Overcoming prejudice, building a new life

Get rid of bad customs and boldly do business

30 years ago, at the age of 14, Giang Thi Ha was at risk of becoming a victim of early marriage and incestuous marriage arranged by her family. However, she bravely fought back, freed herself and helped her younger sister escape from marrying a man of her own bloodline. Since then, Ha has strived to study, married someone of a different ethnicity and become a role model in the movement to encourage the Mong people to say no to early marriage and incestuous marriage.

Although she got married far away, Giang Thi Ha still returned to Nam Ma to work, devoting all her heart to the women's movement and party building in the locality. After nearly 15 years of working with the association, Giang Thi Ha not only inspired effective economic models but also became a solid bridge between the Party's policies and the local people. Nam Ma was famous for its native taro variety, but in the past, it was only grown spontaneously, no one thought about producing goods. Through persistent advocacy, Ms. Ha established a cooperative, built taro growing groups in Nam Ma and Nam Trang villages with 60 members. From planting, caring to harvesting, processing, and packaging, all were trained thoroughly. Thanks to that, Nam Ma taro became a 3-star OCOP product at the provincial level, creating jobs and increasing income for many families.

Ms. Giang Thi Ha (standing) participated in introducing and promoting the cooperative's taro products at the Van Ban district agricultural fair ( Lao Cai ) in 2025.

In the 2020-2025 term, the Party Committee of Nam Ma commune built a resolution with 8 main targets on economic development, in which the development of agriculture and forestry, expansion of forest planting area, and the development of taro trees are the spearheads of the locality that have been realized. Currently, Nam Ma commune maintains an output of about 120 tons of taro per year. The selling price of fresh taro ranges from 20,000-30,000 VND/kg, processed and vacuum-packed taro reaches 40,000 VND/kg. Not only bringing economic efficiency, but through practical models, Ms. Ha has gradually removed the deeply rooted backward ideological barriers, helping women boldly do business and participate in community activities.

Cultivating party development

Combining economic development with building grassroots party organizations is the motto that the Party Committee of Nam Ma commune persistently implements. In particular, Ms. Giang Thi Ha was assigned by the Party Committee to develop female party members, especially among women members. The difficulty at that time was that many people were hesitant, thinking that joining the Party was a distant thing, such as Ms. Sung Thi Anh in Nam Trang village who once thought "to join the Party, one must be very talented, highly educated and knowledgeable". Thanks to Ms. Ha's persistent encouragement, Ms. Anh gradually changed her thinking, became an active member, participated in the Executive Committee of the Women's Union of the commune, led movements to prevent and combat child marriage, promoted environmental sanitation, and improved living conditions for Mong families. It was from these specific actions that Ms. Anh had more opportunities to practice and strive to join the Party. Or like the case of Ms. Vang Thi Thuong in Nam Ma village, who used to be a primary school teacher, when she married into this village, Ms. Ha encouraged Thuong to promote her strengths and actively participate in social activities, becoming a promising source of young party members.

Ms. Giang Thi Ha (third from left) with her family and benefactors connected to give houses to members in need.

Understanding each person's circumstances, being flexible in propaganda and mobilization suitable for each target, that is the effective way that Ms. Ha applies. Thanks to the "slow and steady wins the race" method, Nam Ma has made a clear change in party development work. If the entire 2015-2020 term only recruited 3 party members, then in just the two years of 2022 and 2023, the commune has recruited 14 new party members, of which 11 are ethnic minority women, exceeding 100% of the resolution's target. Comrade Vu A Trung, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Council of Nam Ma commune affirmed: "Comrade Giang Thi Ha is a very active factor in propaganda and mobilization of women to implement the Party's policies, and is an important contributor to the results of party member development this term".

Nam Ma today has taken on a new look. With more than 600 households, the poverty rate has decreased to nearly 12%, the average income is more than 36 million VND/person/year, the production value of each hectare of cultivated land reaches more than 82 million VND. Ineffective rice and corn growing areas have been converted to grow taro, medicinal plants, and production forests, creating sustainable livelihoods for the people. 100% of the roads have been paved. Children go to school regularly, many of them pass university and college entrance exams. Backward customs in marriage, weddings, and funerals have also been gradually eliminated. Security and order have been maintained, with no criminal cases, drugs, or illegal exits for many years... These achievements include the active contributions of party members working as grassroots cadres such as Ms. Giang Thi Ha.

Article and photos: LE DUYEN

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Source: https://www.qdnd.vn/xa-hoi/dan-toc-ton-giao/vuot-qua-dinh-kien-dung-xay-cuoc-song-moi-827493