Mr. Lam and a hundred-year-old ironwood tree in the middle of a thousand years Born in the border area of ​​Huong Son district (Ha Tinh), Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam’s childhood (SN 1960, living in Khe Nam village, Son Kim commune 1) was attached to the forest. In 1990, when the State had a policy to mobilize people to receive forests for care and protection, Mr. Lam volunteered to receive more than 26 hectares of forests, including more than 20 hectares of natural forests and 6 hectares of planted forests. In order to protect the forest, he sought to restore the hill behind the house that was destroyed, badly damaged for many years. Mr. Lam recalled, the whole forest at that time was cut down, there were no trees with a circumference of more than 100cm. “Watching the trees grow up day by day, I am very happy. Protecting the forest is very difficult, because the forest is large, the people are few, while the people have no rights, so when they detect the loggers, they can only chase them out of their land. Mr. Tran Ngoc Lam During the period from 1990 to 1992, this forest was affected by the bluff exploitation, which affected the water source. In the summer, the wells in the village were dry at the bottom, some households dug more than 20m deep but still there was not a drop of water. Life is turned upside down, all activities rely on water from heaven and streams. Realizing that the harmful effects of deforestation are too serious, in addition to strictly protecting the existing forest tree area, Mr. Lam’s family borrowed a loan to plant acacia on the area of ​​production forest and enrich the natural forest area with tree species. Indigenous people such as green lim, doi, kien Kien… on average, he plants 3,000 trees a year. “After many years of eating and sleeping in the forest, looking back, the value of each tree is really precious,” said Mr. Lam, recalling the more than 30 years he spent in the forest. In order to admire the ancient ironwood trees, we were led into the forest by Mr. Lam and local ranger Doan Doanh Tuyen (Huong Son Ranger District). After climbing the pass, wading streams, the ironwood forest gradually opened up in front of our eyes, the higher we went, the dense forest, many big trees that 2 people couldn’t hug. As he walked, Mr. Lam pointed at the big tree stumps and read the name: “This tree is green ironwood, over a hundred years old, like this one two people can’t even hug; On the other side is the dot, the circumference is over 100cm. I have to go up here often, I’m very tired, but if I’m negligent, I’ll be the bad guy to cut it right away,” Lam said. The sixty-year-old man shared that, over the past 30 years, he has not had a single night of sleep because many loggers are trying to steal wood to sell. He was even threatened with death by a logger. Forest protection is not easy, eat the forest, sleep in the forest. There were times when family life was difficult, not eating enough, some people suggested that he cut down some wood to sell, but he still decided to keep the green ironwood forest, so that today the forest will pay back. Thank you for the old man with ancient iron roots over a hundred years old. Lam’s ironwood forest is like a “green lung” to develop ecosystems, prevent erosion, and prevent floods.

