(VOVworld) – Among ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands, senior people are the most prestigious people. While implementing the new rural development program, they have been active in communicating Party and State policies to the people and encouraging them to come together, engage in production, and promote internal strength for a better life and prosperous homeland. Reporter The Thang looks at the contributions made by senior villagers together with the administration and people to build new rural areas in Ea H’leo district, Dac Lac province.


70-year-old Ma Nhat of Choa hamlet in Dlye Yang commune, has been very active in local work. He regularly visits families in the hamlet to encourage them to get involved in building the new rural areas. He was the first to donate money to build roads and many families followed his example. Since 2011, apart from the state budget, 200 households in Choa hamlet have contributed 15,000 USD for the development of rural roads. Mr. Ma Nhat said his hamlet now has paved roads and a spacious communal house. “As a patriarch, I want to improve people’s living conditions. I have explained the Party guidelines and State policies so that they can understand and follow them.”

Patriarch Ma An, of Dung A hamlet, Ea Khal commune, has been a vanguard in emulation movements and the new rural areas building program. In order to persuade other people, his family strived to excel in production to become better-off and contribute to the community. He and his children have worked hard on a 3-hectare farm of coffee and pepper trees and a fish pond to earn 30,000 USD per year. Ma An said: “Assisting our neighbors to develop production is a policy of the State so I wanted to help people in my hamlet. I also encourage people to develop production, and send their children to school, in order to teach young people now to behave well.”

Tran Vinh, Vice Secretary of Ea H’leo district’s Party Committee, said prestigious senior villagers have built on their role and responsibilities to become a moral support to households. “We’ll continue to guide patriarchs and hamlet chiefs to inspire people to work harder and ensure local security. They will help improve people’s living conditions in particular and the district’s social economy in general.”

Ea H’leo district has 53 ethnic group hamlets. Despite the various difficulties in implementing the new rural development program, the respective hamlet chiefs and patriarchs have actively joined with local people in order to build a better life.