The joy of sharing love

Be devoted to your people

Early in the morning of the weekend, the mountain wind carried a drizzle. In the cold, a convoy of vehicles followed each other through narrow, winding, bumpy roads, full of rocks and muddy "eels", heading to the Hong Thai Border Control Station (A Luoi), bordering Se Sap village, Ka Lum district, Se Kong province, neighboring Laos. That was the convoy of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee (VFFC) of A Luoi district; the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) of the district, border guards and benefactors, carrying 3 tons of rice, 500 kg of salt and essential goods. "No matter how bad the weather is, we cannot "back off" because the people of the neighboring village are waiting for us," said Ms. Le Thi Mai Loan, Vice Chairwoman of the VFFC of A Luoi district.

The rain gradually lightened and then stopped. The sun began to shine on the forest leaves, but that could not make the mud any less sticky. They reached a rather steep slope; at the top of the slope was a bend like an elbow with many large rocks on the muddy ground. The truck loaded with food and necessities slid back, swayed and tilted, and could have fallen over. The forces gathered together and bent their backs to push. The shouts of “One, two, three, go!” rang out repeatedly. After each shout, the truck moved forward a little, the border guards quickly stepped on a piece of tree trunk to hold the wheels. Thirty, forty minutes, an hour passed, no one paid attention to the time, until the truck was pushed through the swamp. Their shirts were soaked with sweat and stained with mud, but everyone still smiled brightly, because every grain of rice, every grain of salt, the salty love for the Se Sap people was still intact.

Sharing with the people of Se Sap

When the convoy arrived at Hong Thai Border Control Station, the sun had already “climbed” to the top of the hill. Motorbikes were parked neatly on the roadside and baskets were gathered on the green grass. The Se Sap people were waiting. There was a burst of tight handshakes. Everyone quickly helped the villagers tie their goods tightly onto the saddles. Bun Thoong, the head of Se Sap village, smiled brightly on his dark face, and said emotionally in Vietnamese: “Thank you, A Luoi friends, for being devoted to the Se Sap people! Thank you, Vietnam!”

The “iron horse” group loaded with rice and salt set off for Se Sap. The women carried heavy loads on their backs, uphill and against the sun with bright smiles, bringing a strange sense of peace.

Building trust

The road to the villages across the border: Se Sap, Ka Lo (Ka Lum district, Se Kong province); Co Tai (Sa Muoi district, Salavan province), Laos, is bumpy and arduous; for many years, these have been roads named "love".

Crossing steep passes to transport salt, rice... to the villagers

Sweat seeped down, the gravel softened, to promptly deliver nearly 700 gifts of necessities and 5 tons of rice, totaling nearly 400 million VND, by the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of A Luoi district in coordination with the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Committee of the district and border posts to Se Sap, Ka Lo, Co Tai, when you encountered difficulties in trading, due to social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Also in this year, the district Front, the Border Guard force (BĐBP) and units presented 250 gifts, worth more than 200 million VND to the people of Se Sap village.

In the following years, thousands of gifts of necessities, dozens of tons of rice and salt have been transported to the friendly villages in time, despite the harsh weather. Mr. Ho Dam Giang, Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee, Chairman of the People's Committee of A Luoi district informed: The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the district has coordinated very effectively with the border guards and the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha Committee of the district, connecting units, organizations and benefactors across the country to "join hands". Not only giving love to the people of A Luoi, that love goes beyond the border to the people of Lao villages, building increasingly strong trust in the hearts of friends.

Vice President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of A Luoi district, Ms. Le Thi Mai Loan, one of the "leaders" of the campaigns, connecting love, shared: "The real images of our trips to the people of the neighboring villages are the most authentic persuasion, the "key" to open up sympathy and understanding. Many benefactors and volunteer groups have agreed to share. More preciously, from then on, they proactively contacted us to give love to the people of Laos."

Rice, salt, necessities, essential items, and medicine are delivered to the people of neighboring villages after storms, floods, and natural disasters. In order to convey love in a timely manner, the Border Guard is the core force in the journeys that go through difficult journeys. During the storm and flood season, when it is muddy and cars cannot go, officers and soldiers have to "extra" food to the border control station, to the border gate or border marker by motorbike. The motorbikes "run out of chains", the officers and soldiers' uniforms are covered in mud, but the rice bags wrapped in several layers of plastic are still dry, a beautiful image that is engraved in the hearts of friends.

When talking about the hug and emotional tears of a Se Sap woman during her trip to a neighboring village to give gifts, Ms. Le Thi Mai Loan said in a low voice: "I tell you: The A Luoi government and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the district help the people of A Luoi, but they are also concerned about finding ways to help the people of the Lao villages bordering the border, eliminate hunger and reduce poverty, and develop the economy and society." The Chairman of the A Luoi District People's Committee also said that it is a political task, promoting people-to-people diplomacy. Fostering love is to preserve and build the special friendship between Vietnam and Laos.

With the fundamental support from the provincial People's Committee (now Hue City) for decades, Lao villages bordering the two provinces of Sekong and Salavan, Laos have been helped to build solid houses, schools, bridges "connecting the shores of joy", and develop socio -economically. Every year, A Luoi district coordinates with the Border Guard to help the people of the neighboring villages with many effective models of livestock and crop farming. In the past 5 years alone, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels have coordinated with units to implement many meaningful programs to help the neighboring villages, with a total value of 4 billion VND.

Every time I follow the Border Guard to Ka Lo village, Se Sap village, and am invited by the villagers to enjoy bananas, guavas, pineapples, and sweet sugarcane from their gardens and fields, from their sincere and simple feelings, I think about the strong, peaceful, stable, and developing border citadel that has been preserved and built from a journey of immeasurable love...

Quynh Anh