(VOVWORLD) - Xe Dang used to be one of the poorest hamlets in Ea Kueh commune, Cu M’gar district, Dak Lak province. Now the life here has changed greatly thanks to the hamlet being connected to the national power grid.
 Workers of Dak Lak Electricity Company install lights for Xe Dang villagers. |
Xe Dang hamlet has 130 households containing 499 people. More than 90% of them are of an ethnic minority. A lack of electricity and other difficulties forced many to move away.
But life began to change in the Lunar New Year of 2018 when the hamlet got connected to the national power grid.
In the 2 years since then, Trieu Tien Duc's family economy has greatly improved. His house has been expanded. His pepper garden has become more productive. Đức switches on a circuit breaker and a pump begins to run smoothly. His entire garden is irrigated automatically.
Duc said his 1,000 pepper trees and 1.7 hectares of coffee require him to irrigate 4 to 5 times a year. When he used a diesel engine to irrigate, it used to cost him more than 170 USD for petrol and many manhours. Since the hamlet got electricity, the cost of his automatic watering system has been negligible.
Now his family plans to grow an additional 2,500 square meters of coffee and peppers, Duc told VOV.
“In the past, we used solar energy. Each year we bought an 8Amp battery, which could provide enough power to watch TV. Now that we have electricity, we can also have refrigerators and water pumps. In the last two years, our income has doubled,” said Duc.
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 Workers of Dak Lak Electricity Company maintain overhead power lines
for Xe Dang villagers.
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Now the residents of Xe Dang can more easily afford to send their children to school.
Teacher Nguyen Thi Tinh, head teacher of class 4A1 at Ly Tu Trong Primary School, said: “Without electricity it was very dark in the classroom if it was rainy. Both students and teachers found it extremely difficult to write or see the blackboard. On sunny days, it was scorching in the school. Now that the school is equipped with electricity, learning conditions are much better. Teachers are able to use computers and projectors to make lessons more engaging.”
Trieu Duong The, the hamlet’s chief, recalled how happy the locals were to see the light brought by the national power grid in early 2018.
He said: “Now that the hamlet has power, villagers have bought TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and many other applainces, making life more convenient. Two years ago, we only had enough electricity for a few activities in the evening.”
Supplying electricity to Xe Dang and Jarai hamlet in Ea Kueh commune was part of a national program to supply electricity to mountainous areas and islands to help locals stabilize their lives, boost production, escape poverty to get rich.