The coolies struggle to make a living in the harsh sunlight of Vinh city.

Cong Kien• June 27, 2020 16:48

(Baonghean.vn) - Despite the scorching heat, with temperatures sometimes reaching nearly 45 degrees Celsius, the porters in Vinh city still struggle to earn extra income and improve their lives.

Thời tiết khắc nghiệt, nắng nóng gay gắt, ảnh hưởng đến các hoạt động

The harsh weather, intense heat, has greatly affected daily life activities. However, at bus stations and wharfs in Vinh city, cargo vehicles still come and go quite busily. And the people who work as porters, commonly known as porters, are still busy and tired with their work to make a living. Photo: Cong Kien

Bất kể trưa nắng hay chiều muộn, hễ có hàng là những người cửu vạn sẵn sàng bắt tay vào công việc. Anh Nguyễn Xuân Trung và Lê Văn Cao, những cửu vạn hành nghề ở khu vực Bến xe Chợ Vinh cho biết:

Mr. Nguyen Van Long and Mr. Cao Xuan Tien are both over 30 years old and have been working as porters in the Vinh Market Bus Station area for more than 5 years. Mr. Long said: "The normal work of loading and unloading goods is very tiring, and it is even more tiring on hot days. There are times when I feel exhausted and cannot continue working, but I still have to try because I am still young...". Photo: Cong Kien

Những thứ hàng kích thước và trọng lượng nhỏ còn đỡ, có những thứ nặng và cồng kềnh buộc nhiều người phải hợp sức bốc dỡ. Trong cái nắng gay gắt, việc vận chuyển hàng lên, xuống xe thực sự không mấy dễ dàng và tốn nhiều sức lực. Ảnh: Công Kiên

The daily work is loading and unloading goods onto and off the truck. When there are few goods or goods of small size and weight, Mr. Long and Mr. Tien usually take care of them themselves. But when there are heavy and bulky goods that are difficult to transport, they have to call more people to help load and unload. Photo: Cong Kien

Dù phải dầm mình giữa trưa nắng nóng, mồ hôi chưa kịp thấm áo đã khô, sức lực bị hao mòn nhưng những người làm nghề vận chuyển hàng vẫn tỏ rõ niềm vui

In the Vinh Market Bus Station area, Mr. Le Van Tan (nearly 60 years old) is known as a porter with about 20 years of experience. "My house is in Hong Son ward, I have many children, and my family is poor, so I have to stick to this hard job to make a living. The heat has been terrible these past few days, but I still run errands continuously, whenever someone calls me, I run, regardless of the fact that the temperature on the street can reach 50 degrees Celsius at noon. Earning 300,000 VND a day makes me happy, even though I am exhausted and don't want to eat or drink" - Mr. Tan said. Photo: Cong Kien

Vất vả nhất vẫn là những người vận chuyển hàng bằng xích lô, vừa chở hàng nặng và cồng kềnh, tốc độ di chuyển chậm nên thời gian

About the same age as Mr. Tan, Mr. Nguyen Cong Thanh, in Vinh Tan ward (Vinh city), transports goods by cyclo from points in the city to the bus station, train station and vice versa every day. Light goods are carried on foot, heavy goods are carried on the front of the cyclo. Like that, there are days when he travels dozens of kilometers in the scorching sun and hot roads, with heat blowing in from all sides. Mr. Thanh said: "There are trips where I am drenched in the sun for 2-3 hours straight, making my eyes darken and my mouth dry. But for the sake of food, clothing and family life, I have to take advantage of the opportunity to earn money, afraid that in a few years I will be old and weak and won't know how to make a living..." . Photo: Cong Kien

Normally, loading and unloading goods is the job of men, because they can withstand harsh weather conditions. But for Ms. Tran Thi Duyen (over 30 years old) in Hung Binh ward, for several years now, she has specialized in transporting goods to the bus station for truck owners. Not only that, she can carry bulky goods weighing over 100 kg, which means she is not inferior to men, with some days earning over 300,000 VND. She confided: "All for life and the future of my children, I am willing to do hard work, working hard in the midday sun to make a living...". Photo: Cong Kien

The sun was about to reach its zenith, Mr. Truong Van Danh (65 years old) with a thin body and a haggard face still tried his best to move steel bars from a cyclo to a truck. Sweat soaked his faded shirt and even the scarf on his shoulder... Mr. Danh has been doing this job since he was not yet 30 years old, almost every day "exposing" himself in the middle of the roads. He said: "If the sun keeps like this, I probably won't be able to last much longer, I have to quit this job, at night my whole body aches. But if I quit, I don't know what to do to buy medicine for my wife, buy rice every day and take care of living expenses for my children and grandchildren." Photo: Cong Kien

For about 5 years now, Mr. Dang Van Cong has been unloading goods for trucks around Vinh market. He said that this job requires a lot of energy, especially on hot days like today, but in return, he has a steady income of over 200,000 VND/day, sometimes double that, helping to cover expenses and raise children for school. For those who do this job, the biggest wish is for the weather to be less harsh, so that the work of making a living is less difficult and arduous. Photo: Cong Kien

Although his face was drenched in sweat, Le Van Quan's eyes (nearly 40 years old) still shone with joy every time he had goods to transport, meaning he had work and a source of income. Like many people working in the cargo handling industry, Quan hopes to find a job that is less difficult and tiring, and that does not require him to "expose" himself to the midday sun. "Until I find a suitable job, I still have to work hard loading and unloading goods to make a living and take care of my family," Quan shared. Photo: Cong Kien