Products are all aimed at farmers
In the house by Nam Cuong Lake (Nam Cuong ward, Lao Cai province), the plaque of Hong Ha Mechanical and Construction Co., Ltd. with the words "Living and Learning from the Great Uncle Ho's example" stands out right from the entrance. Behind the house is a large workshop, where dozens of workers are still diligently working. It is also where the old engineer has spent more than half a century of his life to realize mechanical ideas serving agriculture.
Welcoming us with a gentle smile, a voice still loud and walking quickly, Mr. Vu Huu Le made it hard for anyone to believe that he had passed the age of 90.
I am old but as long as I can do it, I will be happy. As long as I can make machines for people, I will be healthy" - he smiled gently.
Few people know that that journey started from a boy born into a poor family in Phu Tho, growing up with the fields and the hard harvests of farmers. It was his childhood attached to the land that sowed in him the aspiration to create tools to help people work lighter.
At the age of 19, he left his hometown to study bridge and road construction, participating in restoring the country's infrastructure after the war. In 1963, with many achievements in labor production, he was awarded the Third-class Labor Medal and sent to the Soviet Union to study mechanical engineering.
Recalling his time studying abroad, he still remembers his self-assertion: "If the Party and State send you to study, you must study thoroughly". With that determination, he graduated with honors with a red diploma before returning home to contribute.
After returning to the country, he was assigned to be the Director of the Provincial Mechanical Factory. Nearly 600 engineers and workers worked under his direction. For 18 years, he and his colleagues researched many equipment for production and defense.
But the more he manages, the more he is concerned when witnessing farmers still having to work manually, while modern imported machines are too expensive, beyond the capacity of the majority of production households.
At the age of 45, while his career was going smoothly, he decided to retire early to pursue his own path. "I quit management, not machine work" - he said.
Without capital, he started again from collecting scrap iron, taking advantage of each material still usable to make machines. It was from those difficult days that a series of inventions bearing his mark were born one after another.
To date, he owns 7 patents.The special thing is that most products are aimed at the actual needs of farmers.
"I don't want to just make one type of machine to make a profit.Doing so will make you richer, but it won't help many people" - the engineer born in 1935 shared.
Busy studying, forgetting to eat, forgetting to sleep
One of Mr. Vu Huu Le's typical inventions is the tea grinder. Previously, in key tea regions such as Yen Bai, Lao Cai or Phu Tho, tea grinders were mainly imported with prices from 200-300 million VND per unit, exceeding the investment capacity of many processing facilities.
I wondered why I couldn't make a machine with equivalent capacity but cheaper?" - he recalled.
After nearly 1 year of research, the first machine was completed with a cost of only a small part of the foreign machine but the efficiency was not inferior. From there, hundreds of tea processing facilities in the area have the opportunity to mechanize production.
Not stopping at tea trees, he continued to research galangal pressing machines to serve vermicelli production craft villages, then cleaning and hydraulic pressing systems for the cinnamon processing industry.
Lao Cai is the largest cinnamon raw material region in the country, but many years ago, products were mainly sold in raw, bulky form, with high transportation costs. The machinery system manufactured by him significantly increased the volume of goods in each container, from about 17 tons to 27 tons, contributing to reducing logistics costs and increasing product value.
Leaving the mechanical workshop, we arrived at Gioi Phien vermicelli village - where Hong Ha brand machines have been associated with the people for many years.
As soon as they saw him appear, many people happily stepped out to greet him as if they were meeting relatives. Mr. Tran Ngoc Tuan - member of Gioi Phien Fermented Rice Production and Trading Cooperative - said: "Mr. Le's machine operates stably, is easy to use, and has a reasonable price. These machines make our production work much lighter, and everyone is happy.
In the living room, more than 200 certificates of merit and certificates of commendation from the Central to local levels are hung all over the walls. He has attended the National Patriotic Emulation Congress three times. Recently, at the 11th National Patriotic Emulation Congress, he was honored to be awarded the title of Labor Hero by the President - a noble award recognizing the persistent contributions of a person who dedicates his whole life to creative labor.
