The hands of a 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 sandal making. 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. But then 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 wandering around, Nam had the consciousness to help his parents earn a living. In the early 90s, the tire sandal making 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, in Nghe An, many people 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 was absolutely no repair shop. 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 skill, 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, then the new generation of vehicles with their own unique features. At that time, I called 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 motorcycle 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 two empty hands, from being dirty with oil, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam had his own capital and property, helping his younger brother have money to go to work abroad and his two younger siblings to have a full education.

Earning money with great difficulty, Mr. Nam actively saved, spent sparingly, and saved money. The motorbike repair profession gradually became popular, and in Nam Dan, many repair shops opened by his "students" sprang up. 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 great. 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 an auto repair garage - and it was the first auto repair garage in Nam Dan district. When asked about his income and total assets after more than 20 years of working as a repairman, Mr. Nam just smiled. In his smile, we can see the joy and pride - the profession of repairing motorbikes and now cars has helped him build a sustainable family economy, helping his parents and siblings as well as helping many other people have jobs. Over a leisurely cup of tea after work, admitting that he is a person of little knowledge, Mr. Nam also 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 ambition of escaping poverty and getting rich of a repairman...

Article and photos:Thanh Son