Among the many young people silently dedicating themselves across the borderlands of Điện Biên, the following figures are just a small glimpse, yet they serve as proof of using one’s heart to warm unfortunate lives and intellect to light up remote villages.

“Chopsticks of love” from the dialysis neighborhood

Born in Huổi Tóng 1 village, Mường Tùng commune, Sergeant Giàng A Thắng was once the pride of his family when he became a member of the People’s Public Security. However, in 2019, tragedy struck when he learned he had chronic kidney failure. By 2022, when the disease reached its final stage, Thắng was forced to set aside his work at the Mường Chà district police to focus on treatment. Later, Thắng moved to work at Hospital 7/5 and rented a small room in the “dialysis neighborhood” near the gate of the provincial general hospital for convenient blood filtration three times a week. Here, he witnessed many patients even more destitute than himself, struggling for every meal to survive. From that empathy, the “Chopsticks of love” idea was born.

Sergeant Giàng A Thắng shared that as a dialysis patient, he understands the exhaustion of those in the same situation. Patients in the neighborhood come from highland and border communes with difficult economic conditions, lacking the strength for heavy labor. He worried about what to do to ease their burden. Utilizing the familiar skill of highland people in whittling bamboo chopsticks, he hoped to help everyone earn extra income and motivation to overcome their illness daily. From that idea, Thắng organized production stages clearly: some prepare bamboo, others whittle, and others handle processing, finishing, and packaging. Thanks to specific assignments, raw bamboo bundles gradually became finished products through the collective hands of the entire neighborhood. Thắng also used personal social media to promote and find markets.

Thanks to his persistent enthusiasm and the spreading power of the online community, the “chopsticks of love” gradually became known. Now, every month, the dialysis neighborhood produces about 6,000 to 7,000 pairs of chopsticks, bringing in an income of about VND 15,000,000. With dozens of patients participating, the amount is not large but enough to cover living costs and medicine. More importantly, the work makes the poor boarding neighborhood less lonely, replacing weariness with conversation, laughter, and motivation. Lò Thị Đôi from Mường Chà commune, who participates in whittling, said that besides hospital time, she earns VND 300,000 to 500,000 monthly, gaining more funds and motivation for treatment.

Furthermore, Giàng A Thắng acts as a bridge calling for community support through gifts, helping patients with surgery, treatment, and burial costs for those in especially difficult circumstances. For many patients, Thắng is both a companion in the journey against illness and a solid spiritual support. From his own pain, Thắng chose a positive way of living, turning difficulties into motivation to share. In 2025, Thắng was one of 20 faces to receive the “Beautiful Living Youth” award honored by the Central Committee of the Vietnam Youth Federation.

Persistently giving “fishing rods” to the poor

While Giàng A Thắng spreads love from a small boarding neighborhood, Phạm Thanh Loan, an official at the provincial protection and special-use forest management board, silently sows seeds of hope in highland villages where living conditions are still lacking. Born in 1993 and working in the forestry sector since 2017, Loan has had the opportunity to go deep into the grassroots and interact closely with people’s lives. Long business trips helped Loan better understand the difficulties and real needs of the people, especially the problem of long-term livelihoods. Carrying youthful enthusiasm and innovative thinking, Loan persistently connects and mobilizes social resources to implement individual volunteer activities.

One area Loan is particularly passionate about is livelihood support based on forestry knowledge and technology applications. In Sín Thầu commune, Phạm Thanh Loan has accompanied four female members of poor households to develop models for growing clean vegetables, forestry trees, lemons, and soapberry. Support does not stop at seedlings or materials but lasts until the model operates stably, bringing real income to families. Loan shared that by applying specialized knowledge, she hopes to find long-term solutions to help people develop their economy and create their own income. Every model stems from local reality, soil conditions, and people’s capabilities.

Despite limited resources, she persistently carries out each small task and model, wishing that stable livelihoods will help people feel secure in staying with their land and forests. Loan also devotes much effort to improving educational conditions for highland children. In 2025 alone, she connected resources to complete practical projects such as: Drilling a well for Mường Toong commune Kindergarten; paving concrete playgrounds for Nậm San 1 village Kindergarten and primary school site in Mường Nhé commune; building a road to the gate of Xa Dung commune’s Chua Ta Semi-boarding Primary School; and mobilizing to build and reinforce classroom walls at school sites at risk of safety issues.

Community and environmental activities are also creatively implemented by Loan: Recycling old notebooks into new ones for students, collecting old clothes, and organizing forest protection awareness experiences for children. Currently, Loan is researching a pilot model for growing red Caesar’s mushrooms in Mường Phăng and Sín Thầu communes to preserve precious species and open new livelihoods. For her, each successful model is another family with a chance for sustainable poverty escape.

The spirit of responsibility and compassion of young people like Giàng A Thắng and Phạm Thanh Loan is not waiting for full conditions to share but starting from small, practical, and persistent deeds. Through specific actions, they are contributing to affirming that today’s young generation carries the desire to rise and is ready to shoulder responsibility for the community and homeland.