Concerns about the festival becoming a “super contagious event” have come true. People returning from Kumbh test positive for SARS-CoV-2 and can cause widespread spread. “Super infectious” festival When Mahant Shankar Das, an 80-year-old Hindu, arrived in the town of Haridwar on March 15 to participate in the festival, cases of Covid-19 increased in many parts of India. On April 4, just four days after the festival officially started, Mr. Mahant Das had a positive result for SARS-CoV-2 and was advised to isolate in a tent. But instead of quarantining himself, he packed up a train that traveled 1,000 kilometers to the city of Varanasi. Here, his son picked him up at the train station, both of them took a taxi to their village 20 km from the neighboring city of Mirzapur. More than 9 million Hindus made a pilgrimage to the town of Haridwar in April this year. Photo: BBC. Talking on the phone with the reporter BBC recently, Mahant Das said he is now “very healthy and happy” and has been on quarantine at home since his return. He insisted that he did not transmit the virus to anyone, but within a few days, his son and a few other villagers had developed Covid-19 symptoms. His son Pathak, who made a full recovery from Covid-19, said their village had seen “13 people die in the last two weeks from fever and cough”. Village Covid-19 cases may – or may not – involve Mahant Das, but medical experts consider his behavior irresponsible. By traveling on a crowded train and sharing a taxi, he was able to spread the virus to many people along the way. Epidemiologist Dr Lalit Kant said the “huge group of masked pilgrims sitting on the banks of the river singing about the glory of the Ganges” created an ideal environment for the virus to spread rapidly. “We already know that church and temple choral singing are super contagious events,” he said. At Haridwar, officials said 2,642 followers had tested positive, including dozens of top religious leaders. Photo: BBC. Akhilesh Yadav, former head of neighboring Uttar Pradesh state, former King Gyanendra Shah of Nepal and former Empress Komal Shah were among those who tested positive after returning home. Bollywood composer Shravan Rathod died in a Mumbai hospital shortly after returning from the Kumbh festival. A group of nine Hindu prophets also died. With growing fears that returnees from Kumbh could infect others, some state governments have ordered 14-day mandatory quarantine and warnings that would severely punish those who conceal. information about their trip. However, very few states have tourist databases and none have systems to check and track people entering and leaving the border. Over the past two weeks, reports of returnees from Kumbh with positive test results have come from all over India. Dr. Kant said: “It was devastating. These numbers are just the tip of the iceberg. Crowded groups of pilgrims riding trains and buses will increase the number of shifts exponentially. I can say without hesitation that the Kumbh Mela festival is one of the main reasons behind the outbreak in India. Why do disasters happen? Mr. Mahant Das was exasperated when asked whether to cancel the Kumbh festival at a time when India is seeing a spike in cases and hospitals refuse to accept patients due to lack of beds, medicine and oxygen. practice. “Why are we religious people accused of gathering wrong?”, He asked. The Kumbh festival is said to still take place out of concern about a reaction from Hindu religious leaders like Mahant Das. On April 12, the festival’s first big day – when more than 3 million devotees soak in the Ganges in hopes of achieving salvation – India has recorded more than 168,000 cases of new, surpassed Covid-19. via Brazil to become the country with the second highest number of cases globally. It was not until a week later that the size of the festival decreased, after the death of a chief monk. Measures to avoid Covid-19 are being stepped up. However, things have gone too far. Last week, event organizers said 9.1 million pilgrims had visited Haridwar. From the outset there were concerns that letting the Kumbh festival take place was fraught with risks. Health experts warned the Indian government in early March that “a new and more contagious strain of corona exists in the country” and that the gathering of millions of non-masked people join one. The festival is reckless. Former Uttarakhand state leader Trivendra Singh Rawat said that he planned to leave Kumbh as a “limited, iconic event” from the outset as experts told him the pandemic would not be soon. end. “The festival attracts not only Indians but also other countries. I was worried that healthy people would come to Haridwar and carry virus germs everywhere when they return,” he said. But just a few days before the festival, he was replaced by Tirath Singh Rawat, who famously said “With the help of Ma Ganga (Goddess of Ganges) in the flow, there will be no corona virus”. Hindus believe that immersing themselves in the waters of the Ganges will help wash away their sins. Photo: BBC. The new head of state said that “no one will be banned”, a negative Covid-19 certificate is not required to join and it is sufficient only to follow the safety rules. But as millions flocked to town, officials struggled to impose epidemic prevention rules. Haridwar state medical director, Dr. Shambhu Kumar Jha, said crowd management became “very difficult” because they could not force devotees who had made a long journey back. Recent reports have shown that the state of Uttarakhand recorded 557 cases between March 14 and 20, when the pilgrimage began. The number of infections increased rapidly thereafter, with 38,581 reported cases between April 25 and May 1 – the last week of the festival. Dr. Kant is pessimistic about the way ahead. “Someone said that devotees would treat the corona virus as prasad and spread it. It’s tragic that pilgrims have carried infectious diseases everywhere,” he said. “I can’t think of anything I can do now to fix the situation. Our ship has gone too far ashore. We cannot even safely return to shore. I just prayed for the disease to get better and everyone could get through it. ” The chaplain’s account of the funeral for 150 Covid-19 patients before cremation Every day, Hindu cleric RamKaran Mishra performs a funeral for about 150 people who have died from Covid-19 at the Ghazipur crematory facility east of New Delhi, India.

