Broom making village

(Baonghean)- In Dien Doai commune (Dien Chau), there are over 700 households making brooms, concentrated in two craft villages: Thai Loan village (167 households) recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a craft village in 2003 and Cao Minh village (185 households) recognized as a craft village in 2006. Here, there are many old men and women from 70 to nearly 90 years old who are still passionate about the profession. Dien Doai people make brooms all year round, but the busiest time is still the end of the year, that is the time when the reeds bloom, every house is filled with fresh reeds, reeds spread all over the yard, alleys and village roads...

Just arriving at the entrance of Cao Minh village, we heard a bustling thumping sound. Secretary of the Dien Doai Commune Party Committee Nguyen Duy Tinh said: "Any house that makes brooms cannot hide it, that sound is the sound of an iron rod hitting the broom handle so that people can tie it tightly."

As expected of a craft village, every household here makes brooms. The sound of chatter and laughter can be heard from inside the house to the porch. Some weave brooms, some split rattan, some polish reeds, all with rough hands. Mr. Cao Tu is 87 years old this year, one of dozens of famous "broom makers" in Cao Minh village. When asked when the broom making profession began, Mr. Tu and many other old people in the village could not remember clearly, only knowing that since they were born, they have seen their parents and grandparents involved in the broom making profession. The reed broom is made from reeds (reeds), the reed leaves are picked, dried and woven into brooms, the reed stubs are used to make the broom handle (broom neck) and rattan is used to tie the broom. Mr. Tu has known how to make reed brooms since he was a child. This year he has turned 87, but every day he makes at least 4 brooms, on a good day he makes 6 to 7 brooms.

He said: Today it is cold and rainy so each family works at their own house, but on a day when it is not raining, the atmosphere of making brooms is very joyful. Three or four families gather in one house to work together and chat together. Through that, they learn from each other's experiences, the products become more beautiful and better. The best thing is on moonlit nights, when people carry bamboo poles and bring bamboo to the alley entrance to sit in long rows to make brooms until the next morning and it is still not over. This beauty has been around since our ancestors' time. It is not over yet, while making brooms, we drink tea, tea is available every day, today this family cooks a pot of green tea, tomorrow that family cooks a pot of yellow tea, a couple of times a month there is a pot of sweet potatoes, a pot of cassava, a plate of roasted peanuts, while making brooms, we chat, the sound of sticks hitting handles, the laughter, calling each other to show who can do it faster, more beautifully, the whole village is bustling.

"If I can't weave a few brooms one night, it's hard to sleep, my child. In Cao Minh village, children around 7 or 8 years old have learned how to make brooms from their grandparents. Many of them are quite skilled." Mr. Tu said, then pointed: "Later, go to Thuy's house and see. That girl is very good at weaving brooms."

Mr. and Mrs. Tu make brooms.

I stopped by Thuy's house around noon, just as Ha Linh (10 years old), Thuy's daughter, was coming home from school. She quickly put away her school bag, washed rice, cooked rice, and sat down on the large pile of dry reeds in front of the porch. Her hands quickly took out a few reeds at a time to weave a broom. Linh said she had been weaving brooms since she was 7. Linh's family had 5 people, including her grandparents and parents, all of whom made a living by making brooms. Every day, at 5am, Thuy's mother woke up to cook rice, the whole family had breakfast, Linh went to school, her grandparents and parents started making brooms, and at 12:30 the whole family had lunch. In the afternoon, if she didn't go to school, Linh stayed home to make brooms with her family.

In the evening, Linh studies, her grandparents and parents work until 11 o'clock. With such a labor capacity, Linh's family can make over 20 brooms a day. At only 10 years old, Linh is very skilled at many steps, from splitting rattan, weaving reeds, braiding broom necks... We watched her use her sharp knife to whittle the rattan and were amazed. Linh said she was used to this job, she could do it with her eyes closed. After more than an hour, Linh completed a broom, her voice very happy: "I still make 2 brooms every day while going to school". On average, Linh also saves 600 to 700 thousand VND a month from making brooms.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy, Linh's mother, shared: "Making brooms is good in any place, rain or shine. Just buy and store the materials to make gradually. People will come to your house to buy, don't worry about overstocking, just worry about not having the strength to make it." She calculated that to make a broom, you need 600g of broom grass, 2,000 VND of rattan, a bamboo stick, or a piece of firewood as big as an adult's finger, about 1/3 meter long. The cost of a broom is 25,000 VND, wholesale for people is 32,000 VND, retail is 35,000 VND, it is not difficult to earn one hundred thousand VND a day from making broom grass. Sitting and making brooms for a long time also causes back pain and fatigue, so broom makers stand up every few hours to walk around the house and water the vegetable beds. This job is done because people buy everything, so it is not tiring.

