Soldiers from Military Unit 1 help villagers in Nậm Vì Commune, Mường Nhé District, Điện Biên Province repair roads. — VNA/VNS Photo Xuân Tiến

ĐIỆN BIÊN — It was early in the morning when Nậm Vì Commune was still engulfed in fog, when villagers woke up and gathered to say goodbye to soldiers from Điện Biên Province’s Military Staff Committee.

The soldiers had helped locals to repair roads, build houses and bridges, even work on the farms over the past month, and had become close friends.

Now it was difficult for the villagers to say goodbye.

A month ago, soldiers from Military Unit 1, Regiment 741, were assigned to protect the border in Điện Biên’s Mường Nhé District, and give a new look to the poor area.

Nậm Vì Commune in Mường Nhé District is an extremely disadvantaged area with a high ratio of poor households. Access to the village is limited due to poor-quality roads.

It also borders China and Laos, making security complicated.

The soldiers were dispatched there to make a change.

They moved between every remote area of the village to safeguard local security.

The soldiers, local authorities and young people also helped the villagers build a 10m wooden bridge across a stream, and cleaned up residential areas.

In Huổi Lúm Village, the soldiers repaired nearly 5km of roads and fixed classrooms, while building wooden houses for five families as well as cultivating more than 5,000sq.m of rice and 1,000sq.m of vegetables.

In their free time, the soldiers took part in local entertainment activities.

This also provided a chance to talk and share. Military Unit 1 and local authorities shared Party and State policies and laws to the villagers, raising their awareness of national security.

Major Trần Kim Anh, deputy head of Military Unit 1, said: “We would not have been able to accomplish our tasks without the help of local authorities and the ethnic minority community.”

Lò Văn Xuân, chairman of Nậm Vì Commune’s People’s Committee, said in only a short time, the soldiers had left an impression on the villagers. They not only completed the task of protecting border security, but also joined community activities with villagers, consolidating trust in the armed forces. — VNS