai at the age of over 20. Joy was mixed with worry: "I have little education, lack experience, and am a woman... There has never been a woman here who has been Secretary."

Van started with the most certain thing: setting an example. In addition to planting acacia and developing forests, Van tried raising grass carp in cages, adding chickens and growing clean vegetables. Seeing the effectiveness, a few households followed suit. The persuasion did not come from words, but from visible results.

The entire Chau Son village has 221 households, nearly 1,000 people; more than 70% of the households are poor. Many men work far away, women take on the responsibility of raising livestock, and do whatever they are hired to do; the land for production is small and steep. In that context, keeping the Party cell active is already a difficult task. As a Dan Lai person, Van understands the customs, knows how to speak so that people will listen, and how to make people believe. Van chooses to work quietly so that the work itself becomes the most convincing appeal.

In the summer of 2023, the program to support poor households in building houses was implemented. The village chief was sick, so many tasks fell on the shoulders of the Party cell secretary: assigning working days, receiving materials, and recording progress. On a day of pouring rain, Van put on a raincoat, carried a bag of cement, and waded through the mud; late in the afternoon, soaked, she still stayed to watch the workers finish building the trusses. At night, when her children were sleeping, she turned on the flashlight, put the notebook on her knees to check the materials, and finalized the work for the next day. Sometimes, exhausted, the thought of "taking a break" flashed through her mind and then disappeared: "If I back down, who will step up?"

An old man in the village looked at Van carrying the load and nodded: "The Secretary goes first, the people go later" - That saying spread throughout the village, becoming a simple but profound reminder.

Eliminate child marriage, keep children in school

Chau Son Party Cell currently has 25 party members, including 3 women - a modest number, but a persistent effort in a community where "the husband decides on big things", women who want to join the Party still have many reservations. Some women want to but their husbands do not allow it. Some are afraid: who will look after the children and who will take care of the fields? Even at home, Van's mother used to be hesitant: "It's very tiring for women to be cadres, the village will gossip." But she added: "If you choose, try to do it right."

Party Cell Secretary La Thi Van talked and encouraged women in the village to join the meeting. Photo: KL

Since 2023, Chau Son has been one of two villages in Chau Khe commune chosen to build a “Community Communication Team”. Under the leadership of the female Party Secretary, the Team conducts concise propaganda sessions, focusing on child marriage, gender violence, and school issues. No microphone, no backdrop; just a corner of the cultural house, a pot of tea, a few visual posters and real stories…

Van said: the hardest thing about being a Party Secretary is not only speaking so that people can listen, but also keeping the Party cell breathing in the middle of the mountains and forests. In addition to taking care of activities or building community houses, Van also takes on unnamed tasks: going from house to house to spread propaganda, gradually removing bad customs. Thanks to perseverance, child marriage has clearly decreased: there is no longer a situation of people rushing to get married after finishing 5th grade; many children now finish secondary school, even go to high school.

Keeping children in school is not easy. Van said: last year, there was an 8th grader who was invited by a friend to go to Hai Phong to work during the summer vacation. The child was a good boy, but he was afraid of his family, so he hid it and quietly took the bus. When his mother found out, she panicked and called Van. Van immediately texted to ask; at first the child denied, saying he was going to Vinh with his cousin. After much questioning, the child finally confessed that he had arrived at the Con Cuong bus station, preparing to catch the next bus.

Thanks to the timely intervention of the police, the child was brought back. However, only a few days later, the child insisted on leaving again. Van and her parents had to patiently analyze the pros and cons, suggesting another way. Finally, the child agreed to stay in the village, preparing for the new school year. Later, Van and her parents learned that the friends who had invited her had been tricked by bad guys and taken to the city to work at a karaoke bar. "Kids are easily lured; if we don't speak tactfully or persistently, they will slip away without realizing it," Van laughed, worried.

Those late-night calls and those rushes to the bus station are the "not recorded" tasks, but they are the way to keep a child in class, to keep the Party cell connected to the village's future.

Keep the fire burning with real work

Van's efforts were recognized by the villagers, the Party Committee and the government. In 2024, La Thi Van was recognized by the Women's Union of Nghe An province as a "Typical Ethnic Minority and Religious Women in the 2021 - 2024 period"; at the same time, she was an outstanding delegate to the 4th Provincial Congress of Ethnic Minorities, honored to sit in the Presidium position with the leaders of the Provincial Party Committee, People's Committee, Fatherland Front Committee and other sectors.

“In the special conditions of the mountainous region, the maturity of a young female Secretary like Van is a clear demonstration of the Party’s efforts to train and create a source of successor cadres at the grassroots level,” Chau Khe Commune Party Secretary Lo Van Thao commented. As Party Cell Secretary, Van has united Party members, built a united collective, and led the Party Cell to successfully complete its political tasks; at the same time, she has paid attention to social security and focused on strengthening increasingly strong and comprehensive political organizations.

Behind the title of Secretary is a mother of two children. Her husband works far away, so Van carries two burdens: morning meetings with villagers, afternoon cutting eucalyptus grass, evening tutoring her children, late at night keeping a diary. She often tells her children about the difficult stories of the village, not to make them see the hardships, but to make them understand that they must try. They must learn to understand the story, so that they can help the village change in the future. These are small words, but they sow the seeds of responsibility in the children, just as Van is sowing them in the community.

Maintaining the Party cell means maintaining trust. Thick minutes give way to progress charts on the wall; after each month, Van crosses out completed tasks and circles unfinished ones. “Real work creates real trust,” Van says. “That trust attracts good people to the organization.”

Late afternoon, the jungle rain had just stopped, we left Chau Son. The muddy red dirt road bore the marks of Van’s plastic sandals mixed with the footsteps of the villagers. They no longer followed behind, but walked together like the Party firmly attached to the people: not standing higher, nor retreating behind… “If the Party is the root, the people are the trunk, then we - the people who keep the Party cell in the village - are the roots. If the roots are not firmly attached, the tree will find it difficult to survive,” Van said, her voice simple but filled with great philosophy. If you want the tree to stand firmly, you must nurture its roots; if you want the roots to grow deep, you must have good soil, which is the environment, mechanisms and hands supporting the young, especially women.

From Mrs. Ho Thi Nam in Rao Tre (Ha Tinh) to La Thi Van in Chau Son (Nghe An), that journey continues - as persistent as a stream flowing through rapids, permeating every patch of forest and rocky slope, nurturing the faith of the village. And if anyone asks what has kept the Party cell at its source, the answer is probably simple: a woman who talks little, does a lot, and has a spreading flame of enthusiasm.

Source: https://daibieunhandan.vn/nhung-nu-dang-vien-giu-lua-giua-dai-ngan-bai-2-nguoi-geo-mam-dang-o-pu-mat-10390387.html