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 does not necessarily 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 central area 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 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 years old, 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 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 in the village who went to work abroad all borrowed from the bank and had additional support from the state according to 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. Besides 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 interrupted: Duc went to Taiwan at the end of 2021, he didn't have a salary for the first few months, after that he sent home about 10 million each month to pay off the bank loan. The family was shown by commune and district officials how to apply for a loan of more than 100 million, the family borrowed more than 20 million, plus the government's support of more than 5 million to have enough money for their son to go to Taiwan. Up to now, he has almost paid off all the debt, I'm 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 that he plans to go to work abroad again. Only by going will he have money and quickly escape poverty" - 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 person, not enough to eat. Currently, according to the production situation of 2023 and local labor and employment, the whole commune has about more than 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 drizzly, quite cool. 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 Secretary of the Thach Son Party Cell said that in the summer, there is often a lack 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 all year round. Therefore, more than half of the households have to dig wells, many households have to dig 3-4 places to find 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 look for jobs in the provinces, in the country, or even go abroad to work. But nowadays, companies and enterprises 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 and 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 village chief of Thach Son 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 follow their families to work for hire, so they still cannot escape poverty."

“Now the government has many policies to support our 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 help of local authorities at all levels, it will be the solution to help more households of Dan Lai people, not only in Thach Ngan, but also in other communes such as Chau Khe and Mon Son, to soon escape poverty and backwardness, to 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 instructions to each person on how to grow rice, how to grow crops, raise livestock to develop the economy.