The hard work of "coolie"
(Baonghean.vn) -Most of the "female porters" I met were residents of Block 15, Cua Nam Ward (Vinh City). Their work was not time-based, they had to do it. When everyone was fast asleep, the "female porters" were still tirelessly pushing carts of goods that were as high as their heads. For many years, the Vinh market area, the intersections, the warehouses stacked with nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers... were where these women made a living.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Tai in Block 15, Cua Nam Ward, confided: her group has 6 people; Block 15 has 6 groups, specializing in pushing goods at night, carrying bricks, soil to the upper floors, carrying nitrogen fertilizer, potassium at the agricultural supplies company... Ms. Tai has been doing this job for over 30 years. Her husband is also a veteran, a construction worker, and used to work with her at the agricultural supplies company. After 8 years, he fell ill. When he found out he had lung cancer, he still tried to carry each bag of nitrogen fertilizer with the wish to have money for his mother and children to rebuild the house. At the age of 30, she had to mourn her husband. Ms. Tai said: Due to difficult circumstances, her children only finished high school, and if they failed to pass the university entrance exam, they went to work for hire. Now that their daughter is married, they also work as coolies, and their son works as a construction worker, earning a few hundred thousand a day, but the job is not stable. It is very hard for women to do this job, if they have no other job, they have to follow it.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Taihas been in this profession for over 30 years
In Ms. Tai's group, Ms. Ngo Thi Than is also in difficult circumstances. Ms. Than is thin, has kidney stones and low blood pressure. Even so, every day at 5 am she is at Vinh market to carry rice. There are days when she is so tired that she thinks she can't get up, but she is afraid of losing her job and has to go to work. Ms. Than confided: If she had fields, gardens, and farms, she would stay at home to grow crops and raise livestock, instead of doing this job, it is both tiring and toxic....
The job of a veteran worker requires inhaling a lot of dust for a long time, so most of the women often suffer from lung disease. Ms. Than once quit her job and switched to selling sticky rice, but since the school banned selling in front of the school gate, she returned to the job hoping to earn some money to support her school-age children.
As if they had secretly divided the work, every day the group of women quietly carried, carried, and helped each other push the goods onto the truck. Sweat soaked their backs and dust covered their faces. Although it was hard work, the income was not much. On good days, they earned hundreds of thousands, on average 40 to 50 thousand, and on other days they went home empty-handed.
The sisters returned home after a hard day's work.
Saying goodbye to the ladies when it was getting dark. The city’s high-pressure lamps cast a yellow glow on their faces, they pedaled home on their bicycles, with frugal food bags hanging from the handlebars, and shovels and baskets behind. I knew they were secretly hoping for a better job tomorrow.
Thu Huong
