Contribute one brick, build a whole spiritual life

VHO - Amidst the fruit-covered villages of Thanh Hoa, spacious and modern cultural houses are gradually emerging as vivid symbols of community solidarity and creativity. Built from the hearts of the people, by the people and for the people, grassroots cultural and sports institutions not only carry the "soul" of the movement of All people uniting to build a cultural life, but are also typical highlights in the journey of building sustainable and unique new rural areas.

Bricks of love

One early summer morning, we returned to Con Cuong 1 village, Te Loi commune (Nong Cong district), which has just been recognized as a model village in 2024. Turning through clean concrete roads, straight rows of areca trees, the village cultural house stands out in the center with a total area of ​​over 290m², the main house alone is 130m² wide and can accommodate 200 people.

Surrounded by sports fields, outdoor exercise areas, and beautifully decorated fences. All create a harmonious, modern complex that still retains the rustic features of the North Central countryside.

Not only a meeting place, cultural houses in Thanh Hoa are also useful playgrounds for people.

Mr. Tran Van Loc, Head of Con Cuong 1 Village proudly said: “This cultural house is the result of the consensus of the people. The total cost of 1.6 billion VND, of which the people contributed more than 850 million VND. We not only contributed money but also contributed labor and intelligence from discussing the design to supervising the construction. There was an old man nearly 80 years old who still insisted on contributing a few hundred thousand with the reason: 'This is a public house, we cannot stand outside!'”

What is more valuable is the spirit of self-awareness and awareness of preservation. Many children living far from home have sent back funds, sound equipment, tables and chairs. Every time there is a meeting, activity, wedding or class, people come as if they were at home, sweeping the yard, wiping the tables, and checking the speakers.

That spirit is also spreading strongly in Van Son commune (Trieu Son district), a locality where 100% of villages have standard cultural houses. In village 7, Mr. Le Kim Sang, Party cell secretary, recounted the journey of building a cultural house since 2014 with a budget of 800 million VND: “There was not a single dong of budget, it was all contributed by the people. Every time we renovated or purchased additional equipment, we had a meeting with the people, discussed and did it ourselves. In 2023-2024 alone, the people contributed more than 100 million VND to install outdoor sports equipment and buy tables and chairs.”

Mr. Sang calls it “the house of neighborly love”, a place associated with countless memories: spring music nights, cooking contests on March 8, or children’s martial arts lessons in the summer… Under that common roof, people slow down, understand each other better, love each other more and from there together cultivate a rich spiritual life.

In many other places such as Quy Loc village (Yen Tho commune, Nhu Thanh district), Thang Son village (Thieu Tam commune, Thieu Hoa district), or highland villages in Quan Son, Lang Chanh, etc., the model of building cultural institutions with the strength and heart of the people is truly becoming a widespread emulation movement. No one is left out, from the old to the young, from the people staying behind to the children far from home.

The origin of civilized life

Thanh Hoa province has clearly identified the key role of cultural and sports institutions in building a new life in rural areas. In 2021, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Thanh Hoa advised on the implementation of the Project "Building and developing grassroots cultural and sports institutions in the period 2021-2025", effectively integrating with the movement of the whole people uniting to build a cultural life and the program of building new rural areas and model new rural areas.

The cultural house is a place where people return to as if they were returning to a second home, together preserving and taking care of it with responsibility and love for the village. Photo: BTH

By early 2025, the whole province will have 20/26 districts, towns and cities with district-level cultural and sports centers (reaching 74%); 532/558 communes with cultural and sports facilities; 4,302/4,357 villages, hamlets and neighborhoods with cultural houses and sports areas (reaching 98.7%).

In particular, most of the projects are built with socialized resources, clearly demonstrating initiative, creativity and consensus from the grassroots.

Along with the construction is the work of effective management and use. Many localities have assigned the right to self-manage cultural houses to self-managing groups or community boards elected and supervised by the people. Each cultural house is therefore not only a meeting place, but truly the heart of the community, a place to gather and spread a civilized lifestyle and healthy culture.

In Dong Tien commune (Trieu Son district), every quarter there is a general cleaning of the cultural house, painting of murals, and planting of flowers along the walkways. In Yen My commune (Nong Cong district), evening dance classes attract dozens of middle-aged women to participate. Many places also maintain Cheo, folk song, and children's martial arts clubs, creating a rich living space suitable for many ages.

If in the past, the image of the cultural house was associated with a broken speaker and a few dusty rows of chairs, now, that space has become a lively place: a stage for Thanh folk songs, a dance class for children, a badminton court every afternoon, and a place for the elderly to practice health exercises every morning. It is truly a place to cultivate the spirit, elevate the culture, a common asset of the community and a "second home" for everyone.

The success in building cultural and sports institutions in Thanh Hoa is a vivid demonstration of a development mindset: taking people as the center, considering people as the subject of all cultural movements. Without waiting for superiors to pour in capital, without relying on budget investment, people in many places proactively develop plans, share responsibilities, and build common homes with their own love for their homeland.

The movement of the whole people uniting to build a cultural life is therefore no longer an administrative movement, but a journey from consciousness to action, from perception to concrete results. The cultural house is now not only a symbol of material things, but also a symbol of belief, of will and aspiration for change.

The people themselves are the best “keepers” of culture, not only preserving heritage, but also knowing how to create, innovate, and promote identity. They are also the architects of the new countryside, where each cultural house is a highlight of village solidarity, a “milestone” to measure the level of community development, and a place where cultural pride crystallizes.

When “contributing a brick” is contributing faith in the future, when a common roof becomes a symbol of the people's hearts, then surely the journey of building cultural life in Thanh Hoa will go further, deeper into the community's consciousness, more sustainable in action, and brighter in every change of the livable countryside.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/van-hoa/gop-mot-vien-gach-dung-ca-doi-song-tinh-than-141989.html