"Forest Deer"

(Baonghean) -Nowadays, the highland villages are facing price "storms". Life is difficult, forcing everyone in the highland families to struggle to make a living. Collecting and selling forest products, including wild vegetables to earn extra income is a way for many women and girls in the villages to earn a living...

Mrs. Xinh sells wild vegetables.

Over 70 years old, every day Mrs. Lam Thi Xinh, Vang Lin village (Yen Thang - Tuong Duong) goes to the forest to pick bamboo shoots and wild vegetables such as rau dun, mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, banana flowers... Every week, she has 3-4 trips to the forest to pick "luck" to sell in distant villages.

Other "old ladies" usually sell to vegetable shops or people who often go to the central markets, but she packs them in small bags and goes around the village "selling". When asked: "Why are you so old and not staying at home with your children and grandchildren?" Mrs. Xinh said: "I'm old, my stomach is still not full. My daughters are all married far away, and my grandchild is still in school and doesn't know how to help me earn money." She added that she had worked hard to pick bamboo shoots from the forest, and selling them to shops in the village that often buy them cheaply is a pity, a waste of effort. If she worked hard to sell in the villages, the amount of money earned after each trip to the forest would be a little better because small traders in the village also sell them to the villagers to make a profit. "I might as well go and sell them myself" - she said.

Today, Mrs. Xinh walked 5 kilometers through the forest from Vang Lin village to the commune center to sell all the bamboo shoots she picked. In just a moment, she will have to wade through the mountain pass to return to the village. But her legs will walk faster because of the joy of selling all the "forest gifts" she picked that day. So tomorrow morning, her granddaughter will have money to pay for school and buy books. She said: "I have only known how to sell goods for a few years now. Especially when my hands working in the fields have become weak. No matter how hard I try, the rice I harvest is only enough to eat, there is nothing to sell like when I was still strong. I have to pick bamboo shoots to have money to buy food, and to send my granddaughter to school...".

The old lady said that in the villages of this highland commune, there are many old ladies, women, even students or girls who have dropped out of school to pick and sell "forest gifts". They are often single people, their children have started families and moved out, some even married men from China. "Luckily, the forest protects us. I'm just afraid that one day, my legs will not be strong enough to walk through the forest, my hands will not be able to hold a knife anymore, then that will be called suffering!", Mrs. Xinh said, her voice full of emotion.

As for Vi Thi Thao, an 8th grade student at Thach Giam Secondary School (Tuong Duong), selling "forest gifts" is a regular job for her. After each school hour, she rides her bike carrying things picked from the fields such as young corn, melons, pumpkins, and water spinach. Her shipment becomes more complete when someone in the village asks her to help sell a basket of vegetables, or a few banana flowers to split the "profit". She seems very proud that in the past 2 school years, she has not had to ask her parents for money to pay for school, and has also bought a phone for convenient communication. Thao's parents therefore have less trouble raising 3 children of school age. According to her, the trips to sell goods are just after school hours, and do not affect her studies much.

Products such as wild vegetables, mushrooms, chestnuts, banana flowers or betel bark, khâu tree, young shoots of rattan trees... are favored by customers in the highlands. Every morning or late afternoon, on the roads in the highland towns, at the residential areas, women, even old ladies and girls often appear carrying "forest gifts" to sell. They do not need to shout, the items are quickly sold out.

Although the profession of selling forest products is not yet a sustainable source of income, because most of them are just products collected from the forest, it is helping a part of the people overcome difficulties in life. Another important thing is that thanks to this force of selling "forest gifts", the specialties of the highlands are known to many people!

Article and photos: Ha Phuong