Dan Lai people go to work abroad

THE JOY OF FATHERS

For the people of Thach Son village, Thach Ngan commune (Con Cuong), working hard for a whole year may not earn 10 million VND. That is the words of Deputy Head of Thach Son village, La Van Son. Standing at the intersection, at the beginning of the village, there is a large old banyan tree next to the village cultural house yard, Mr. La Van Son pointed to the high slope leading to the center of Thach Son and said, "In there, there are 2 families whose children have gone to work abroad, and 2 others who have been gone for more than a year are on the slope on the opposite side".

Walking along the only road leading to the center of Thach Son village, where 100% of the Dan Lai people live, the stilt houses built by the State for the Thach Son people who relocated from the core area of ​​Pu Mat National Park here since 2007 have now been stained with the color of time.

Sitting in the house, Mr. Le Van Thang hesitantly looked out the window, occasionally covering his mouth with his hand, suppressing a cough. That was the house of Mr. Thang's relative who currently lived alone taking care of his grandchildren while his children worked far away in the South. Mr. Thang also lived alone at home, so he often went to his relative's house to drink bitter tea to relieve his boredom. Mr. Le Van Thang was just over 40 this year, with a small figure and a gaunt, wrinkled face due to constant illness. "For many years, I have been sick and unable to work, just staying at home. All my income depends on my wife's hired work, mainly peeling acacia bark," said Mr. Le Van Thang.

Asked about his eldest son, he smiled and said, his mother worked for hire all year to support his father and his younger siblings who were still in school, but she could not earn 10 million, but he (Le Anh Duc - Mr. Thang's son) went to Taiwan for more than a year now, sending back about 10 million VND every month. Talking more about Mr. Thang's joy, Secretary of the Thach Son Party Cell Vi Van Hoa said that the 4 cases of Dan Lai people from the village who went to work abroad all borrowed from the bank and had additional support from the state under the National Target Program. Since the village was established, these are the first cases that have boldly borrowed capital to go abroad to find work, to fulfill their dream of escaping poverty as they shared before leaving. In addition to Le Anh Duc, there are also La Van Cang, La Van Truong, and Le Van Thang who have also gone to work abroad in Taiwan.

Hearing that, Mr. Thang interjected: Duc went to Taiwan at the end of 2021. He didn't receive a salary for the first few months, and then he sent home about 10 million each month to pay off the bank loan. The family was shown how to apply for a loan of more than 100 million by commune and district officials. The family borrowed more than 20 million, plus government support of more than 5 million to have enough money for their son to go to Taiwan. Now he has almost paid off all the debt, and is very happy. I hope that my son can work for many more years and return home to escape poverty and hardship, so that the whole family can experience a prosperous life, without having to worry about lack of food and clothing.

Sharing the same joy when talking about his son who went to work abroad, Mr. La Dinh Tham said that his son, La Van Truong, went to work abroad in Taiwan 3 years ago and returned to Vietnam before Tet and is now in Saigon trying to find a job. “The cost of going to Taiwan is more than 140 million, he went from 2021 to April 2023 and has paid off all the bank debt. He sends back about 30 million every month. In the near future, he will have “capital” and not have to borrow from the bank. He plans to go to the South to find a stable job and then he will not go anymore. But recently he called and said he plans to go abroad to work again. Only by going will he have money and escape poverty quickly,” Mr. Tham confided.

OPEN THE WAY OUT OF POVERTY

Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Thach Ngan Commune, Ngo Tri Dai, said that Thach Son village has 55 Dan Lai households, of which 54 are poor and 1 is near-poor. Talking about the difficulty of escaping poverty of the people here, first of all, people have very little land to grow rice as well as produce other types of food. Each household is only given a few hundred square meters divided by household, not enough to eat. Currently, according to the production situation in 2023 and local labor and employment, the whole commune has about 70 poor households out of a total of more than 1,400 households, and mainly concentrated in the two Dan Lai villages of Thach Son and Ba Ha.

The time we visited Thach Son was mid-March, the weather was light and cool with drizzle. On the way to meet Mr. Le Van Thang, we saw two households digging wells to find water sources near the bottom of the stream flowing through the center of Thach Son village. The rice had been planted but was quite stunted.

The Party Secretary of Thach Son said that in the summer, there is often a shortage of water for daily use, and it is not uncommon for the fields to be dry. People rely on water from natural streams, but it is not enough for daily use all year round. Therefore, more than half of the households have to dig wells, many households dig 3-4 places before finding a place with water. After a while, when the water source dries up, they have to dig another well, which is very costly in terms of effort and money.

Talking about the labor and income of the people, the cadres of Thach Son village said that the income from agricultural production and acacia planting is not enough to escape poverty. The only way is to try to study, then find a job in other localities in the province, in the country, or even better, go abroad to work. But nowadays, companies and businesses that pay high salaries also require highly qualified and skilled workers.

However, most of the Dan Lai children in Thach Son have not finished high school. Most of them have finished middle school, and many have not even finished middle school, but have followed their parents to the South or North to work for hire, or have gotten married and also worked for hire. But working for hire can only find manual labor jobs, which are both hard and have unstable incomes.

Citing this, the deputy of Thach Son village said, "No one in the village has finished high school. Currently, there are 3 children in middle school, but after Tet, they drop out to work for their families, so they still cannot escape poverty."

“Now the government has many policies to support people, especially Sub-project 3 under Project 4 of the National Target Program for Sustainable Poverty Reduction 2023 on supporting people who are poor, near-poor, or have just escaped poverty to learn a trade, find jobs, or export labor. The support source of the National Target Program for people who go to work abroad according to the regulations will be supported by money. Depending on the level of meeting the criteria, the application can be supported with 10 - 15 million VND/worker. In cases where children of Dan Lai people in Thach Son go to work abroad, they are supported with 5 - 10 million VND/person, including many costs for vocational training, completing documents and procedures according to regulations. In addition, people can borrow capital with preferential interest rates" - Mr. Phan Thanh Hung - Deputy Head of the Department of Labor, War Invalids and Social Affairs of the People's Committee of Con Cuong district said.

Hopefully, with the support policies of the State and the assistance of local authorities, it will be a solution to help more Dan Lai households not only in Thach Ngan, but also in other communes such as Chau Khe and Mon Son to soon escape poverty and backwardness, and become well-off and rich not only in action, but also in thinking and awareness.

In 2006, the Government approved the Project on Conservation and Sustainable Development of the Dan Lai Ethnic Group in the core zone of Pu Mat National Park, with the goal of relocating 146 Dan Lai households in Bung and Co Phat villages in Mon Son commune (Con Cuong) out of the deep forest. In 2007, 42 Dan Lai households relocated to new residences in Ke Tat and Thach Son villages, Thach Ngan commune. Other households later relocated to resettlement areas in Cua Rao and Tan Son villages (Mon Son commune). Only 30 households remained in Co Phat village. In their new residences, the Dan Lai people received support from the State to build solid, spacious houses and provide land for production. The Party Committee, the government, and organizations assigned responsibilities to provide specific guidance to each person on how to grow wet rice, how to grow crops, raise livestock to develop the economy.