Help people overcome poverty, children find education

One day in late April 2025, after traveling more than 100km, we arrived at Binh Thanh Border Guard Station ( Dong Thap Provincial Border Guard) at dusk. At that moment, Senior Lieutenant Hoang Trong Nghia, Captain of the Mass Mobilization Team, Binh Thanh Border Guard Station, also returned with his back drenched in sweat. Upon asking, we learned that he had just returned from Mrs. Le Thi Bot's house in Binh Thanh Commune (Hong Ngu City, Dong Thap Province). "The weather has been hot these past few days, and Bot's mother has been sick, so I took her to see a doctor, got medicine, and cooked porridge for her. I just got home now," said Nghia.

Border guards of Ca Mau province teach children of fishermen on Hon Chuoi island. Photo: HOANG TA

In the past, for the three sisters of Mrs. Le Thi Bot, the Border Guard was no different from the children in the family. The older sister and younger sister suffered a stroke, Mrs. Bot had a leg disability, making it difficult for her to walk, so she had to rely on the neighbors for everything, especially the officers and soldiers of Binh Thanh Border Guard Station. Not only did they support her with monthly food and provisions, they also regularly visited and helped the three sisters in their daily activities, from taking them to the doctor, preparing meals to doing small tasks in life.

“The children at Binh Thanh Border Guard Station are busy cooking rice for my sisters and I every day... During holidays and Tet, we are not lonely because the children always come to help, from decorating and cleaning the house to cooking Tet dishes, cakes and jams of all kinds. The house is lonely but the family is always warm because the children are Border Guard officers and soldiers,” Mrs. Bot confided.

Carrying the warm affection of the soldiers and people of the Dong Thap border region, we headed to the sea and islands of Ca Mau. On the Hon Chuoi outpost island, in the middle of the salty sea, where it seems like there are only waves and wind, the warm spelling and teaching voices of non-professional teachers in green uniforms still resound. Although not formally trained in pedagogy, the border guards here have a "lesson plan" with all their hearts. From how to hold a pen, spell, do calculations... they patiently guide them. "Just seeing the children come to class regularly, their eyes light up when they can read and write their names, all their fatigue disappears. We consider spreading letters on the remote island a meaningful task", shared Major Tran Binh Phuc, Deputy Head of the Mass Mobilization Team, Hon Chuoi Border Guard Station.

Not only teaching, the soldiers are also second fathers and the border posts have become homes for many poor children at the end of the country. Currently, the border posts under the Border Guard Command of Ca Mau province are supporting 38 children in the program "Helping children go to school"; 22 children are "Adopted children of the Border Guard Station"... The officers and soldiers of the Border Guard of Ca Mau province not only support uniforms, books... but also adopt the children, directly taking care of their meals and sleep. These small actions are the bridge to help the young steps overcome the mud, rough waves, and reach the future.

People join hands with soldiers to protect peace on the border

If the Border Guard helps people escape poverty, the people are also the "eyes and ears", the solid support, the "living fortresses" that accompany the soldiers to protect the border and prevent acts of violating national sovereignty .

During our journey along the southwestern border, we heard many stories imbued with the love between the army and the people. Evidence is the story of old farmer Duong Van Phuc, residing in Phu Loi commune, Giang Thanh district, Kien Giang province, giving up land to build border markers. A few years ago, when there was a policy to build 3 border markers (304/1, 304/2, 304/3) and a border patrol road passing through the locality, Mr. Phuc was ready to hand over the land and mobilize the people in the village to support. When the border markers were completed, every morning when he went to the fields to check on the rice, he took the time to wipe the dust, clear the grass, and fill in the surrounding land. “Like many people who live mainly on farming, land is a tool to support their families. But the border markers and the border are to ensure the safety and peace of the people, including my family. You have worked hard day and night to keep the people living peacefully, so I have no regrets with the Border Guard.”

The national border is not only protected by fences, guard stations or towering landmarks but also firmly preserved by the people's hearts. In An Giang, for more than 10 years, on the border patrol routes, there are not only border guards but also the beautiful, gentle but resilient image of women. Although busy with farming work, every week, mothers and sisters who are members of the "Women's Group for Protecting Borders and Border Markers" go with Border Guard officers and soldiers to visit the entire border and border markers and participate in propaganda for people cultivating agricultural land near the border area to comply with the Party's policies and the State's laws; especially not to assist in cross-border crimes, promptly report to the Border Guard force when detecting suspicious objects.

Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Hiep, Political Commissar of the Border Guard of An Giang province, said that implementing the Movement "All people participate in self-management of border lines, border markers and maintaining security in hamlets and villages in border areas", the unit and the Provincial Women's Union signed a coordination program, while promoting "mobilizing women to participate in building and protecting sovereignty and border security". The establishment of women's groups to participate in self-management of border lines, border markers and maintaining security and order in hamlets and villages in border areas helps raise the sense of responsibility of each citizen in protecting national border sovereignty; at the same time, promoting the role of women in participating in the fight, denouncing crimes, preventing and combating acts of violating territorial sovereignty, smuggling, human trafficking across the border, drug crimes, social evils, protecting border lines and border markers, contributing to maintaining security in hamlets and villages in border areas...

Border guards of Ca Mau province teach children of fishermen on Hon Chuoi island. Photo: HOANG TA

“Over the past 10 years, collectives, households, individuals, and groups registered to participate in the movement have always maintained effective operations, promptly providing the provincial Border Guard with 3,197 pieces of information (including 1,617 valuable pieces of information and 1,580 reference pieces), effectively serving the command and handling of situations. This is a testament to the people's cooperation, working with the Border Guard to effectively perform the task of protecting security and order on the border. They are like "living milestones", passing on and continuing to protect the peace of the Fatherland's remote border areas", emphasized Lieutenant Colonel Nguyen Van Hiep.

The relationship between the army and the people at the southwestern border has been nurtured and filled over the years. It is a bowl of rice shared in half, a glass of cool water at noon in the summer, the laughter of children in the army and the people's classroom, and the absolute trust between the soldiers and the people. It is this affection that has created a solid border defense, where the people's hearts are a rampart, an impenetrable defense line.

THUY AN

    Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/nuoi-duong-van-hoa-bo-doi-cu-ho/thanh-luy-long-dan-noi-bien-gioi-tay-nam-829233