Homesickness and feelings
The dream of "the promised land"
(Baonghean) - One of the hundreds of bewildered faces catching a bus to the South on National Highway 1 on January 16 that we met was Nguyen Van Duong from a commune famous for making clay pots (Tru Son, Do Luong).
I just turned 18, "it's time to work" - Duong said. I took a bus to Binh Duong with the promise of an acquaintance to help me get a job as a factory worker. He said: Besides farming in the countryside, most young people and young couples find ways to go far away to make a living, mainly to the southern provinces.
Instead of "going South" like Duong's choice, we met Mr. Ha Van Thuan at the Immigration Department and learned that he had a dream in another land: Thailand. He said: "In recent years, people from my hometown (Thanh Tung - Thanh Chuong) have been "in vogue" about doing business in Laos and Thailand. Many people go to Laos to plant rubber, get married, then bring their wives and younger siblings there to do business. Some others go to Thailand to work in the garment industry. Each person's monthly salary is about 6 to 8 million VND, which is better than staying home and farming."
Parents work far away, grandfather stays home to help his grandchildren with their homework
Therefore, it is understandable that not only are the buses to the South full of passengers after Tet and the full moon, but the Immigration Department is also bustling. There are hamlets known as "foreign hamlets" with a large amount of foreign currency earned every year, changing the face of the homeland, such as Binh Minh hamlet, hamlet 17 in Phuc Tho, Nghi Loc, where 70-80% of households have children working abroad. Ms. Vo Thi Ha's family in hamlet 17 has 4 children, 3 of whom work in Taiwan.
With the dream of changing their lives, many people still return empty-handed, not to mention bringing with them heartbreaking tragedies. Many couples break up due to mutual suspicion, many girls go to work as factory workers and return with young children without husbands, many people bring illness, some have work accidents and become a lifelong burden for their elderly parents. "It's true that there are joys and sorrows, but that's the mentality of young people today, they don't want to stick to the plow and the buffalo in the countryside. Hearing the name of a factory or enterprise is still more "impressive", plus having the conditions to go out and broaden their minds, some people even dream of studying further" - a leader of Vo Liet commune (Thanh Chuong) said.
Feelings from home
In a small house in Hamlet 2 (Tru Son, Do Luong), we met Mrs. Nguyen Thi Lieu, 63 years old, who was studying at the desk with her grandson. She has 5 children, all of whom are working far away, including 2 sons and daughter-in-law who have not returned for 2 years, leaving her 3 grandchildren to look after and teach. She sadly said: "Because of their circumstances, they have to go to work, so they leave their children to me to take care of. From eating, sleeping, to studying, I do it all by myself. Tet has just passed a few days ago, but my 4-year-old grandson misses his parents and cries all the time, insisting on going to see them, so even though I am old and weak, I still take him to Ho Chi Minh City to see his parents, to save him the trouble."
Sharing the same situation, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Hoan, also in the same village as Mrs. Lieu, had 8 children (1 deceased), 6 of whom went to the North.
Vu Hong Hanh (8 years old), currently a second grader at Quynh Tho Primary School, Quynh Luu, when we met her innocently said: "I'm currently living with my aunt while my parents work far away." When we asked, we learned that although she is only 8 years old, Hanh has been without the warmth of her parents for many years. When she was in kindergarten, her parents took her to
The "tornado of leaving home" has made many localities quiet. In the village, the neighborhood only sees the silhouettes of old people and children. In the field, all you see are old people. "After the full moon, it's sad and lonely" - Mr. Nguyen Van Hung (Quynh Dien - Quynh Luu) sighed while cleaning the family altar after the ancestor worship day. His family, the children also work far away, one in Lang Son, the other in Ho Chi Minh City. Only his daughter got married and moved to the neighboring commune, sometimes she stops by to visit her parents quickly. Mr. Hung said, "I know I have to leave my hometown to work and earn a living, but I have no one to take care of the housework and the hometown."
Because of this, many local mass movements are paralyzed. Some hamlets are in a state of constantly changing Youth Union branch secretaries. But what is more worrying is that the "movement" of leaving home has also brought about alarming consequences. For example, at Quynh Tho Secondary School (Quynh Luu), every year after Tet, there are students who drop out of school to go to the countryside.
In conclusion
The villages and hamlets were quiet as soon as it got dark. The lamp shades on the small study table tilted the shadow of a child with an old man or old woman whose eyes were dim. This picture can be easily seen in many villages in Nghe An. It seems that everyone is trying, hoping, anxiously waiting for a Tet reunion for the joy of a leaky roof to be healed, new clothes to be dressed in the spring sunshine, distant stories to be told bustlingly in a corner of the village... I wonder if anyone far away has experienced the moment of "raising their head to admire the bright moon" to "bow their head" to remember a homeland that aches in their heart?
PVTT Group
