“Hai Luu Bird Garden” of the martyr's wife

Determined to keep the "big house" for tens of thousands of birds and storks

Ms. Vu Thi Khiem lives in a level 4 house in the middle of a quiet forest of ancient trees. Although she is 85 years old, she still goes to the forest every day to watch the birds fly back as the sunset gradually falls. Female Party member Vu Thi Khiem has been in the Party for nearly 60 years, her husband died in the General Offensive and Uprising of the Mau Than Spring 1968. Ms. Khiem said: "My family came to reclaim land and live here since 1949. At that time, this place was a wild land with dense trees. The family had to spend a lot of effort on farming to grow corn and potatoes, the remaining area was planted with fruit trees and timber. A few years later, the forest closed its canopy and flocks of birds and storks came to live there. At first, there were only a few dozen, but gradually they multiplied and birds and storks from other places also followed to live here."

Ms. Vu Thi Khiem told the story to the author.

“If the land is good but the people are not friendly, the storks cannot stay there.” Mrs. Khiem thought so since she was young and decided to stick with the forest next to the coconut field planted and cared for by her parents. Currently, her family’s lush forest covers an area of ​​over 5 hectares with about 500 doi trees, 300 jackfruit trees, 300 sua trees, 230 palm trees, 100 lat trees, 80 tram trees, 70 longan trees, 50 lim trees and more than 1,400 bamboo bushes; there are ancient trees up to 40m high, two people can hug their roots. In particular, this forest is often home to tens of thousands of birds, the most common of which are storks of all kinds: white storks, zebra storks, ivory storks, egrets, tum storks, snake-necked storks, ibises, pelicans, grey herons, cormorants, and many rare birds. According to scientists ' research, Mrs. Khiem's ​​forest has a total of about 40 bird species, belonging to 21 families and 6 orders; of which 29 are resident species, 4 are migratory species and 7 are both migratory and resident species. Scientists named this forest "Hai Luu Bird Garden".

Mrs. Khiem excitedly shared that the flock of birds went out to find food from early morning until late afternoon. They went very far, some of them flew across the Lo River to find food in the rice fields around the foot of Nghia Linh Mountain, Hung Temple ( Phu Tho ). Every afternoon, they flew back in flocks, circling in the sky before landing on the treetops, making the whole sky around the forest noisy and bustling. Mrs. Khiem often stood in the middle of the yard watching the flock of birds and storks return, listening to their chirping and fighting for a perch, and felt happy. She recalled that about 25 years ago, because she was short of money to buy rice and pay for her grandchildren's school fees, she took a knife to the forest to cut down some bamboo trees to sell. However, when she reached the bamboo bush, she thought, if I cut down these trees, the storks would have no place to perch when they returned at night, where would they sleep? So she quietly took the knife and went down the hill.

In particular, over the past decades, Ms. Khiem has refused all attractive offers from people who came to buy the bird garden. Some people offered to pay up to 70 billion VND for the garden, but she refused to sell it. Some people even promised to accept Ms. Khiem as their "foster sister", promising to give her a villa with full amenities and... anything they wanted, as long as they could buy this forest, but she also refused. Ms. Khiem confided: "Living in this world, everyone needs and values ​​money, but I absolutely will not sell the bird garden because this is the "home of the big stork family", the passion of my whole life. If I sell the forest, where will the storks live, will the person who buys the forest have the passion to protect and take care of them?"

Lifetime care for bird garden

By the blue smoke of the afternoon, while waiting for the birds to return to their nests, Mrs. Khiem shared: “It is difficult for a strong man to protect the forest and the flock of storks, but it is even more difficult for me, a woman with "weak legs and soft hands". I guard the flock of storks with my heart. In the past, bird poaching was almost non-existent, so the birds and storks lived in peace. During the breeding season, the whole forest was always filled with the chirping of birds and cuckoos. But when restaurants selling "specialty wild birds, field birds" and "big birds" sprung up, the number of bird and stork poachers also increased, very boldly. My family's stork garden became the target of "bird thieves", they lurked and hunted day and night".

