The hands of the craftsman

(Baonghean) - "If you want to become a good person, you have to get dirty" - that is the daily encouragement of Mr. Nguyen Van Nam, in Phan Boi Chau block, Nam Dan town, for the workers in his motorbike repair shop and auto garage. That saying was drawn from the 40-year-old man's own struggle to make a living, to get ahead by repairing motorbikes...

Mr. Nguyen Van Nam's auto repair shop.

Nam's family's traditional profession is tire sandals. This profession was very popular in the past years, especially in the countryside. A purchased car tire was cut into Kien An tires, rubber sandals, water buckets, rubber water basins, worm ropes... all of these products were very necessary for production and serving the daily life of rural people. However, this hard job of his father, combined with his mother's trips to Sa Nam market, still could not help his family escape poverty. As the eldest of four siblings, Nam dropped out of school after finishing secondary school. Unlike other young men in the town who were just growing up, Nam had the intention of helping his parents earn a living. In the early 90s, the tire sandal profession declined, life became more and more developed, goods became more abundant, and Nam Dan people no longer prioritized choosing rubber products. The profit was no longer worth the back-breaking, sweaty days sharpening knives to cut car tires. Nam decided to change jobs...

At that time, many people in Nghe An bought motorbikes, but repair shops were still rare. In Vinh City, there were only a few repair shops, the workers could not keep up, and in Nam Dan, there were absolutely no repair shops. Nguyen Van Nam packed his bags and went to Ho Chi Minh City to learn a trade. In the morning, he studied at a vocational school, in the afternoon and evening, he went to a relative's repair shop to practice. In 1993, when he had a solid foundation in his skills, Nam returned to his hometown to start a business. The tire sandal shop was reduced and put aside to make room for him to open a motorbike repair shop. At that time, this was the first and only motorbike repair shop in Sa Nam Town in particular and Nam Dan District in general.

As the only repair shop in the district, he himself is skilled and has reasonable prices, so he is always crowded with customers. Mr. Nguyen Van Nam said: "I say I am skilled, but sometimes I really give up in many cases, the most difficult is the electrical part, the next is the new generation of vehicles with unique features. At that time, I call Ho Chi Minh City to ask my teacher, ask my friends, and state the damaged condition of the vehicle so that my teacher and friends can guide me on how to fix it." Thanks to learning from my teacher, friends, researching, and learning through each repair, Nam has memorized every screw on the motorbike, there is no damage that cannot be fixed.

From the actual needs of customers and work, Mr. Nam imported more motorbike spare parts to sell, and recruited more apprentices to help. At one point, his shop had more than 10 apprentices... After 2 years, Nguyen Van Nam had money to rebuild his parents' house. A spacious two-story house was built to replace the old level 4 house. From nothing, from being dirty with oil, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam had capital and his own property, helping his younger brother have money to go abroad to work and his two younger siblings to have a full education.

Earning money with great difficulty, Mr. Nam actively saved, spent sparingly, and accumulated knowledge. The motorbike repair profession gradually became popular, and in Nam Dan, many repair shops were opened by his "students". At this time, Mr. Nam calculated to find a new direction for himself: From the money he earned from repairing motorbikes and buying and selling motorbike spare parts, he saved up to buy more land, and resold it to make a profit. Realizing that Nam Dan was encouraging farm development, Mr. Nam pooled his capital with his friends to rent land to raise fish and soft-shell turtles. More and more local children were leaving to the South to make a living, and the need for travel was high, so Mr. Nam boldly invested in buying a car to transport passengers on the long-distance route from Nam Dan to Ho Chi Minh City. The first passenger car gave birth to a second one, and currently, the two old cars have been converted into two modern sleeper cars running the North-South route.

Identifying his origins as a repairman, Mr. Nam still maintains the motorbike repair shop, but mainly lets his 5-6 workers do the work, only taking on difficult cases. On a large piece of land near his house that he bought, 3 years ago, Mr. Nam opened a car repair garage - and it was the first car repair garage in Nam Dan district. When asked about his income and total assets after more than 20 years as a repairman, Mr. Nam just smiled. In his smile, you can see the joy and pride - the profession of repairing motorbikes and now cars has helped him build a sustainable family economy, help his parents and siblings as well as help many other people have jobs. Over a leisurely cup of tea after work, admitting that he is a person of little knowledge, Nam boldly read me a poem about General Tran Khanh Du that he liked: "Thinking that I am dirty and want to do another job/ But the sky has many poor people", the old poem applies to today's life, embracing the repairman's ambition to escape poverty and become rich...

Article and photos:Thanh Son