Hard and rough hands
“I want to organize a program that is both meaningful and entertaining for the villagers. There are a massive number of villagers participated in. Except for those with important work, everyone is eagerly waiting for village forums.”
The road from the center of Lac Son district to Trang Doi Hamlet, Yen Phu commune passes through corn fields. The boulders are dotted in the picture of rolling hills and mountains.
Five women gathered at the cultural house with loud laughter. Their clothes remained dirty due to work in the fields and gardens. Their hard and rough hands, a result of their back-breaking work, were hurriedly holding a pen and taking notes with a guffaw. While people kept talking about big things, these women talked about the little things in the most significant way. The significance can be seen not only in their enthusiasm to implement work, their generous smile but also their spirit of the toiled women who are attached to the fields and vegetable gardens.
Trang Doi Hamlet looks huge and difficult to travel, but in fact, it is convenient to connect because there are only a few families in the whole hamlet. The women laughed: "Once you succeed in mobilizing one citizen, you succeed in mobilizing the whole family!"
It is not a coincidence that these women are considered one of the most active and effective community groups in the project. Forums having their help will become a comedy that not only provides knowledge but also brings laughter to the villagers. Information on children's laws becomes memorable and easy to imprint lyrics as well. The women not only mobilized people to participate in their program but also actively invited interested and talented people to participate in organizing forums. Therefore, their community group received participation regardless of gender, age, qualifications, etc.
During professional training sessions, the project is always supported by a team of enthusiastic and dedicated experts. Besides sharing knowledge with the community group, experts and lawyers also give guidance and advice on how to implement. Each training session with different contents will provide an appropriate amount of knowledge to the community and equip them with additional skills, such as consulting skills, presentation skills, event organization skills, etc.
That is the key reason why community groups are gradually growing and getting stronger day by day. From the first village forum to the 3rd and 4th ones, the change is clearly visible. It comes from both the community group – the first executors and the response of villagers. Ms. Hau said: “Joining the project brought me many things, changing my way of life and making me ready to learn anytime. Thanks to the project, the villagers have become more united. In each village forum, people all speak and participate joyfully. Having chances to meet lawyers and experts makes them happy.”
The more programs are implemented, the more attention people pay. It is the active engagement of people, including active in participation, active in questioning, and active in seeking for help from project’s officer, that shows a sign of the project's success. Those small, simple changes have given great encouragement to the community group. Even children can now understand useful information such as the hotline of the National Call Center on Child Protection is 111. Some children proactively seek out community group members to ask for advice when suffering from school violence. While people kept talking about big things, these women talked about the little things in the biggest way. It is not just their enthusiasm to implement work, and their generous smile but also the spirit of those who are attached to the fields and vegetable gardens.
Ms. Vuon shared: “Working is very hard, thus I want to organize a program that is both meaningful and entertaining for the villagers. There are a massive number of villagers participated in. Except for those with important work, everyone is eagerly waiting for village forums.”
When telling the stories of their program implementation, everyone was happy and cheered. Those women who toil and moil, each one has their own stories and worries, but since participating in the project, they have gained positive changes.
For Ms. Xanh - a woman with the desire to take care of her family, a woman with a small joy when her grandson called out the first "grandma", joining the project simply gives her a chance to meet everyone and contribute to her homeland. Or for Ms. Bui Thi Hau - the head of the village, who experiences sparkling joy when her husband is no longer drunk, her dream is that no one in the village is drunk, and no man beats his wife and children. These women keep gathering together, joining hands with each other to execute programs and constantly develop their creativity for the next content.
The 5-line band - the community group of 5 women, together, brings a new perspective to their White Doi hamlet. It is the perspective of understanding and knowledge about domestic violence, children's rights, marriage, and family, etc. that everyone needs in life. Like the dream of Ms. Tham, Ms. Lan, the whole White Doi village wishes to learn more knowledge and skills to develop the economy and have a happy and prosperous life.
