Vietnam: A Television History; Steven Shepley - Province Representative - Ba Xuyen Province - South Vietnam

Government money taken over from the government and. Family is one of the 75 Hamlets among districts and just recently the hamlet was under the gun control have been under VC control for over a period of over 10 years. When the country first got there one of the initial things that they did was to make contact with the elders of the hamlet to where they respected leaders of the community. There they discussed the revolutionary development program insofar as our They would be involved in it what the government will be doing for the hamlet house and charity conditions will be

maintained and exactly what the role of the people as a community is and assume project and so far in that and I think every year but not a very good job in establishing good report with the population will get a reflection of this fact that of the money when the government forces first went in there we only had 12 families. Today we had one hundred thirty six families with a prospect of maybe another 60 coming and so the family community with all this attention given that as a nation effort and the security provided and the social benefits provided to Hemet has attracted great numbers of people from outside and more insecure and even from far away in the provincial capital to come back and resettle in the hamlet. Oh this I think this is a good indication of what we have learned for so far. One of the most important groups organized so far but it had been so PR has a pacification revolutionary development and then having a defense

committee consisting of five voters and a representative from each of the other groups. A representative from the youth sports groups representative from the women's groups a representative from the children's groups to participate and organize a mini Yamit government down there all of the aspects of how it stands in the past we've noticed it with our first vacation program too great an emphasis has been placed upon me. The material benefits of the family and not too much on the organization are on the security which are you must have if the family is going to thrive as a responsible responsive community. One of the most important roles of the arty cadre team is to set up activities in organisations which buying a house together. The Cadre started out like an organizer not all even to themselves all people and I am a compass a page on

a commonly shared pleasurable activity of the best team in the hammock that I get I actually am from another hamlet. We hope by by doing this we were not only on me and people on the one hand that I got a tight race people then with the people that are coming out the problem. We have so far a total of seventy eight young men from the hamlet who have volunteered to serve. As the AMA defenders are currently being trained by the district chief and members of the regional force currently stationed in the family that provide security while a specification effort is going on and they will be well-armed and be coordinated with the popular force but tonight will state mine permanently and I am going to have to be in order to tie the whole community into the defense structure after everyone in the hamlet in theory must be involved and even know where the children and the old man and the old women do not act as fighters. They have other missions to perform such

as acting as early warning sentinels giving signals when VC are moving in the area of the signal if we have enough early warning should be sufficient to ward off anything but a major force unit attacking an area in which case we could get chopper and regular military for support for night. The second day after the Camry arrived very open about a temporary school in one of the houses donated by an order to teach approximately 350 children who had never gone to any kind of school whether big government or PC in their entire lives of the people of the hamlet elected to have as one of their self-help for a permanent masonry school consisting of three classrooms. These classrooms are currently being constructed by the people our family had. With fish distance

PG&E provides the money for a purchase of all materials and the U.S. government provides for manpower roofing and rebar to aid in this construction expect the classroom to be completed within one month. An actual class is being out there. But with the exception of a few people who are engaged in trade such as sewing and running shops most of the people in so come home that are farmers about half of them own their own land. About half of them are tenants. If they have one tends to everyone in the half two hectares of land for a family and every year they have to go out in the spring the same as the rains began in the latter part of me and the Fatherland plant their rice evenings and they will tell you this right is rice fields are halfway through the harvest at which time they will and sometimes tire themselves out as labor to work on somebody else's land and harvest the

land then the rice is gathered into the hamlet itself and then will be shipped out to a nearby market center for milling and on final resale pity the larger race merchants you've got you now. And what we've been. Getting Yeah. Yeah.