5 years of hard work building 'houses' for hundreds of ownerless remains

In the scorching summer weather of March in Nghe An, the image of a tall man in his sixties sweeping the cemetery moved us. He is Tran Xuan Nghiem, the man who spent more than 5 years searching for and burying the ownerless remains.

Mr. Tran Xuan Nghiem (light-colored shirt) is the one who made a great contribution in building 500 graves for ownerless remains. Photo: Quynh Nguyen

Decades ago, the area where he lived was a deserted field. Although it was not a cemetery, whenever someone died, the people in the surrounding area (villages 8, 9, 10 of Nghi Van commune) brought the dead bodies here to bury. In 1978, after completing his military service, he returned to his hometown to get married and was given land in this area by the commune to live with many other households.

As a soldier, witnessing many comrades sacrifice and only having time to bury their bodies in forests and mountain slopes, Mr. Nghiem was haunted and saddened. When he saw his neighbors digging foundations to build houses, often seeing skeletons lying exposed to the dew, or seeing many graves around him that were not cared for by relatives, abandoned on the edge of muddy fields, trampled by buffaloes and cows every day, he could not rest assured.

Since then, he has always cherished the idea of ​​building a cemetery for these nameless remains. "However, suddenly thinking about the dilapidated house without money to repair it, I just thought I didn't dare to do it" - Mr. Nghiem said - "In 2013, my son went abroad to work, saving his first months' salary to send back to my wife and I to repair the damaged level 4 house. Holding 50 million in hand, I immediately thought of the long-cherished plan to build a cemetery. I discussed this with my wife, luckily she agreed, without hesitation I started building the cemetery the very next day".

Then Mr. Nghiem went to campaign and received help from nearly 50 parishioners.Thuong Loc. So every day, he and his fellow villagers carried shovels and dug the ground to find unclaimed graves to exhume. The first graves were built amid everyone's excitement.

Nearly 500 million VND has been donated by the people to build a cemetery for the ownerless remains. Photo: Quynh Nguyen

Every day, Mrs. Pham Thi Duong, Mr. Nghiem's ​​wife, and other women in the neighborhood cook and prepare lunch and dinner for those who go to exhume graves. "On the first day, I was very happy to exhume more than 30 unclaimed graves. With the help of the people, and hiring workers to build and tile the graves, each grave costs nearly 1 million, and the 50 million VND that my children send home is gradually reduced," Mr. Nghiem continued.

Seeing the humanity and necessity of building a cemetery, many people here such as the family of Mr. Tran Xuan Tiem, Tran Xuan Liem... actively participated in searching for unclaimed graves. Some contributed labor, some contributed money to do good deeds.Many families with children working abroad have mobilized to send money back to contribute to the cause.cemetery construction. According to statistics, nearly 500 million VND has been sent from abroad to contribute funds to build the cemetery.

Every day when he has free time, Mr. Nghiem goes to the cemetery to clean it.. The rows of graves with unknown names and therefore no tombstones were placed, were built neatly, tidily, and in straight rows. On a concrete floor about 100 meters wide.500m2, about 25 cm above the ground are rows of graves.made of shiny tiles. Each row has 22 stars.tomb, tup to nowalsonearly 500 graves. Mr. Nghiemsaid, every full moon day, holidays, the work of incense and flowers is also done by him. "When I do charity work, my mind also feels happier and more comfortable."

Mr. Nghiem next to his former dilapidated house. Photo: Quynh Nguyen

“In 2014, when the level 4 house was about to collapse, and considering that the construction of the cemetery for the nameless remains was basically complete, I thought about building a house for myself,” Mr. Nghiem shared.

Looking at Mr. Nghiem's ​​slim figure and dark brown skin, weaving through the rows of graves, his mouth smiling contentedly, one cannot help but feel respect./.