After many years of hardship, the lives of ethnic minority people in Phu Giao district have been stabilized. This result has came from the attention & support of the local authorities at all levels and the efforts by the local people.
Appearance of role-models
The lives of ethnic minority people in Phu Giao district’s communes of An Binh, Tam Lap, Tan Hiep, An Thai, An Linh, Phuoc Sang, An Long…have been changed remarkably with infrastructure on development. Many specious houses have loomed large across the communes.
An Binh commune is an
outstanding locality in the task of the district’s hunger eradication and
poverty reduction. In 2013, the number of poor households in the commune reduced
to 26. According to Vo Van Loi, Vice-Chairman of the communal People’s
Committee, having ethnic minority households with the annual income of VND50mln
was very rare five years ago. There are now many ethnic minority households
with the annual income of between VND50mln and VND200mln. The households of
Nguu Thi Dung, Kim Minh Thanh…are typical example for this. 
Many children of ethnic minority people now attend Phu Giao district’s Vocational Training School
In Tan Hiep commune, Dam Van Thao, a Tay ethnic minority resident is very famous for rising up out of poverty. Thanks to the attention and help of the local authorities at all levels, his five-member family overcame hardship and secured a better life. Each member now owns a rubber garden of 4-8 hectares with the annual income of hundreds of millions of dong.
Similarly, La Van Su, a San Chi ethnic minority resident is a typical example in economic development in Tam Lap commune. He said that after many years of hardship, his family rose up out of poverty and got rich thanks to rubber tree growing. Seeing his success, many households in the commune have changed to developing this model, helping them stabilize their lives and rise up for wealth.
Fish and fishing-rod
The change in the lives of ethnic minority people in Phu Giao district is a breakthrough in accordance with the goal of “giving them fishing-rod, not fish”.
So far, Phu Giao district has built a road in the resettlement area for ethnic minority people in An Binh commune. The road has a total length of more than 10km with total investment capital of more than VND6.5bln. Under the Government’s Program 135, the district has helped the local ethnic minority people stabilize their lives. The district has provided them with many support policies. In 2013, the district supported clean water works for 208 ethnic minority households with a total expense of more than VND1.6bln; generated jobs for 18 households with VND360mln; built 5 great unity houses for needy households. Many training courses on techniques in cultivation and animal husbandry were also organized for the local ethnic minority households.
Doan Van Dong, Vice-Chairman of Phu Giao district’s People’s Committee said that thanks of the attention and investment of the Party and State, infrastructure systems in the areas of ethnic minority people in the district have been improved. Besides, they have been supported for building houses and provided free medical check-ups and medicine… Many effective production models have also appeared across the district.
The district has also paid more attention to the local ethnic minority people in the fields of health, education and culture. As of late 2012, there were 50 ethnic minority students at universities, 46 at colleges, 72 at junior colleges. The rate of ethnic minority pupils with good results in study was very high. Many gifts worth VND200,000 each were also presented to the local ethnic minority pupils at their meetings annually organized by the district. In terms of healthcare, many charity delegations provided free medical check-ups, medicine and gifts for the local ethnic minority people over the past time.
Mr.Dong added that the district has so far organized many cultural activities for the local ethnic minority people, helping them conserve and promote Vietnamese cultural identities. The district has also called for ethnic minority Youth Union members to actively mobilize their families to conserve Vietnamese cultural identities…
Reported by Thien Ly-Translated by K.T
