The artillery village of the past, the carpentry village of today

(Baonghean) -If in the past, Tay Ho fireworks were famous for their sharp, crisp explosions but also full of risks and dangers, today the wooden products here are praised for their diverse, rich, trendy, durable and beautiful designs. Not long ago, Tay Ho was recognized by the province as one of the three craft villages of Nam Dan district.

Mr. Phan Quoc Chung, 41 years old, owner of a carpentry workshop, told me that in 1994, he and his younger brother were planning to do a side job of making firecrackers to earn a living, when the Prime Minister issued Directive 406/TTg, banning the production, sale and use of firecrackers. While struggling to find a way to make a living, the district sent officials to help the locality discuss ways to change jobs and suggested that people build and develop side jobs such as carpentry, sewing, etc. Seeing that it was interesting, the Chung brothers discussed doing carpentry. Many difficulties awaited them ahead: they had to go to school to learn the trade, they had to borrow money to buy tools from a plane and up; where to get the wood and who would buy the products they made. They knew it would be difficult, but both were determined; young men could not stick to the fields forever.

Necessity is the mother of invention, it is very difficult and hard to have a job and make a living from it. And then, the Chung brothers also created a carpentry business like today. Their workshop has over 10 workers, working all year round with items such as tables, chairs, cabinets, beds and other wooden household items. Along with that is a car used to transport goods and raw materials to different places. Recalling the past, Chung said that compared to making fireworks, carpentry is much more secure for life. Not to mention that back then, whenever there was an unusual "bang" sound, the whole village would be scared. A few months before the ban on fireworks, in Tay Ho, there was a firecracker explosion that caused a flat-roofed house to collapse, killing two workers on the spot. Making fireworks is like playing with death. Fortunately, there is a policy to ban fireworks and a policy to change to a suitable profession.



Skilled workers are carving delicate patterns.

Unlike Mr. Chung's startup, Mr. Phan Cong Hoi, the owner of Van Hoi carpentry workshop, is different. When the firecracker profession was popular in the village, only a few families pursued carpentry. He knew that this profession was both safe and had a future. The more society developed, the greater the demand for wooden furniture. If in the early years, he and his wife only dared to hire a few workers, mainly as helpers, in recent years, his carpentry workshop has had more than 10 workers working regularly. Among them are skilled workers from Nam Dinh. Currently, his main products are inclined towards the "spiritual" part such as altars, funeral tables and some other related products. With sophisticated carvings and suitable wood types such as jackfruit and dổi, and a way to please even the most difficult customers, the products of Van Hoi workshop are favored by customers near and far.

Mr. Phan Cong Thanh, head of the block and industrial promotion agency of Nam Dan Town, said that since Directive 406/TTg, firecracker production households have switched to other side jobs. Of the 110 households in the block, 13 have opened carpentry workshops, the rest are engaged in sewing and other side jobs. Particularly in carpentry, workshop owners have focused on investing in production tools in the direction of mechanization and electrification to improve product quality as well as save workers' labor. Since being recognized as a craft village, the carpentry workshops here have been doing business more and more "systematically". In particular, the products are not only diverse, rich, trendy, and durable, but also have reasonable prices and are trusted by customers near and far. Thanks to that, carpentry has created regular jobs for people in the block with a stable income of 3 - 6 million VND/person/month, contributing to hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the block. Stable economy creates favorable conditions for cultural and educational development. Currently, the block has nearly 20 students studying at colleges and universities; security and order are stable.

Nam Dan town has agreed to plan a land area with a favorable location to concentrate small-scale industries, including carpentry. At that time, not only will environmental sanitation be better ensured, but production facility owners will also have more favorable conditions in marketing their products...

Viet Long