Nam Giang border guards wrap "Chung" cakes for donation.

Every day, soldiers at Nam Giang border guard station deliver meal boxes of rice, meat, fish, wild vegetables, and soup to Mrs. Hien Nhia, an especially poor, lonely elder living in a 20-square-meter house that the guards made for her in La Dee commune. In the days leading up to Tet, they also help Nhia clean her house and tend to her garden. These kind gestures have tugged on her heartstrings.

Nhia said, “The border guards help me a lot. I’ve got two good meals from them every day in the past five years. They visit me quite often. I’m moved by their tender care. I’m so thankful for the Party and State.”

Hien Nhia is given meal boxes every day.

The Nam Giang border guards also donate rice to other lonely elderly people and especially poor families. They coordinate with the local authorities to build charitable houses for the poor every Tet, helping to ease the burdens of ethnic minority people in border areas.

Lang Thi He of La Dee commune, who was sponsored money to build a new house, said, “We used to be extremely poor. Our lives have improved a lot. The border guards helped us build a house. We now just focus on developing our livelihoods. The border guards also give us rice and other foods for our Tet celebration. I’m so happy.” 

Lieutenant colonel Zo Ram Thuc, Party Secretary of Nam Giang border guard station, said border guards’ care for the locals, particularly at special occasions like Tet, painted a nice image of the border guards in the mind of everyone and won public support.

“Local people are very poor. We visit policy families every special occasion and take special care of lonely elderly people. We deliver meals every day to some and give rice to some others on a monthly basis. We donate our own money to help local people to show how much we care about them,” Thuc said.        

Tet gifts, worth 44,000 USD in total, have been presented this year by the border guards in Quang Nam province. They also hosted art performances and square sticky rice (Chung) cakes competitions, and offered free medical checkups and medicine.

Colonel Hoang Van Man, Political Commissar of the Border Guard Command of Quang Nam Province, said, “We’re tasked with defending Vietnam’s borders and coordinating with local authorities to provide locals a fulfilling celebration of the traditional lunar New Year. To many border guards who are on duty this Tet, enjoying this special holiday with border citizens is such a joy.”