Each family has a solid house; children born in resettlement housing; red-tiled schools and full of the red flag with a yellow star in the center, these are new images full of life in Bang La Residential Area in Tra Leng commune, Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province, three years after the serious landslide in 2020.

Peace after the storm

Through the gate of Bang La Residential Area, turn right to reach the apartments of Ho Thi Nan and Nguyen Minh Duc, both 32 years old. It was 8:00 a.m. and Duc was lying swinging in the hammock next to the door. He manages his family's grocery store while also looking after his little boy, about one year old, who is learning to walk. Right next to her, Nan was breastfeeding her baby.

On a 200m2 piece of land supported by the state after the landslide, Duc and Nan arranged the 37m2 house into 2 parts. Part of it is used as accommodation, part of it is made into a small grocery store selling some candies, snacks, and drinks to earn money to exchange for some salt and vegetables.

The house of Ho Thi Nan (1991) and Nguyen Minh Duc (1991) in Bang La Residential Area.

Duc shared that recently, he and his wife had just received a loan of VND 50 million (USD 2.075) from the district policy bank to raise goats, cultivate fields and buy and sell. He hopes for favorable weather and smooth trade to be able to develop his family's economy.

Talking about her painful past, Nan doesn't seem to have forgotten."Before, my family also had a three-room wooden house, and we lived in happiness. At 2:00 pm on October 28, 2020, rain and flood suddenly struck. I lost everything, my husband died in the stream, the house collapsed in the landslide. I myself also had a broken collarbone lying in the deep forest and was rescued by rescuers the next day."

After the storm, Nan has now rebuilt her life. She moved in with Duc and gave birth to a one-year-old son. Every day, he took care of the child so she could go to the forest to tend cinnamon and herd goats. The cinnamon garden has been planted for three years and baby goats are newly purchased. Asked about her dream, Nan smiled, saying that she just needs to be healthy to raise children and gradually try to do other things.

In the same block as Nan, Tran Thi Lieu, born in 1983, a Bh'noong ethnic person, shared that in 2020, when her family had just finished building a 100m2 wooden house worth about VND 300 million (USD 12.450) for a few months after floods and erosion struck.

Her husband - the main breadwinner in the family - was swept away by strong floodwaters and his body's never found. She and children escaped death but My Chau - the eldest daughter - broke her leg, and the second daughter, My Kim, broke her collarbone; Lieu suffered fractures to her shoulder and shin bones.

Tran Thi Lieu's young grandchildren play in front of the new house.

Lieu's house in Bang La Can Residential Area is divided into two rooms, inside the house there is a refrigerator to store things for the baby and a speaker to sing for entertainment. My Kim's one-year-old son is taking his first steps.

“Now storms are no longer scary. Right in front of the house is the school that later we will send My Kim's children to school. We also have a field planted with more than 5,000 cinnamon trees about 20 years old; two acacia gardens are about to harvest. It's good that life is temporarily stable like that," Lieu said.

Policy benefits people

Ho Van De, a Bh'noong village elder in Tra Leng Commune, and his wife Ho Thi Hong, born 1940, have five children. Two kids died in the landslide two years ago, and the family also lost all their assets, money, and house in the swirling floodwaters.

Bang La residential area (Tra Leng commune, Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam) is full of children's laughter.

With the attention of the Party and State, and the support of the local government, De and local people were moved to a resettlement area 7km away from their old residence and were supported to build new houses, infrastructure of electricity, along with basic infrastructure – power and clean water supply systems, preschool and roads.

De's family was supported VND 180 million (USD 7.470) to build a house of 200m2. The house was handed over only one year after the landslide. Grandparents received a house before Tet (Lunar New Year) to quickly recover from the severe natural disaster and build an altar for their deceased family members. In addition, De and residents in the resettlement area were also received plant varieties such as jackfruit, guava, citrus; as well as buffaloes and cows for breeding.

"My husband and I are old and cannot work in the fields, so we're growing cinnamon now. The State also supports cows for my family to raise," De said.

According to Phan Quoc Cuong, chairman of Tra Leng Commune People's Committee, initially, Bo De village - the landslide area had 14 households, 11 houses with 54 people. The landslide caused the collapse of all 11 houses, 23 people died, in which 12 bodies never found. In total, more than 30 households were swept away in Bo De and Tak Pat villages.

After the landslide occurred, the military and other forces of the district and province focused on creating new stable accommodations and livelihoods for people affected by natural disasters. After only three days, the construction of a new resettlement area was started by the government of Nam Tra My District. Local authorities conducted a survey and chose a land plot for resettlement.

On February 9, 2021, the commune handed over all 11 houses to people in Bo De village and on April 30, 2021 handed over 25 houses to Tak Pat village, 36 households in total. Most of them are Bh'noong ethnic group.

The kindergarten in the Bang La Residential Area (Tra Leng commune, Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam) is very spacious and clean.

People are supported with houses, and provided with essential equipment such as electricity, and water, among others. Besides, the locality also mobilizes sponsors to support people with their initial living costs.

Military Region V, in addition to making efforts to search for missing people, and building houses, adopted eight orphans up to the age of 18. Military Region V also continues to support and create conditions for work.

Regarding livelihood, after resettlement, people continue to cultivate in the previous land by planting cinnamon, and growing areca fruit, and fruit trees. Currently, on average, each household has one to two providers, with income from VND 40-50 million (USD 1.660- 2.075) per year.

“Regarding the basic living conditions of the people, they have basically stabilized, however, the Department and district continue to support vocational training, production conditions, job creation, and school placements for children... Currently, there is one student who has just graduated from university and five children are going to school," Cuong added.

A corner of Bang La Residential Area.

Bang La residential area currently consists of 624 households with 2,890 people. New stable accommodations have ensured daily life. Old wounds have healed. Children - new life has blossomed on the newly built land. The forests of cinnamon, acacia, and jackfruit have come to the harvest season. People here want to forget the old story, want to be supported with more livelihoods such as seeds, seedlings, and output for products. Hopefully, there will be buses to pick up goods from Bang La Residential Area soon.

Exhibition About Hoang Sa Inspires Youth in Quang Nam The exhibition "Youth with the homeland's sea and islands" in Quang Nam province is one of many activities to celebrate Vietnam Sea and Islands Week ...

Experience Dawn At The Largest Fishing Market In Quang Nam When the sun first rises behind the mountains and hundreds of fishing boats approach the shore of Tam Tien Beach, tourists can witness the lovely ...

Tam Thanh Fish Sauce Craft Village: Developing Local Economy People use fresh anchovies caught in the waters of Tam Thanh (Quang Nam), process them according to the traditional secrets of indigenous people, without adding ...