*The model of Tan Hoa parish
Tan Hoa parish in Ea Tieu commune (Cu Kuin district) has set a bright example in the new-style rural area building movement in Dak Lak, with local Catholics donating their own land to build roads and money to pave all roads in the parish. Their contribution has given a facelift to the entire local landscape.
The parish proves itself to be a leader in following the teaching of Pope Francis that Vietnamese Catholics should be good citizens and patriots, and should accompany the nation in building a prosperous and happy country.
Chairman of the parish’s council Nguyen Quang Huy said the parish has more than 1,000 households with over 5,650 Catholic followers. During the past years, local residents have always united and participated in the movement “all people unite to build new-style rural areas, civilized urban areas and to be good in both life and religion.”
According to Huy, local parishioners donated land and more than 7 billion VND (about 302,000 USD) in 2019 to concretise local roads with a total length of over 10km.
“All roads and alleys in the parish have been paved with our own resources, creating a new face for rural areas in the parish and bringing joy to all families,” he said.
The dignitary explained that the material and spiritual life of parishioners have been improved remarkably over the years, which encouraged local residents to contribute more to joint cause. Besides supporting the building of roads, parishioners also actively engaged in charitable activities helping those in disadvantaged circumstances not only in the parish but also in other localities, and took the initiative in protecting the local environment.
Happy with the changes in the rural landscape, Hoang Vinh Son, a resident in hamlet 1 shared that the current clean and beautiful roads in the parish had been made with contributions of land and labour of local residents.
“We are aware that good roads will promote economic development and lift the image of the homeland, so when the parish priest and council made the appeal, we responded enthusiastically. Some households even contributed tens of millions of dong to the work, and the completion of the roads before the 2019 Christmas season make us very happy,” he said.
*Building new-style rural areas
Standing Vice Chairman of the Committee for Catholic Solidarity of Dak Lak province Duong Van Tue said the province is home to a large Catholic community with more than 223,440 followers. In 2019, local Catholics have made great contributions to the drive on building new-style rural areas and civilized urban areas. Besides, they have played an active role in charitable activities, he said.
According to statistics of the province’s Committee for Catholic Solidarity, Catholics in Dak Lak have donated more than 6 billion VND to social activities, including building 29 houses for the needy valued at more than 900 million VND and contributing nearly 3 billion VND to fund study encouragement activities, free classes and scholarships for poor children.
Tue said in the time ahead, the committee plans to continue promoting patriotic emulation campaigns among local Catholics, thus joining the nation in the cause of Doi Moi, and at the same time encourage more charitable activities to help people in need.
VNA/VNP
