Long Sap Border Guard Station manages more than 31 km of border and 17 national border markers in the two border communes of Long Sap and Chieng Khua, Moc Chau district, bordering Sop Bau district, Hua Phan province (Lao PDR). Over the years, Long Sap Border Guard Station has always fulfilled its tasks of managing and protecting the national border; fighting against acts of encroachment on border territory, illegal border crossing, illegal sea crossing, illegal immigration and residence, illegal exploitation of resources and other acts that violate national sovereignty and interests... coordinating with local Party committees and authorities to effectively carry out the work of mobilizing the masses to participate in protecting sovereignty and border security...

In addition to their political duties, over the past 12 years, the officers and soldiers of the Long Sap Border Guard Station have also performed well in social work. The officers and soldiers here have agreed to reduce their breakfast standards on the two weekends to bring Border Guard lunches to the children here. Although the action is simple, it is like a light in the remote land, contributing to nurturing the children's dreams of literacy and lighting up the hope for a bright future...

Children at Buoc Pat kindergarten have lunch.

After two days off school due to illness, Mua A Phung's steps to school in Buoc Pat village, Long Sap commune, Moc Chau district (Son La) seem to be quicker and more excited. When asked, Mua A Phung honestly confessed that he likes going to school the most. Going to school, he not only gets to meet friends, have fun, but also gets to eat delicious food... At 11 am, the mumbled sounds of reading are replaced by the children calling each other to go eat.

In the classroom at Buoc Pat Kindergarten (Long Sap Kindergarten), 13 children, including Mua A Phung, quickly sat down, in front of them were bowls of hot food prepared by the soldiers. Their big, black eyes occasionally looked up at the soldiers, clearly showing their excitement. "The whole class went to school today, no one was absent", Major Ban Van Vinh, an employee of the Border Guard Station, Long Sap Border Guard Station, Head of the Buoc Pat Working Group, counted the number of students, and quickly put food into each child's bowl. Today's menu included fried eggs, minced meat, and vegetable soup. Just that much was enough to make the poor students in the border area eager to go to school...

Buoc Pat Kindergarten is located on the top of Buoc Pat Mountain, 1,600m above sea level. The road to the school is steep and precarious, with a cliff on one side and a cliff on the other. As a border village, more than ten years ago, Buoc Pat was a "hot spot" for security and order, especially drug crimes. The village has 18 households, of which 17 are poor households. Faced with the situation of students not going to class due to difficult family circumstances, officers and soldiers of the Long Sap Border Guard Station agreed to reduce their breakfast standards on the two weekends to divide them into breakfasts for the children. Since then, the "breakfast for children" model has been maintained from Monday to Friday every week.

After 12 years of implementation, the model has changed many times in terms of organization and implementation. Previously, officers and soldiers of the Station often woke up early to prepare breakfast for the whole unit. Then, they would set aside dozens of breakfast meals for students at Buoc Pat kindergarten and assign officers to bring them to the children before class time. However, in the past 3 years, the unit decided to assign the Buoc Pat Working Group to cook rice for the students and switched from breakfast to lunch so that the children could eat their fill and not have to go home in the middle of the day, helping to maintain class size. As the person who directly cooks for the children at the school, Major Ban Van Vinh shared: “In the past, when we cooked breakfast, many children still came to school to eat breakfast and then went home, causing the class size to be uneven. Since we switched to cooking lunch, we have seen that the children are more diligent in coming to class. Due to difficult travel conditions, it is difficult to go to the market to buy food every day, especially during the rainy season, so we have actively increased production to have more food to put in the children's meals.”

 Long Sap Border Guard Station, Moc Chau.

Talking to us, Major Cam Ba Thanh, Deputy Political Commissar of Long Sap Border Guard Station, said: “By bringing meals to the children, we hope that their journey to school will be less difficult. After a period of implementation, realizing the significance of the model, we have received support and contributions from a number of agencies, units, and philanthropists. With more funding, the children's meals have gradually improved.”

Teacher Huynh Thi Minh, Principal of Long Sap Kindergarten, could not hide her joy: “Thanks to the Border Guards who supported the meals, our mobilization of students to class has been easier. The children have enough food and are guaranteed a good afternoon nap. Thanks to the lunch, families have sent their children to school regularly, and the school regularly maintains 100% attendance. The work of the border guards gives us more motivation to stay in school and class in this mountainous area.” Sitting on the steps of the classroom waiting for his child to come home, Mr. Mua A De - Mua A Phung's father confided to us: "Letting the child go to school, having teachers to look after and care for him, and having enough to eat and a warm afternoon nap, the family feels very secure...".

The lunches that the Border Guards bring to the children, although simple, are like a light in the remote land, contributing to nurturing their dreams of literacy and lighting up their hopes for a bright future.../.

According to: dangcongsan.vn