Nghe An: Horrifying memories of teenagers returning from Quang Nam gold mine

(Baonghean.vn) - Working in tunnels hundreds of meters deep, being knocked unconscious, having to continue working after waking up, sometimes having to witness the tragic deaths of friends and relatives are the haunting memories of the "gold diggers" who have just returned from "hell".

Place of physical torment

In recent years, in Na Be village, Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong - Nghe An), people have been leaving their villages to work far away, most of them going to Quang Nam to work as "coolies" for the gold mines. More importantly, many minors have also found their way to the gold mines to work as "coolies", only to return with haunting memories.

Na Be village, Xa Luong commune (Tuong Duong) currently has many people working at gold mines in Quang Nam province.

At the end of April, we went to Na Be, home to nearly 200 Khmu households. The weather was starting to get hot, and it got even hotter when the locals were talking about some kids who had just returned from the gold mines in Quang Nam. We met Noc Bun My, a 15-year-old boy who recounted his time in the “hell” of gold miners in Quang Nam province.

Just less than ten days ago, he and his friends escaped from the gold mine in Phuoc Thanh commune (Phuoc Son district - Quang Nam). No one could stand working 12-14 hours a day in a deep tunnel, so a man from Xieng My commune (Tuong Duong) led a group of dozens of people to escape from the gold mine when the guards were negligent.

Two months ago, a woman of about 25 years old from La village, Luong Minh commune appeared and talked about her life and work with a salary of 3 million VND a month at the Quang Nam gold mine. Not interested in studying, but curious because she heard that there were many people from her hometown working happily there, Bun My followed 4 other friends of the same age to go.

Lu Van Than recounts the scene of working and living at the gold mine.

After more than a day of traveling by car, the boys were taken to a gold mine where about 200 people from Nghe An were working. The residents in the area were also ethnic minorities, but they rarely worked as laborers in the gold mines. Bun My’s first day at the gold mine began with threats from the two bosses: “Whoever runs away, I’ll cut off their ears!”

There is an even more terrible fear, which is the gold mines that go deep into the mountains, some of which are up to 200m deep. “The first time I crawled into a gold mine, I felt like a mole or a porcupine in the forest.” – Bun My said. During the 2 months of working as a gold miner, Bun My witnessed “chaos” several times.

The gold miners, unable to bear the hard labor, discussed running away. They were almost immediately captured. “A young man like me was knocked unconscious. After being doused with cold water to wake him up and given a short nap, the gold mine owner forced him to get up and go to work again,” Bun My continued.

Low wages

As for Lu Van Than, a friend of the same age who went with Noc Bun My once, he is now quite comfortable with the job of herding cows to help his parents. According to him, when he didn't want to go to school, someone invited him to go gold mining, and he had a friend to go with him, so he ran away from home. But when he got there, he was disappointed when he saw with his own eyes the deep gold mine, the deeper he went, the more breathless he felt...

Every day, Than and everyone else carried dirt and rocks from the pit to the outside, exhausted, sometimes wanting to collapse. His family was well-off in the village (Than's father was the Party Secretary), and they didn't have much work to do at home, so they couldn't cope with the harsh work intensity here. After working for less than 10 days, he asked to go home without receiving any wages, and the owner of the yard agreed.

Just 2 days after returning from the gold mine, Moong Van May (right) followed his father to the fields.

Just 2 days after returning from Quang Nam, Moong Van May followed his father to the fields. Meeting him on the way, Mr. Moong Van Long (May's father) said: "He just came back the day before, he was gone for 2 months and only earned 2 million VND, and when he got home, it was all gone." This scholarly boy seemed quite shy and hesitant when asked about his days working at the gold mine.

According to May, working in gold is more tiring than farming, because he has to work in deep tunnels, the deeper he goes, the darker it gets. His job is to use a wheelbarrow every day to transport dirt and rocks from the deep tunnels to the outside. He works until his hands are numb, and his back aches when he sits down. On top of that, his meals consist only of dried fish and wild vegetables, and he is hungry and has nothing else to eat. After working for 2 months, May asked to leave because his mother was seriously ill, the owner of the mine paid him 2 million as wages for travel expenses.

16 year old female "gold digger"

Although she is only 16 years old, Moong Thi Tho has many years of experience working in gold mines and is quite knowledgeable about the activities of mine owners and "gold diggers". Tho said that in Phuoc Son district alone, there are 6 gold mines, the largest one called Bai Muoi (in Phuoc Thanh commune) has more than 300 workers, the smallest mine has more than 100 people.

Moong Thi Tho recounts her two years working as a hired hand at gold mines in Quang Nam province.

During the 2 years, Tho went to 2 gold mines, initially washing dishes and cooking. After that, Tho was assigned to guard the warehouse, so she had the opportunity to interact with many of the "bosses". She said: "Girls are cursed, no matter the reason. Men are beaten to the point of death." The reason why the 16-year-old girl ran away from the gold mine was also because of the curses. "They don't see me as a human being, it's so humiliating, I just ran away!" - Tho said.

According to teenage “gold diggers” in Na Be, there are currently many people from Nghe An, mainly ethnic minorities, working at gold mines in Quang Nam. Most of them have to work in harsh conditions, working more than 10 hours a day, eating poorly, sometimes being beaten, life is no different from “hell”.

Kien - Vi - Tho