"The push" for Van Khanh to escape poverty

Overcoming hairpin bends and steep passes, we arrived at Van Khanh hamlet, Van Lang commune - where over 60% of the population are ethnic minorities. Under the honey-like autumn sunshine, we were able to feast our eyes on the rice fields full of flowers signaling a bountiful harvest season. Along both sides of the road were acacia forests and cool green tea fields. Adding to the peaceful and prosperous picture were sturdy roofs hidden among the green of trees and fruits.

Concentrate on helping Van Lang escape poverty

Van Khanh is one of two hamlets in the province awarded a Certificate of Merit by the Prime Minister for implementing the National Target Program on socio -economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the 2021-2025 period.

People thank the Party and the Government .

In a house that still smelled of fresh paint, Mr. Luu Tien Sinh, 68 years old, slowly told us about his journey out of poverty: My wife and I have 4 children, our life depends only on a few fields of rice and poultry farming. Raising the children to adulthood is already hard, I only dream of having a good economy and building a solid house. But for many years it has not been possible.

From the National Target Program for Economic Development in Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, my family received support of 46 million VND and a preferential loan of 40 million VND from the Social Policy Bank (loan period of 15 years). With the savings of many years, I was able to build a solid house, without worrying about unusual weather.

Mr. Sinh's family's level 4 house has a usable area of ​​nearly 100 square meters, with a total construction cost of about 400 million VND. In addition to the State's support, his relatives and children also helped their parents to make the house more solid. After escaping poverty, in 2025, his family was supported with a sow cow and a water tank for daily use.

Mr. Sinh excitedly boasted: Not only my family but also 7 poor households in the hamlet received support for house building from the National Target Program for Economic Development of Ethnic Minority and Mountainous Areas, along with financial support from the Provincial Fatherland Front Committee. The people are very grateful to the Party, the Government, the provincial and communal leaders.

Following Mr. Sinh's introduction, we visited the homes of Mr. Tran Van Dai and Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thoa, two of the households that received support to build houses and escape poverty. With the support of the Program, Mr. Dai's family has promoted the cultivation of new tea varieties with high productivity, quality, and value, and planted forests to increase income. As for Mrs. Nguyen Thi Thoa's family, in addition to growing tea, she also raises cows and goats on a family farm and has also escaped poverty.

What impressed us most was that Van Khanh had a spectacular breakthrough in poverty reduction. If in 2021 the hamlet had 45/106 poor households, accounting for 42.45%, then by 2025 there would be only 1 poor household, accounting for 0.94%.

With this result, Van Khanh is one of two hamlets in Thai Nguyen province to receive a Certificate of Merit from the Prime Minister for its outstanding achievements in implementing the National Target Program on socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas for the period 2021-2025.

Proactive self-improvement

Looking at the above results and the reality in the locality, we realize that to have a strong change in poverty reduction work in Van Khanh, the role of the staff at the grassroots level is very important. When the Program was deployed to the locality, the hamlet established an Implementation Management Board, headed by the hamlet Party Secretary.

Talking to us, Mr. Duong Van Phuc, Secretary of the Van Khanh hamlet Party Cell, emphasized: Every month at the Party Cell meeting, we review the results of the implementation of the previous month's resolution, including counting the implementation of the goals of each project according to the Program. Thanks to the effective use of these resources and the efforts of families to overcome difficulties in economic development, people's lives have become less difficult, many households now have food and savings.

As for Van Khanh hamlet chief Luu Bich Truong, he informed: We have organized a meeting to disseminate information to all people about the contents of the 10 projects of the Program. At the same time, we have organized a review and selection of eligible subjects to participate in the projects. The contents of the review and selection are made public, ensuring the right subjects are not overlapped, and are implemented in accordance with the guiding regulations.

The hamlet has deployed to all people, poor and near-poor households in need of support to register for support requests, organize public meetings and prepare documents including meeting minutes and a list to send to the Commune People's Committee for synthesis and review and submit to superiors for approval according to regulations.

From the supported sow, after nearly 1 year, Luu Tien Sinh's family had another calf.

With the above approach, in the period of 2021-2025, Van Khanh hamlet has successfully implemented a model to support the development of the cattle breeding community, with a total of 33 cows, with a total State support budget of 700 million VND. In addition, the hamlet also implemented clean water support projects, production development support models, livelihood diversification, and livestock restructuring.

In addition, from the capital source of the Social Policy Bank, 2 loan groups of the hamlet have coordinated to disburse with the total outstanding debt currently over 8 billion VND. With the loan, people focused on renovating 7 hectares of tea, intensively cultivating 150 hectares of forest, expanding livestock and poultry farming to increase income.

There is only one poor household left in the hamlet, this is a family with special circumstances, the head of the household is no longer of working age, currently raising a deaf daughter and 1 grandchild. In this case, the hamlet will continue to mobilize organizations and people to support the family to reduce difficulties.

Leaving Van Khanh when the sun set behind the mountains, thinking about the village chief's words before saying goodbye, we felt happy: Van Khanh's houses are now solid, children can go to school, and there are no more temporary or dilapidated houses in the community. In particular, the mindset of waiting and relying on others has gradually been replaced by a proactive and self-reliant spirit in economic development, building a prosperous and sustainable life.

Source: https://baothainguyen.vn/tin-moi/202509/cu-hich-de-van-khanh-thoat-ngheo-f3c6571/