LookAtVietnam – Language barriers can be very destructive to community spirit. That’s why Senior Lieutenant Thao Duy Lenh is so popular. As a Mong man, Lenh has helped draw together comrades at his border post in Quan Son district, Thanh Hoa province,

Cross-cultural communication: Senior Lieutenant Thao Duy Lenh prepares materials to teach Mong language to border soldiers.

The soldier says he quickly realised the problems language barriers between local ethnic people and soldiers were creating. Many soldiers did not know the Mong language, which threatened public relations, socio-economic development and management of the region.

“Officials can only win the hearts of local people when they understand the local language,” he says.

“Mong people make up more than 80 per cent of the population in the district,” Lenh says. “That’s why it was vital to understand their point of view.”

To tackle the issue, Lenh decided to teach his fellow soldiers at the post to read and speak Mong.

“After a course of three months, most soldiers could communicate with local people on a basic level,” he says.

“They immediately began to feel closer to the people and received more support from them.”

The lessons helped nurture a strong sense of trust, vital in an area known as a potential hot spot for crime. Local people even helped the border guards catch drug smugglers, Lenh says.

“With the help of local people, we were able to find the criminals’ den where we confiscated 40kg of opium and two cakes of heroin.

On a mission to cut down crime in the area, Lenh helped his comrades draw up posters and leaflets encouraging local people to be good citizens and warning them about the dangers of becoming involved in drugs.

The support from local people spurred Lenh to write up a teaching plan that would encourage Mong people to avoid social evils and move away from superstition. He continued studying and finished 76 lessons written in Mong with Mong learners in mind. The curriculum has been approved by the Ministry of Education and Training for use throughout the country.

The curriculum includes the danger of smoking marijuana and growing opium poppies, and has lessons on medical examinations and treatment that counteract the Mong people’s traditional belief in ghosts and witch doctors.

The lessons are aimed to teach the Mong people that their belief in traditional medicine is outdated, and pharmaceutical medicine and doctors are superior.

Until now, Lenh has trained nearly 300 students, both soldiers and officers, at five border districts.

In 2006, Thanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee ruled that every officer, who works in an area that has large ethnic populations, must have a degree in the Mong language.

Up to then, soldiers were required to study English.

Serving in the army teaches people to live and work following the example of President Ho Chi Minh, the soldier extols.

“As Uncle Ho once said: save the word to work, I don’t want to talk much about what I have done, the result will show my efforts.”

“The Mong people are honest,” he says. “I’m Mong, all I want to do is serve my people.”

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News