One night, hearing the strange call of storks, she knew there were thieves, so she called her son-in-law and some neighbors to help. When they ran out, they had shot two sacks of storks. When her son-in-law came to intervene, the thieves immediately surrounded and beat her. She glared, clenched her fists, and said in a loud voice: “You guys are so cruel, killing so many mother storks, then hundreds of baby storks, who will find food for them, they will have to die with their father and mother. You guys are inhumane and unjust”... The bird poachers heard the old woman scolding them very harshly and reasonably, they were stunned for a moment then bowed their heads and left. Looking at the storks that had died tragically, Mrs. Khiem felt as if salt had been rubbed into her heart...

Although the garden was carefully fenced, Mrs. Khiem rarely had a good night's sleep. Bird thieves even took advantage of rainy and windy nights to act. Hearing strange noises and the birds flying around, Mrs. Khiem would get up, put on a raincoat, hold a flashlight in one hand, and lean on a stick in the other, and stumble out into the garden to stop the thieves. Not only did the thieves come from far away, but there were also some young men in the village and commune. Once, Mrs. Khiem, along with the local people and police, caught a thief who had shot birds at night. The thief angrily pointed an air gun at her and threatened her, but she was not afraid.

A corner of the stork garden of Mrs. Vu Thi Khiem in Dong Dua village, Hai Luu commune, Song Lo district ( Vinh Phuc ).

Mrs. Khiem confided: “Having lived with the storks for many years, I understand all the habits of each species. Their breeding season starts from the third to the eighth lunar month every year. Those are the happiest months because we get to see them multiply, but it is also the time when my grandmother and I lose sleep and appetite, most afraid when the storks cry out loudly and then fly away in panic. That panic is often caused by thieves coming in to hunt and steal. During the breeding season, I stay up all night worrying about them, having to watch out for thieves. Many people say I am crazy, I am crazy... but I just do it with all my heart, coming from my feelings for the birds and storks. I see that they also have lives and feelings just like humans.”

With that thought in mind, over the years, whether it was raining, sunny, or when she was sick or tired, she still went to the garden regularly to look after the storks. Storks do not raise each other's young. Therefore, after heavy rains and strong winds, Mrs. Khiem diligently searched for baby storks that had fallen to the ground, trying to find a way to bring them back to their nests and their parents. If any were weak or unable to return to their nests, she would bring them home to warm them up, feed them shrimps and prawns, and raise them until they had enough feathers and wings and could find food for themselves, then she would release them back into the garden.

The story of Ms. Vu Thi Khiem devoting her whole life to protecting the forest and the storks spread to many people across the country. Realizing the value of the stork garden, since 2010, Song Lo district has built a concrete road from the left dike of Lo River to the stork garden and installed signposts. Every year, thousands of tourists come to the stork garden to visit and study. Vinh Phuc province's forest rangers have also supported her in protecting the forest and the birds.

War and time have taken away many things from Mrs. Khiem, but they cannot take away the virtue and spiritual strength, will and determination of the martyr's wife with a slender body, who devoted her whole life to "Hai Luu Bird Garden". Now Mrs. Khiem is at the age of "near death", but still "works like a stork" to protect the forest, protect the flock of thousands of wild birds, contributing to protecting the ecological environment. She is like "the great nanny of Hai Luu Bird Garden". Her thoughts and actions have inspired many people to voluntarily protect the forest and wild birds and animals, contributing to preserving a clean and sustainable natural environment.

Leaving "Hai Luu Bird Garden" at dusk, looking up at the sky and seeing thousands of birds and storks flying back in large flocks, making the midland landscape as beautiful and peaceful as in a fairy tale, I suddenly thought: This is a precious gift that "mother nature" and Ms. Vu Thi Khiem not only gave to Song Lo district, Vinh Phuc province, but also to all of us.

With her contributions to environmental protection, Ms. Vu Thi Khiem has been awarded many certificates of merit, medals, and environmental awards by the People's Committee of Vinh Phuc province and ministries and branches. In particular, in 2024, Ms. Vu Thi Khiem was honored to be voted as one of the 25 typical examples nationwide in "Studying and following Ho Chi Minh's ideology, morality, and style" with the theme "Innovation and development".

Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/phong-su-dieu-tra/cuoc-thi-nhung-tam-guong-binh-di-ma-cao-quy-lan-thu-16/vuon-chim-hai-luu-cua-nguoi-vo-liet-si-826766