Ba Canh. a Story of Revolutionary Development. - January 1, 1966

7/29/2019 Ba Canh. a Story of Revolutionary Development. - January 1, 1966

1/16

BAOA.I t i(C


2/16

INTRODUCTIONRevolutionary Development is a program of the

Government of Viet-Nam designed to defeat thecommunist aggression of the Viet Cong and transformthe Republic into a free. viable and enduring society.In concept. Revolutionary Development ties togetherall sides of the struggle: the military. political. economic.social and educational programs which aim toliberate the people from Viet Cong control. restore publicsecurity. and win the commitment of the people to progress for themselves and for their country. RevolutionaryDevelopment is. consequently. a program ofnationbuilding.first and foremost in the rural areas of Viet-Nam.

The following pages tell the story of how Revolutionary Development came in early 1966 to one obscure, discouraged little hamlet. Ba Canh. with the arrival of agovernment Rural Construction Group. The story beginsafter the military clearing alld securing operations hadbeen completed in the area. and relative peace had descended upon Ba Canh. With minor variations. it is a storybeing enacted in scores of villages and hamlets in four pri-orityareas of Viet-Nam today. And as Revolutionary Development gains momentum. it will be the story of atransformed Republic of Viet-Nam.

BtJ Canh' . ectrly-risers hetJd for work.

'/II

6-776 (16)


3/16

BA CANHA STORY OF REVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENTTHE HAMLET

Ba Canh is a neat, appealing hamlet 15 kilo-meters northwest of Qni Nhon, the seaport capital of Binh Dinh Province. The hectares of ricefields that almost surround the hamlet stretch al lthe way to the Na Mountains looming purplean d craggy in the distance. In the direction ofthe coast, weather worn Cham temples on hilltopperches ohserve like venerable sages the eventsof history around them. Centuries ago, the ChamEmpire thrived here and Ba Canh is literallybuilt on the ol d walls tbat bordered the ancientcivilization. The thatched-roof houses of BaCanh cluster together fo r the most part exceptfor a few atop scattered hillocks rising from thepaddies and accessible only by way of narrowfootpaths.

Until late 1965. Ba Canh wa s a contestedhamlet, directly controlled by neither the Government nor the Viet Congo The consequent fightingan d insecurity prompted more than half of theresidents of the hamlet to leave, refugees froma wa r wbich seemed to them unending and unendurable. Ba Canh seemed to be a dying hamlet.The population fell to less than 800, about half thenumber who lived there in happier times. Asmore homes were vacated, apathy and discouragement settled over tbe remaining residents.

Three bright, airy "ew classrooms built 0 " to the old school (left) by thepeople of Ba Canh are an invitation to learning to the hamlet's chilclren. 3


4/16

" ,,4

,THE SCHOOL. HuLDa Cauh though down wa s no t

'yet ,to ,b e ,counted out. There wa s still aspark: a coBCernfor ' .the ,children of theJmmlet. @ne day"n few months,.1lg o,tbe Deputy,Province, :Chief forBinh Dinh Province, MajorNguyen Va n Be, .came t o t b e ,hamlet an dsuggested .building 4hree -additional rooms on,to .tbe schooI.. Even with the decrease in popula'!ian,Abe school- w.as ,badly crowded and ru n down,and the people -had ileentalking f()r a.long time ofJhe -need.flr more..and larger class rooms. The Deputy Province'Ghief nutliner-ovince Cilief,hehas the.meanstotake action. in .. he soc.ial revolUtion he' andbis gov-

"esnR;lem .1IeIieFeml1sUake "Place in''V:iet-Nam. Majo r BemClvocates in the-strongest terms.wbat Iile calls.the other war,.ihe-more imp9tlanflw.ar: the strnggle to _Win fer "-he peoplC'-'Of, Viet,.Nam , an-oIJper-

. . bruity .to..earn. ~ a s u r e . d f tBe-good things that lifeha s to-offer.' A true'revolution must he lJased.on a4"eati.lltic'1lpprecialWnef th e needs and w.an1s.of th e"people. alllLfhe-people Of &-


5/16

Leamillif to read /JArl write is hart! work but rewarJing. 5


6/16

6

Major Nguyen Van Be, the dynamic DeputyProvince Chief for BinI. - Dinh, reviews thedevelopment plans for B a Canh.

The rice htJrvests carried in from the paddies ~by the women of the hamlet along .. sectionof Ba C..,.hs newly widened rotJdway.


7/16

Years of forgotten promises and brokendreams ha d left a strong skepticism among th epeople. Yet here was everything to gain, freedoman d self respect and a better way of life; an dwhat little they had now, they came to realize,could be lost if they did not take positive actionto save their home. Probably the most stirringaspect of all was that the success or failure of thedevelopment program would depend on the peoplethemselves. At last, they felt, they could play apart in determining their own destiny.

So, having arrived at this fork in the road,the people of Ba Canh took the new and challen-ging wa y an d embarked with great enthusiasmon the road to Revolutionary Development.THE WORK

They agreed that two days a week shouldbe spent working on improvement projects. Thistime would have to be taken from regular chores,but no one questioned the priority of the develop-ment program and no time was lost in getting itstarted. A road building project launched theactivities. The road which wound around a largeportion of the hamlet's perimeter was widenedfrom its original one meter width to two an d onehalf meters fo r a distance of almost three kilome-ters, something more than a pathway now. Alongthat road the women of the hamlet had, as longas anyone could remember, walked during theharvest time with huge bundles of newlv harvest-ed rice balanced across their shoulders. Theywalked straight ahead now, not sideways as 7


8/16

Rural Construction Group Leader, Vu Trong Hai, meets regularly withthe people to discuss projects and report on progress made.

~The women of Ba Canh carry rock fill to theirrigation project site to line the sandy banks andbed of the ditch.


9/16

Ba Can'" has a major construction project to repair anirrigation pipeline blown up four years ago by theViet Congo The line will take canal water underridge to the paddies on the far side.

Phon Nho whorec entl y returnedto the hamlet is 71,still has zest forwork. He wantsto leave somethingfor my children.

before wben the road was too narrow for tbeirwide burdens.

The work had begun. I t wa s the jo b now ofevery man, woman, and child to see that thethread of freedom was woven tightly into the newfabric of the hamlet. Group Leader Rai suggestedthat the people form a hamlet council with allresidents over the age of 18 as members. Theydid so and met to consider the election of fivepermanent advisors, responsible to the people an dworking on their behalf to coordinate activitiesin the important areas of education, self-defense,agriculture, economic affairs, and civic actionprojects. To provide for hamlet administration,the election of a hamlet chief and two deputieswas set fo r the near future. A consideration ofthe best candidates was uppermost in every mind.

The flame conlinued to grow. A bridge wasneeded to connect the east and west sectors of thehamlet separated by a floodway leading to therice paddies. A rude, narrow foot bridge hadserved as a rickety crossing during too many rainyseasons . As snccess breeds snccess, cooperationseems to beget cooperation. Through the help ofthe 9


10/16

Rural Construction Group. all of whose memberscall the Qui Nhon District their home. the TechnicalSchool in Qui Nhon volunteered to weld together tht

Ba Canh. a Story of Revolutionary Development. - January 1, 1966

Documents

Transcript of Ba Canh. a Story of Revolutionary Development. - January 1, 1966