Viet Nam News
By Khieu Tu
We recently visited Trung Son Village, one of the areas in Thanh Hoa Province most heavily affected by severe flooding last August.
Just six months after the flood, the village has come back to life, with new stilt houses and red sheet metal roofs appearing through the green bamboo forest.
Red flags hang along the path to the hamlet – a colourful welcome unimaginable just a few months ago.
Households that were devastated by the high water are now ready to welcome the coming Tet (Lunar New Year) festival.
Dinh Thi Dung from the village’s Chieng Hamlet recalls: “When fierce floodwaters rushed into the hamlet last August, my family tried our utmost to run away. All of our belongings that we had collected over our lives were washed away. After the flood, we had nothing, including food to eat. At that time we did not dare to think about Tet.”
“Fortunately, thanks to assistance from authorities and donors, we have been given food, blankets, a plot of land and materials to rebuild our house. Soldiers stationed in the province’s Quan Hoa District arrived to help us build the house,” Dung said, noting that her family’s life is now stable.
“We have access to electricity and safe water. We’ve been given a TV set and built a bathroom and septic toilet. We grow vegetables in our garden and raise chicken to welcome Tet which is approaching,” she said.
Dung’s neighbour Ha Van Neu’s family is preparing to settle at their new home which is located in a safe area.
“In the past, we faced many difficulties because we lived far from our neighbours in remote and low areas. Now the community lives in a safe place. It’s more convenient to help each other. And the most important thing is that we are not scared of floods any longer.
“We were moved by the support. We thanked authorities and donors for their help,” Neu said.
Vi Van Dien, the village chairman, told us that hundreds of houses were washed away or damaged by flood. Locals struggled with hunger and disease.
“Thanh Hoa provincial and district authorities directed us to set up four new areas for resettlement in the Po, Pao, Chieng and Co Me hamlets. Each household is granted 225 sq.m of land to build a house and a garden and VND75 million (US$ 3,200) for those whose homes were destroyed,” Dien said.
Locals who had to move were given VND40 million per house, he said.
Truong Nho Tu, chairman of Quan Hoa District, said to date the district had received VND14 billion ($603,000), 57,500 kg of rice, 4,720 boxes of instant noodles, 7,320 sets of books and many other items from donors.
As many as 360 households had benefited from the State’s budget, receiving between VND15 million and VND 75 million per family, he said.
In addition, local authorities had just launched a programe named "Compassionate Tet" by inaugurating a Red Cross House, a bridge, and launched medical check-ups and granted medicine free of charge for locals.
“A humanitarian fair with many cheap and free goods was held to serve locals while volunteers from other areas have arrived to wrap banh chung (traditional sticky rice cake) for poor families,” Dien said
“We hope that with effective help from society, flood victims in Trung Son Village can have an enjoyable Tet, creating more motivation for them to rebuild and stabilise their lives,” he said. VNS