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Dzao people transform their lives

  • 6 years after a land allocation program supported by CIRUM, the Dzao people of Bac Lang have transformed their lives. Hard work re-afforesting their land with acacia has paid off, with improved or new housing visible in the village.

    We recently visited our friends in the commune People’s Committee in Bac Lang, letting them know we now have an office in Dinh Lap, and to update them on our work. On behalf of the group, I shared with them the development of their relatives who participated in our training activities at our Farmer Field School in Huong Son district, Ha Tinh province and some activities of the members of Dinh Lap Forest Peoples Land Rights Network with core people from Bac Lang commune.
     
    They shared with us the changes taking place in their commune. In his story, Mr. Bao cheerfully said: “Dzao people have sold their acacia. This is one of the big results obtained from CIRUM project. Now looking at the Dzao villages, you can see here and there solid houses with new tiles. The money from building comes from acacia sales. Participating in the forest economy has really changed people’s lives in Bac Lang. Only one cycle of acacia has transformed the villages. Maybe after the second acacia cycle the village will have 100% solid houses”.
     
    He went on to mention a typical story of one of the villagers, Mr. Ly Van Than. “That is a drastic change. He was the only son in a Dzao family. His parents passed away when he was young. He was alone struggling with life but given the opportunity, he has made great progress. He sold his acacia to buy a piece of land, and move closer to the highway. He is very young and dynamic. Everyone really admires him”. He advised us to visit him.
     
    We were lucky as Mr Than was at home. We called him from afar and he appeared quickly in front of his yard with a smiling face. He is young, born in 1976. Our clashing hands and hugs made outsiders thinking that we knew each other for a long time, yet apart from our Mr. Tham, we were all meeting him for the first time.
     
    Leading us to his home, he put new tea in the tea pot, putting his old water pipe near the table and invited us to drink and smoke. He smiled and puffed deeply at the pipe and started to share everything we were interested in, from his work to his children and other social activities.
     
    Mr. Than said that he moved from Khe Cay to this place the previous year, after harvesting his 6 ha of acacia. Combining with the money obtained from selling his old house, he had 100 million dong. He bought seven Sao[1] (2520 m2) of uncultivated land from a household then cleared it for building his home and field. He saved two Sao for his house and 5 remaining Sao for lowland paddy rice. He also bought more land to conveniently and solidly link to the highway. Total investment for his whole facilities was approximately 3-400 million dong. It is not a small sum of money for a household two years earlier listed as a poor household in the commune. He said that if he had not been allocated 10 ha of forest land, he would never know how long the hard life of his family and his children would last.  Before the re-allocation he said that his life had been very difficult. Three children were at school age, and he had no lowland field and only infertile upland fields. Moreover, his house was located far away from the main road, making it impossible for him to open any services for extra income.
     
    Receiving land and him planting acacia offered a solution for fundamental changes in their lives. Their children were greatly encouraged. Apart from a new house and new field, he also bought a motorcycle, invested in a rice grater, agriculture drying oven and opened a shop to sell necessary agricultural materials. Now their eldest daughter had finished her secondary school and is learning at a college in Lang Son city. Their second son is studying at a District boarding school. He goes to school by a bicycle brought by his father with income derived his jelly selling. The youngest son is learning at a village school.
     
    Although the family is poor, Mr Than said his children were always eager to learn and did well at school. For example, his eldest daughter was awarded third prize in the province literature competition contest. Sharing with us, his face was bright with pride.
     
    He talked about growing and harvesting 6 ha of acacia in 2012, and now they have already grown the trees on the whole 10 ha allocated with a red book. He took us to his yard and showed us his field, kitchen, and his farm as well as rice harvested and dried in the yard. “All of this is a result of growing and selling acacia,” he further confirmed.
     
    There is no doubt that the ability to grow and sell acacia have made real changes to Dzao people’s lives. Although it takes several years of hard work, participating in the forest economy has been vital, and this is only possible with the official rights to manage and use the land.  It can be said that the poverty and hunger of the forest dwellers in Bac Lang area has ended.
     
    We shared the joy of Mr. Than and Bac Lang villagers, and seeing the results of their hard work and planning, we could not help admiring them. We made use of our time to discuss with him the necessity to share his experience with others when participating in the Forest Peoples Land Rights Network. He was happy and considered it his honor if the members of Dinh Lap Forest Peoples Land Rights Network gave him a chance.  Surely, he will have more opportunity to develop and share his experience with other people in the commune so that they can develop together. Saying goodbye to him, we wished him and Bac Lang people to be richer and happier day by day.

    Nguyen Van Su


    [1] A sao  is a traditional unit of measurement for area, typically 360m2 but up to 500min some places