Sad story in Dinh Son village

Dear Sir

In early April, we followed Lieutenant Chich Van Phuong - a police officer of Huu Kiem commune to Dinh Son 1 and Dinh Son 2 villages. These are two villages of the Kho Mu people, located deep in the forest, of which Dinh Son 1 village is still a particularly difficult village. Assigned to be in charge of these two villages, Lieutenant Phuong knows everything here. From which house is celebrating today, which house has a child who has just returned from working far away, which house has someone in prison for human trafficking... "It's still very poor here, bro. That's why they all have to go to work far away, the village is now very deserted, only the elderly and children remain", Lieutenant Phuong said.

True to what Phuong said, at 9am, all the roads in the two Dinh Son villages were deserted. Occasionally, we saw a few children and old people. Nearby, many stilt houses were closed and silent, showing signs that no one had lived there for a long time. Holding a notebook meticulously recording the population, Lieutenant Phuong said that these two villages had only over 200 households with about 900 people. However, since the beginning of the year, about 500 people have come to the commune to complete procedures to go to work far away. Those who stayed behind, mostly also lived on distant fields and rarely returned home, so the village was always deserted.

Desolate scene in the center of Dinh Son 1 village. Photo: Tien Hung

Dinh Son 1 and 2 villages are nestled in the middle of a protective forest. Next to the Ba stream that flows rapidly all year round. Also because it is surrounded by the protective forest, the people only have a small area of ​​cultivated land next to the stream to share for farming. To have a place to farm, they have to go through the forest for 2 to 5 hours to clear the fields. The road to the fields is far, and motorbikes cannot enter, so they have to build a shack and live in the fields. "After farming, every time we transport the crops out here, it is very difficult because we can only carry them on our shoulders, so we have to build a shack to keep the agricultural products in there. Every time we come here, we only buy a few necessities and bring some rice to mill," said Moong Van Tien - one of the few young people still living in Dinh Son 2.

Because the fields are far away, every time a new school year comes, getting Dinh Son children to go to school is a difficult problem for those working in education. Because for the people here, their children's education is only secondary, earning a living is the main thing.

The houses are closed and quiet because the owners are away working. Photo: Tien Hung

Finding solutions to poverty

Like many other highland Khmu villages, the people in Dinh Son village are poor. According to Mr. La Van Ha - Chairman of the People's Committee of Huu Kiem commune, the reason is not only due to lack of livelihood, but also because of bad customs and backward lifestyles that still cling to the people here. "In recent years, people have gone to work far away, and have a stable income. But then poverty remains poor, that is because of a very backward lifestyle, not knowing how to save," said Mr. Ha.

Every year, people from Dinh Son villages flock to the Central Highlands provinces to work for hire. They are picked up by company vehicles all the way to the commune. There, they mainly work on rubber plantations and have stable accommodation. Therefore, many families bring their children along. Each month, each worker earns an average of 7 million VND. However, despite working hard all year round, that money is all spent during the days returning home for Tet.

Lieutenant Phuong seems to know all the activities in the village. Photo: Tien Hung

“People here spend a lot of money. At the beginning of the year, they work for hire, and at the end of the year, they spend all the money and then go to work for hire again,” said Vi Van Chau (32 years old, living in Dinh Son 2 village). Chau is currently the Vice Chairman of the Fatherland Front Committee of Huu Kiem commune, so he still stays in the village, not going far away to work like other young people. Here, he opens a grocery store to sell to people to make a living. Chau said that during Tet, when workers return from far away, his grocery store has no more beer to sell. Trucks carrying beer from outside have not yet left the village before they sell out. Not only do they gather and eat heartily at home, many groups of young people also go to restaurants in Muong Xen town to eat and drink. Sometimes, they stay in town for many days to spend.

Dinh Son is now mostly populated by the elderly and children. Photo: Tien Hung

According to Lieutenant Chich Van Phuong, not only do they spend a lot on food and drink, but every time they come back from work, to celebrate Tet, these workers buy expensive motorbikes. When they have spent all their savings, after Tet, they have to sell their motorbikes cheaply to get more money to spend. When they have spent all their money working for hire for a year, they start thinking about going back to work. Just like that, the cycle of poverty continues to haunt them.

Also because of the low level of education, not long ago, in Dinh Son village, a heartbreaking trend occurred. That is, women rushed to China to sell their fetuses. In just a short time, nearly 30 women in 2 Dinh Son villages crossed the border to China to give birth and then sell their children. After Nghe An Newspaper published a series of articles denouncing the incident, it shocked the whole country, forcing authorities at all levels to urgently intervene.

Dinh Son village is a hot spot for fetal trafficking. Photo: Tien Hung

More painfully, with the money from selling their children, these people returned to their hometowns to buy motorbikes and spend lavishly. In just a few days, that money was gone. “Once I saw a family who had sold their child returning home, eating and drinking lavishly because they had money. They seemed to have no regrets or remorse about their child. Witnessing that scene, I felt so heartbroken that I had to raise my voice at them,” said Major Nguyen Van Truong, Chief of Police of Huu Kiem Commune.

Also according to Major Truong, after Nghe An Newspaper published a series of articles, the police force had to set up teams to closely monitor these two villages. Accordingly, the police officers not only regularly mobilized and propagandized but also made a list of pregnant women, then had to visit their homes every few days to monitor them, to avoid cases where they fled to China to give birth and then sell their children. At the same time, they prevented those in the human trafficking ring from approaching them. Also because of that thorough intervention, this problem has been controlled since then. For several years, in the two Dinh Son villages, there have been no cases of selling fetuses.

The fields of the local people here are very far from residential areas, requiring many hours of walking. Therefore, people have to build huts and stay in the fields. Photo: Tien Hung

However, helping these two Khmu villages escape poverty is still a difficult problem for the local authorities. “The local Party Committee and government have determined that the main livelihood for people to escape poverty is still working for hire in the Central Highlands provinces. Working there, the income is also quite good and stable. However, because of their wasteful lifestyle, people are still poor. Therefore, the upcoming solution is to step up propaganda, helping people gradually change their thinking and awareness so that they know how to save more,” said Mr. La Van Ha - Chairman of the People's Committee of Huu Kiem commune.