In Thuy's family, her husband's parents are still healthy, so her family has 4 main workers, making 20 brooms every day. Many families have their children living separately, the house has only 2 old people over 70 years old but making brooms is not inferior to the young generation. Mr. and Mrs. Tu in Cao Minh village, Mr. and Mrs. Hau; Mr. and Mrs. Giang... in Thai Loan village, for example. To complete a broom, there are many steps: Splitting rattan, tying reeds, making the handle. A broom that is both durable and beautiful requires the broom maker to be meticulous, shaking off all the reed dust, the reed clumps must be braided very tightly, like that the broom will be durable, if it is made incorrectly, the broom can only sweep for a short time, the reeds will fall off, and will quickly become blunt. The broom handle (broom neck) must also be made very firmly, tied three or four times around the rattan, before tying, an iron bar must be used to hit the handle, then when tightening the rattan, the broom handle can be tightened. Brooms often break, the neck is loose, partly due to poor quality of the rattan and partly due to carelessness when tying.

Dien Doai is even busier in the last months of the year. This is the time when broom traders need more products, so people work hard day and night to deliver on time. Some of the people who come here to buy brooms are from Dien Chau, but the majority are still from Ha Tinh; Thanh Hoa, Nam Dinh. The demand for brooms is so high that in the past, in Dien Doai, there were only two craft villages, Thai Loan and Cao Minh, making brooms, but now they have spread throughout the commune.

From December to the end of December is the busiest time, that is the reed blooming season, people buy fresh reed to dry all over the village streets and alleys. The price of fresh reed is 3 to 5 times cheaper than dried vegetables. During this season, many people stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning to make brooms. Mr. Tu did not hide his pride: "The people of Dien Doai have always kept their word, once they have agreed to supply goods, they must deliver the exact quantity as per the contract, not reducing the quality and reputation because of quantity". Then he thoughtfully remembered: Once, he followed his father into the forests of Hon Duong, Hon Day, Hon Chua and Thung Cau in Dien Doai commune to collect reeds.

At that time, reeds grew all over the hills. When the reeds bloomed, the whole commune went into the forest. Mr. Tu was once cut by the reed thorns and the forest trees. Many days, Mr. Tu and his father carried bundles of reeds to the edge of the forest, unable to recognize each other. Their hair and clothes were a silvery color, covered in thick mold from the reeds, their limbs were scarred, and their necks were full of slugs. Yet they did not feel miserable or tired, and did not quit their job. Every day, the father and son leaned against the forest trees, ate rice with salt, and then continued to go into the forest to collect reeds. His house always had a kitchen full of reeds, which he and his father dried and stored to make brooms to sell gradually. During the day, they went to collect reeds, and at night, Mr. Tu and his father sat by the oil lamp, beating each bundle of reeds until all the reed dust fell off the reeds before making them into brooms. The brooms made by Mr. and Mrs. Tu were always free of reed dust.

Mr. Tu also added that in 1966, there was a policy of allocating land and forests to the people. The reed forests in Dien Doai commune were converted to grow pine, acacia, eucalyptus and other valuable trees. People had to go to Quy Hop, Quy Chau and Que Phong districts to collect reeds and find reeds. Many people in Dien Doai commune gave up making reed brooms. Only people in Cao Minh and Thai Loan villages still stuck with the profession. Around 1 or 2 a.m., they packed rice, brought rice, fish sauce, salt, pots, walked to the main road to catch a bus to Quy Chau, Quy Hop and Que Phong to set up a hut in the forest to find reeds during the reed blooming season. Mr. Tu and his son spent a whole week in the forest collecting reeds. For about half a month, 5 or 7 families hired a car to carry the reeds home, made them into brooms and sold them at the markets. For a while, the forests of Quy Chau, Que Phong... also gave land and forests to the people, the people of Cao Minh and Thai Loan villages had to take buses to Quang Binh, Quang Tri, Dien Bien, and Laos to buy raw materials. At that time, the consumption of brooms was not even half of what it is now, but the people were still eager for the job and attached to the broom making.

Mr. Tu's children and grandchildren are able to study thanks to the income from brooms. The family of Mr. Men (40 years old) - his son, who makes brooms and supplies materials to the villagers, has bought a car to transport materials to sell to the villagers in the commune. Once a week, Mr. Men drives to Dien Bien, to Laos to buy brooms. Every year, from December to the end of March of the following year, many families have to hire 1 to 2 more workers to make brooms to meet the delivery deadline.

Mr. Tinh - Secretary of the Party Committee of Dien Doai commune said: The whole Dien Doai commune has 4 families investing in cars to buy bamboo shoots in the northern provinces such as Hoa Binh, Lang Son, Lai Chau, Dien Bien and Laos to sell to people in the commune. On average, the whole commune consumes over 500 tons of bamboo shoots each year. There are 2 sources of consumption. Traders from other provinces Thanh Hoa and Nam Dinh drive cars to collect at home and some people in Dien Chau and Quynh Luu districts buy and sell at markets. Therefore, brooms are sold as soon as they are made. On average, a part-time worker earns at least 1 million VND/month from bamboo shoots; the main worker earns from 2.5 million to 3 million VND/month. Currently, the whole commune has 700 households making bamboo shoots, it has become the main occupation, helping people escape poverty and have stable jobs.

Income from brooms contributes to improving people's lives. Every year, Dien Doai people always take the lead, voluntarily contributing to various funds. Together with the commune budget, they have built 2 centralized garbage dumps, creating a clean and beautiful environment.

Not only do they have extra income, but the people here are always proud of keeping the profession their ancestors left behind.

Article and photos:Thu Huong