Feelings of being away from home
(Baonghean) - Saying goodbye to relatives and family, putting aside the joy of gathering and reunion, each person has their own feelings, but the common point of those who start their journey abroad is the nostalgia and desire to return.
Making a living away from home
Packing some old clothes into a travel bag, Mr. Vang Van Xay in Can village, Tam Thai commune (Tuong Duong) hurriedly put on the bag and walked quickly to catch the bus to Quang Ninh. The 2-year-old boy saw that his father was about to leave, so he ran to hug his father's legs and burst into tears.
Mr. Xay bent down to pick up his son and kissed him on the cheek, his tears also suddenly blurred, both father and son cried. He carried the little boy to the gate, kissed him on the cheek a few more times then handed him to his wife, then quickly walked towards Q street.Highway 7A, leaving behind the unfinished house and his wife holding their child standing guard at the gate.
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These days, at bus stations and along national highways, there are many people getting on buses to go everywhere to find work to make a living. Photo: Dinh Tuan |
“Last year, I passed away when my second son was only 1 year old, still very young. Recently, when I came home for Tet, he didn’t recognize his father, and for the first few days he wouldn’t let his father hold him. When father and son had just gotten to know each other, father had to go out to earn a living, and might not return for another year. I was so sad and heartbroken! But there was no other way, he had to go far away to earn money to cover expenses.lifefamily".
According to him, he was born into a poor family, did not have much education, so had to do manual labor, got married and lived alone, but his life was not much better. With little land and no capital to do business, he had to leave his wife and children, and go to Quang Ninh to work as a miner for the past 2 years.
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Mr. Vang Van Xay in Can village, Tam Thai commune (Tuong Duong) said goodbye to his 2-year-old son to go to Quang Ninh to work as a miner. Photo: Dinh Tuan |
Although the work is hard and tiring, it gives me a stable income to support my wife and children and build an unfinished house. This year I will try to work overtime and save money to finish the house at the end of the year to make the winter less cold.
Also in Can village, after days of returning home to celebrate Tet with his family, Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh preparedluggagereturned to Bac Giang to continue working to make a living. “The children are growing up, the need for spending and education also increases, while the couple does not have stable jobs, only a few fields, the garden is not distributed. At best, it is just enough to eat, no savings, so for the past few years I have gone to Bac Giang to work as a roofer, the income is quite stable, thanks to that I have money to raise the children to study”, Mr. Thanh confided.
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Mr. Vang Van Xay went to work far away, hoping to save enough money to complete his unfinished house. Photo: Dinh Tuan |
Working all year round, if there is nothing important for the family, Nguyen Van Thanh only returns home to celebrate Tet. Everyone wants to be close to his wife and children, but due to circumstances, Thanh accepts living far from home, taking care of himself when he is sick in exchange for the comfort of his family members.
Not only Mr. Vang Van Xay and Nguyen Van Thanh, in the remote area of Tuong Duong, there are many similar situations. According to statistics, at the end of 2020, the whole district had more than 2,000 people leaving their hometown to work far away. Because in their hometown, there is a lack of land for production, no jobs and no stable source of income.
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Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh in Can village, Tam Thai commune (Tuong Duong) is preparing to go to Bac Giang to work as a worker. Photo: Dinh Tuan |
Share the same dream
Leaving Tuong Duong, we headed to Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong), where Mr. Luong Tuan Oanh and his wife, who live in Ma village, were also preparing their luggage to go to Nam Dinh to work as tailors. While packing the necessary items into a bag, Mr. Oanh chatted: “Because of the small land area, no side job, and unstable income, last year my wife and I went to Nam Dinh to work as tailors, and my two children were taken care of by their grandparents at home. But when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out, work was also unstable, with income only about 5 million VND/person/month.”
Mr. Oanh added that with about 10 million VND, every month the couple tries to spend frugally within 5 million VND, and sends the rest to their children. Being away, missing their children so much, there are sleepless nights, just wanting to quit work and go home...
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| Mr. Oanh and his wife prepare to go to work far away. Photo: Cong Kien |
According to Mr. Luong Xuan Thuyet (Oanh's father), the income of 5 million VND/month is not high but still more stable than at home. Because at home, there is only going to the forest or peeling acacia bark for hire, these jobs are completely dependent on the weather.
“My husband and I are both over 70 years old, and taking care of our grandchildren is quite difficult. We just hope that our children can find jobs in the province with a stable income and have the opportunity to visit home every week to help with the work...”
LIVETransaction officeAt Ngoc Lam commune's "one-stop shop", we met many people coming to do paperwork, procedures, and documents to go to work far away. Officials and people here often call it "going to work".
Holding four sets of documents in her hand, Ms. Cut Thi Mui, a resident of Tan Sang village, said that in a few days she and her husband will go to Bac Ninh to work as factory workers, and each of them has prepared two sets of documents for easy contact at work. She and her husband currently have a 2-year-old son, who will soon have to be taken care of by his grandparents so they can go to work together, because they do not have a stable source of income at home.
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Ms. Cut Thi Mui (left) and Mr. Vi Van Man and his wife in Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong) wait to complete documents and procedures to go to work far away. Photo: Cong Kien |
Sitting next to Ms. Mui is a young couple, Vi Van Man (26 years old) and Lo Thanh Thin (26 years old), living in Tan Lam village. According to Man, the couple has a child nearly 3 years old, little land, and their income is not enough to cover the family's needs. Last year, the couple went to Kon Tum to work.Workerrubber with salary around 6 million VND/person/month.
They save half of their expenses and send the other half to their grandparents to take care of their children and cover some of their daily needs. The work is quite hard and they live too far away. They miss their children and cannot visit them, so this year Man and his wife applied for jobs in Bac Ninh, which is closer so they can occasionally visit home and their children.
Man added: "At times like this, I always hope that there will be more companies and more suitable jobs in the province."steady income, can go home to visit the children every week".
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Without a stable source of income, many people in Ngoc Lam commune (Thanh Chuong) have to leave their hometown to make a living. Photo: Cong Kien |
“Due to the lack of production materials and unstable income sources, many local citizens have gone far away to work. About 10 days after the Lunar New Year, more than 600 people came to certify their documents to go far away to work, and this number is expected to continue to increase. Hopefully, in the coming time, many factories and enterprises in industrial parks in the province will come into operation and recruit so that people will have the opportunity to work closer, and have more conditions to take care of their families and children...”.
There are currently no complete and accurate statistics on the number of Nghe An people who go to other provinces to work as workers, accepting to live far away from home to earn income and take care of and support their families.away from homeThey all share the same wish that the province will have more industrial parks and factories so that they can have the opportunity to return home closer to their families./.
