Today, husband and wife Ho Van Soon and Ho Thi Tu with their young children in Tra Bung village, Tra Phong commune, Tra Bong district, Quang Ngai province moved to a new home. Tu’s mother-in-law came from the other side of the hill early to help the couple prepare tea and water to welcome guests. Solid four-level house built on an old cottage with full living room, living room and kitchen.
With a support of VND 50 million, the couple soon borrowed more to build a dream house. As the second poorest household in the village, living day by day with a small cinnamon garden and hired farming, soon I don’t know when I will have a house to avoid rain and wind in this harsh mountainous area. Returning to the new home, now the couple only takes care of their children and saves money to pay off their debts.
“I live far away, so I have a lot of money to build a house, and I can’t save it in time. Now that I can help, borrow more, I’ll be better. Just worry about doing business, don’t worry about it anymore,” Ho Van Soon said.
A few kilometers away, going through the inter-village road, passing the houses at the end of the hamlet to the house of Mr. and Mrs. Ho Van Dong. Tet has come, but the rain is still pouring down the mountain, making the road to the mountainside residential cluster more muddy. The new house of Mr. Dong and his wife built next to the old dilapidated house. With a support of 50 million VND, Mr. Dong built a small house with enough places to live for his wife and children. Part of the old house is a kitchen to save living space. He and his wife have a cinnamon garden of more than a hundred roots, and they work as hired workers just enough to get through the day.
Nearly 50 years old, the couple still does not have a small, solid house to avoid the sun and wind. This year, celebrating Tet at a new home, he and his wife doubled the joy. “There is no money to build a house, a cinnamon garden, and a job to earn enough to eat. I’m very happy to help 50 million. Today, I can receive a house to celebrate Tet”, Mr. Ho Van Dong smiled happily.
Donating houses to households in Tra Bung village, Tra Phong commune, Tra Bong district. (Photo: DONG HUYEN)
Tra Bung village, Tra Phong commune, Tra Bong district has 175 households, there are 142 poor households. More than 40km from the center of Tra Bong district, the road to Tra Bung village is far away, especially in the rainy and windy season. Far from the center of the district and commune, the people’s conditions for accessing services and doing business are difficult. “It is difficult for people to get out of poverty with the state’s attention and support, but it’s very difficult to be self-sufficient. When Tet has a new house, not only the family is happy, but the people in the village are also happy,” said Tra Bung village head Ho Van Ut.
Tra Phong commune was originally the center of the old Tay Tra district of Quang Ngai province, after merging into Tra Bong district, Tra Phong became the western central commune of Tra Bong district. There is no longer an administrative center, the life and welfare of people in the old district faces many difficulties. The villages and communes of the old district are further away from the new district center, so the conditions for accessing services and trade are more closed.
Supporting the remote areas, especially the merged districts, the local people’s lives are still struggling and poor, the functional branches are trying to take care of the social security for the people. In 2022, the Social Policy Bank of Quang Ngai province will coordinate with local authorities in mountainous districts to support the construction of 20 new houses of solidarity for the poor in mountainous Quang Ngai province, of which four are for the villagers. Tra Bung, Tra Phong commune, one of the attractive areas of Tra Bong district. New houses have just been completed in time for the poor families in the village to welcome the New Year.
“After the Covid 19 epidemic, the life of people in the mountainous areas, especially in the area merged with the district, was more difficult. We coordinate with the authorities of mountainous districts, especially interested in building houses for poor people in the mountainous areas. People have returned to live and celebrate Tet in their new home,” shared Mr. Dang Quang Lam, Deputy Director of the Quang Ngai Provincial Bank for Social Policies.