Over 22,300 sturdy houses have been erected for poor households, near-poor households, and policy families... replacing dilapidated and ramshackle roofs. This is not just a story of new houses but a journey of faith, of joint efforts between the State, enterprises, and the community. Behind the sturdy houses today are countless silent efforts, stories “now told” about how the locality removed difficulties, mobilized resources, and aroused the people’s will to rise up.

The family of Sùng A Sịa, Hua Sát village, Chiềng Sinh commune, belongs to a poor household and has a person with disabilities, so life is even more difficult. For many years, the dream of a sturdy house was just a simple wish his family dared not think of. Thanks to the State’s support and the community’s joint hands, his family built a new spacious and safe house. Sịa emotionally shared that having a sturdy place to live like today is a great motivation for the family to stabilize their lives and strive to rise up, so as not to betray the heart of the authorities and people who helped.

Sịa’s family is just one of tens of thousands of households supported in removing temporary and dilapidated houses in the province over the past 5 years. Each house erected is a story of sharing, the result of synchronous involvement from the government, armed forces to enterprises and people. And above all, it is clear proof of how Điện Biên turns major guidelines into actions, reaching each poor household, each roof, helping people settle down with peace of mind, creating a solid foundation to develop livelihoods and rise out of poverty sustainably.

But to have these sturdy houses today is a journey full of hardships and silence, which only now, when recounted, can be fully understood. As a mountainous province with dangerous terrain and lacking infrastructure, many villages are far from the commune center. To bring materials to the villages, commune officials, armed forces, and people had to cross passes, wade streams, carry each bag of cement and bundle of iron on their backs, and even use bamboo rafts to cross swift currents. Each trip was carefully calculated, ensuring both safety and progress, because just a small mistake could endanger lives or damage materials.

The journey of building houses for the people of Tàng Phon village, Nậm Kè commune, is proof of those hardships. Implementing the emulation movement to remove temporary and dilapidated houses to complete before August 31, Tàng Phon village had 6 households supported to build new houses. However, this time coincided with the rainy season, while the village is nearly 20km from the commune center, with muddy dirt roads, and having to cross swift streams, making transporting materials to the village a major challenge. But with high determination from local authorities and functional forces, all 6 houses were completed ahead of schedule.

Nguyễn Tiến Thành, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Nậm Kè commune, said: To complete on plan, the commune coordinated with the Nậm Kè Border Post to mobilize dozens of officers and soldiers for many days to transport materials to the village. Each bag of cement, bundle of iron, and brick was carried on backs over steep roads, wading streams, sometimes using bamboo rafts to cross streams. Not only officers and soldiers, but people in the village also enthusiastically participated in support. Thanks to this joint effort, the houses were completed in time, helping households settle down and develop their economy.

With the spirit “whoever has something contributes that, whoever has labor contributes labor, whoever has wealth contributes wealth, whoever has much contributes much, whoever has little contributes little,” consensus was created throughout the political system. Thanks to this joint hand, difficulties in funding and materials were gradually removed, paving the way for programs to remove temporary and dilapidated houses to truly enter life.

In the past 5 years, the provincial Vietnam Fatherland Front Committee alone mobilized over VND 533 billion supporting the “For the Poor” Fund. The Vietnam Fatherland Front Committees at all levels built and repaired over 9,800 great solidarity houses for policy families, people with meritorious services, and poor households throughout the province. The results from resources mobilized by the Front created a premise for accompanying forces to accelerate the progress of building and repairing houses for people.

For example, implementing the “30 days of speed - reaching the finish line” surprise emulation drive to determinedly complete the task of building and repairing houses for people damaged by natural disasters in the province in 2025, from August 30 to September 30, the provincial armed forces mobilized over 600 turns of officers and soldiers to complete the task of building and repairing houses for people damaged by floods ahead of schedule, with 80 newly built houses and 241 repaired houses for people in flood areas of Na Son, Xa Dung, Tìa Dình... helping people stabilize their lives soon and restore production labor.

Many models have also been born such as: The provincial Business Association launched the model “Each enterprise - One shelter”; “Regular emulation model organizing village meetings to disseminate guidelines and policies supporting houses for poor households” in Tìa Dình commune; the model “Implementing technology transfer and supporting production of unbaked bricks serving the removal of temporary and dilapidated houses” of the Department of Construction aimed at using locally available materials, reducing transportation costs, suitable for mountainous terrain conditions. The result of applying the model called for support of 10 tons of cement, 7,000 bricks, and produced 35,000 unbaked bricks to support households building houses.

A clear mark in the journey of removing temporary and dilapidated houses is the consciousness of participation of the people themselves. If previously many households still had thoughts of waiting and relying, now they proactively build houses with the State. Tủa Thàng commune is proof of that consensus. This is the first commune in the province to complete 100% of removing temporary houses. To achieve that result, Phạm Hoàng Long, Chairman of the People’s Committee of Tủa Thàng commune, said that besides resources, the most important thing is information dissemination work, so that people understand, agree, and get involved with the local government. Thanks to that, by July 7, 2025, 29/29 houses of the commune were completed. Tủa Thàng people now proudly show off their new houses, no longer worrying about leaks and drafts as before.

Similar stories appear in many other villages. Each effort in every village, each roof erected, gradually creates a clear picture of the journey to remove temporary and dilapidated houses in Điện Biên. The achievement is not only over 22,300 houses, but more importantly, sturdy roofs have brought safe, stable accommodation for tens of thousands of families, helping children have study corners, adults feel assured to work, and many households boldly invest in production. Each house is also a symbol of sharing and the spirit of “leaving no one behind,” vivid proof of the synchronous effort between the government, the Front, enterprises, and the community.

The journey of removing temporary and dilapidated houses in Điện Biên continues, because housing needs in highland areas are still very large. But what has been done in the 2020 - 2025 term is a solid foundation for subsequent social security programs. New roofs will continue to be mentioned as clear proof of the efforts of a poor mountainous province but rich in will and determination to rise up; that story “now told” still spreads in community life, reminding that behind every achievement is sweat, wisdom, and the hearts of those who participated in laying each brick and roofing each sheet of iron.