Honored to meet Uncle in the “Capital of thousands of winds”

We visited Mrs. Luu Thi Lien, house number 84, lane 27/29, Vo Chi Cong street, Nghia Do ward (Cau Giay, Hanoi) on the first day of May. Despite being 88 years old, Ms. Lien still retains a rather agile demeanor, sharp eyes, the right qualities of a female messenger of the years of the resistance war.
Ms. Luu Thi Lien was born in 1933, in Le Loi commune (Thuong Tin, Hanoi) in a poor farmer family, had to live in order to earn food for the day. After the August Revolution, little Lien was taken by a kind family in the village to an orphanage in Tam Dao district, Vinh Phu province (now Binh Xuyen district, Vinh Phuc province). At the end of 1947, Lien was fortunate to be picked up by comrade Thanh Thuy, a member of the Central Party Committee of the Vietnam Women’s Union, to be adopted, to be a liaison, and to be a servant. It was here that gave wings to the future for Luu Thi Lien. In September 1950, Luu Thi Lien was admitted to the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Ms. Luu Thi Lien at home, May 2020. While living and working at the Central Office of the Vietnam Women’s Union in the Viet Bac War Zone (1947-1954), Luu Thi Lien was assigned the task of communicating and transferring documents and documents to central agencies. Therefore, she was honored to meet Uncle Ho many times. Every time I met Uncle Ho, it was a touching story, still intact in her heart. Ms. Luu Thi Lien said, once on the way to work, Uncle took advantage of visiting sisters in the office. The person kindly inquired about the living, living and working conditions of the sisters. Seeing that the sisters’ meals were still miserable, Uncle suggested: “You should ask for local land to increase production and improve your life, not let you eat a lot of flying vegetables and bamboo shoots, which is not good for your health. strong”. Another time, Uncle said: “You shouldn’t eat cold rice, you will lose nutrition. Please ask the people in the village to guide you on how to knit a pot with a lid, how to have enough rice to keep it hot.” After Uncle Ho’s teachings and thanks to the seeds he sent to increase, in a short time, the sisters’ meals were significantly improved. The knitting of rice budgies is also implemented. From then on, whether it’s winter or summer, no one has to eat cold rice anymore.” There is one memory that Mrs. Lien will always remember. Around 3:00 p.m. on May 19, 1950, when officials in the agency went to a meeting, there were only 3 sisters at home, wearing a sedge bag containing official documents and had just reached the top of Hoang Ngan palm hill slope, in Diem Mac commune (Dinh Hoa province). , Thai Nguyen), Luu Thi Lien suddenly saw Uncle Ho and his security comrades coming. Because of the secret principle of “3 no’s” (don’t know, don’t say, don’t ask), she rushed to bow to Uncle Uncle and then led him back to the office, then ran to inform everyone: “Sisters! Uncle came! Uncle came!”. The sisters ran out to meet Uncle. Seeing a few empty houses, he immediately asked: “Where have you all gone?”. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong (later Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Women’s Newspaper) said: “Yes! Leaders and sisters of your agency, please go to the Central Guest House to attend the meeting!”. Uncle looked kindly at the 3 sisters, thoughtfully: “I went to a conference recently, it’s convenient to visit them!”. At this time, it was almost dark, and it was raining again, Huong boldly suggested: “Dear Uncle, we have cooked rice, we invite you and the security comrade to stay and eat.” After thinking for a moment and discussing with his companions, Uncle Ho accepted. Needless to say, the sisters were all happy and moved. At this point, Ms. Luu Thi Lien pondered. She said that at that time, she was assigned to cook rice by her sisters, but the warehouse manager went to a meeting. She had to “secretly” climb over the bamboo poles, go to the warehouse to get rice, and a box of asparagus, which was the spoils of a military unit sent as a gift. Moments later, a tray of rice was served, with a bowl of asparagus soup, a plate of roasted salt, a little fat, chili, and a few hard-boiled eggs. Because she thought she was a liaison officer, an agency employee, Luu Thi Lien did not dare to sit and eat with Uncle and sisters. Seeing this, Uncle told Ms. Huong: “Call the child support girl to have dinner with Uncle for fun”. During a happy meal, looking at a bowl of bamboo shoots, Uncle asked: “Asparagus, how do you cook?”. Luu Thi Lien said to Uncle: “Yes, Uncle, I took out the asparagus and boiled water, poured the bamboo shoots in, I was close to adding fat and salt”. Hearing that, Uncle laughed and said: “This is canned asparagus of the French, when cooking, you have to cut it into pieces, wash it, and cook it with lean meat. You are women, you have to study hard to learn literature. chemistry, politics, women’s housework, especially to know how to cook well.” More than 70 years have passed, but the memory of meeting Uncle Ho and having dinner with him is a very sacred and emotional memory for Ms. Luu Thi Lien. Remembering Uncle Ho’s teachings, peace was restored, although life was still difficult, she was determined to study and work to keep up with friends and colleagues. In her work, regardless of her position, from a district woman officer to Vice President of the Hanoi Farmers’ Union, Ms. Luu Thi Lien always successfully completed the assigned tasks, always studied and worked hard. follow the instructions of the Father.