Through her writings, is the feeling of an India different and out of the currents very clear? On the 7th day of the Lunar New Year, when COVID-19 raged in Wuhan, I was in Kolkata with a delegation of Vietnamese writers. For a few days we did not have internet, so we did not know any news in Hanoi or the world. Until the last day, we were invited to dinner by your side in a luxury restaurant, then there was wifi. Looking at the photos taken online, we were scared and scared, unable to believe that the city where we lived was still peaceful a few days ago. So we stuck our noses in reading the news, couldn’t eat or drink, didn’t even bother to raise our heads to chat with anyone. The landlord saw that no one had touched the chopsticks, and wondered and worried, did not understand what was going on. Of course they were saddened because the party they carefully prepared was a failure. We then were also ashamed of that impolite attitude. But at that time how could not eat anymore. So early the next morning, instead of going shopping and preparing presents, we suggest that you take to the pharmacy to buy … masks. Each person took advantage of buying 3-layer masks. Buying stubs buy crazy makes everyone surprised. We tell each other that this thing to bring back as a gift is very precious, because there is a shortage of goods at home. They were surprised because in the big city of Kolkata, people still go to school to work normally. Because COVID has yet to spread and India has not had any cases yet. At that time I said that if India had COVID, it would be catastrophic because their case number would definitely be at the top of the world. After exactly 1 year, the members of the crew kept saying that I had the ability … to prophesy, but I only spoke logically. Writer Di Li released flowers to pray at the Ganges River. Does the wave of COVID-19 seem like it only wants to submerge this country has to do with the different lifestyles of the people here? Yes, India is the second most populous in the world and is expected to be about to take the top spot of China. However, India’s population density is now 3 times that of China. If we look at the pictures taken of India, most of our impression is the terrible crowd. It seems that every time you open the door, you can see people intertwined in chaos as if there was a big turn, at times it seemed like there was a war and people were in a hurry to evacuate. Living conditions, hygiene and awareness of the people are also major issues contributing to the spread of the epidemic (not just COVID). The Indians are also religious. Vietnamese people participate in religious festivals not because of fanaticism or devotion, but a mixture of culture, habits, joyful assembly and superstition, if the Government requests that the festival be stopped. everyone is happy to obey. Not in India. We are amazed that the Indian Kashmir government is still allowing 600,000 pilgrims in the midst of more than 3 hundred thousand new infections each day and nearly 3 thousand COVID deaths. But religion has a huge power in this country. Many would rather die than give up on pilgrimage. The king lost to the village’s custom in such place. Di Li’s feelings in the days when the whole world was heading towards India must certainly be different from those who have never set foot here. You can share that with readers of Health & Life. I love India so much that after my return trip last New Year, less than 2 months later, I arranged another trip to India, which was to travel by myself, not for business. I bought a plane ticket and made a visa, but close to the date of the flight, in early March, India announced a blockade, internal and external import and export. It is true that I quietly watch India every day, over there I also have many friends. And I worry about them. I was heartbroken to see the numbers soar every day but not surprised. Anyway, I always pray for the country I love. I am extremely impressed with the pages written under the title Dawn on the Ganges River. Is there a connection between dead bodies floating in rivers and mass cremations in this country? In the past, when I was sailing on the Ganges River, I was scared to see the crematoriums along the river and the chaos of people bathing and washing activities right next to me. Now it is too mysterious that people have to cremate even on the street, still in the midst of the common activities. I can imagine it, but I always try not to imagine it anymore. Thank you writer Di Li for the conversation! Vo Hong Thu ( (perform) )