The pagoda connects people in the village and hamlet

Located at the foot of Mo Coi Mountain, Sa Lon Pagoda is one of 15 Khmer Theravada Buddhist pagodas in O Lam Commune. Not only is it a place for religious activities, the pagoda is also a bright spot in the movement of the whole people uniting to build a cultural life.

Venerable Chau Son Hy mobilized people to contribute funds and working days to concrete roads in the hamlets and villages. Photo: MY HANH

Caring for the lives of Khmer people

For many years, Venerable Chau Son Hy - Deputy Head of the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the province, Abbot of Sa Lon Pagoda, together with the monks and priests in the pagoda, has been running the worshiping place, guiding Buddhists in studying and practicing Buddhism. Venerable Chau Son Hy is the bridge between Buddhist followers and the local government. With his prestige, Venerable propagates and educates Khmer people to comply with the Party's guidelines, policies and laws of the State, to work hard to escape poverty; not to let relatives and children participate in social evils.

During the days when Khmer people gathered at the pagoda, the monks coordinated with the People's Committee of Sa Lon hamlet and the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of the commune to disseminate policies and laws related to beliefs, religions, land, and immigration across the border. In addition, the monks also updated the newly promulgated laws, encouraged people to comply with traffic safety, prevent and fight crimes, and be vigilant against the plots of bad elements to lure and bribe, causing division in the great national unity bloc.

As the center of activities for the village, Sa Lon Pagoda also connects philanthropists with local authorities to care for the poor. Every year, the pagoda mobilizes and gives more than 1,500 gifts to Khmer people and children. Since the beginning of 2025, the pagoda has distributed more than 1,000 gifts and built 3 houses for poor households. "We take care of people so that they have food and clothing, call on well-off households to share with households in difficult circumstances, build charity houses and solidarity houses," said Venerable Chau Son Hy.

As a prestigious person in the ethnic minority area, Venerable Chau Son Hy and the Executive Committee of the Vietnam Buddhist Sangha in the province and Tri Ton district (old) mobilized Buddhists and monks to contribute funds and working days to upgrade and repair rural roads and lighting projects in villages and hamlets. The result of the past 5 years is that 10 large and small roads in the hamlet and the Sa Lon Canal road have been concreted, with a total length of more than 3km, costing more than 1.1 billion VND and nearly 14,100 working days. Wherever the road is completed, the pagoda mobilizes people to plant ornamental flowers and register for garbage collection to ensure environmental sanitation.

Heritage conservation

The Khmer people have a rich heritage of culture, art, and spiritual life. In order to promote and preserve these values, for many years, Sa Lon Pagoda has organized appropriate activities to teach the younger generation to preserve them. During the summer, the pagoda organizes classes for 150 students of all ages. In addition to learning to write, the children are educated about ethics and introduced to the typical cultural features of the Khmer people such as: traditional dances, pentatonic orchestras...

In 2024, Sa Lon Pagoda coordinated with the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism (formerly An Giang province) to organize a class to teach pentatonic music to 14 Khmer youths and a class to teach palm leaf engraving techniques to 11 monks. Venerable Chau Son Hy said that the course is important in preserving the cultural identity of the Khmer people, serving tourism development, contributing to enriching the treasure trove of traditional music and culture.

“O Lam commune has a large Khmer population. In Sa Lon hamlet, Venerable Chau Son Hy actively cooperates with the local government in mobilizing Khmer people to well implement the Party's guidelines and the State's policies and laws. In particular, the socialization work to care for people's lives has been promoted, the movement of the whole people uniting to build a cultural life, the national target program on sustainable poverty reduction, building new rural areas, and beautifying and beautifying villages and hamlets has been well implemented,” said Mr. Huynh Chau Soc - Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee of O Lam commune.

MY HANH

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/ngoi-chua-gan-ket-dong-bao-trong-phum-soc-a463248.html