(Baonghean.vn) - When the forest planting work was promoted, the mountains of the West were covered with vast acacia forests, the profession of cutting acacia trees and harvesting forest products was also formed. This is one of the hard jobs, the labor is difficult and has many potential dangers.
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| Acacia tree cutters require good health because the work is hard and they stay up late and wake up early. Every day, from 5am, when it is still dark, they work on the hill to avoid the strong sun in the middle of the bare hill. |
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| Acacia tree harvesters usually work in groups, accepting “full package” exploitation for a certain acacia buyer. Each group consists of about 10 people (maybe different or the same commune), both male and female, to divide the work, such as: clearing, peeling, carrying, etc. Each group usually has 1 person carrying a machine to cut the tree. |
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| Whether acacia cutting is productive or not, easy or difficult, depends on many factors: human resources, means, terrain, tree density... In which, the thing that people are most concerned about is the terrain where the tree is exploited, high mountains or gentle hills. If the hill is gentle and has convenient roads, the acacia cutting job will be easier. In the photo: Tying ropes to the top of tall trees before cutting. |
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| Sometimes, it takes a lot of effort to make a tree fall in the right direction. |
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| After felling, the tree must be cut into 2.5 - 3m long sections, and the bark must be peeled off before loading onto the truck. If the tree is large, the bark can be peeled off before felling. Peeling the acacia bark takes a lot of time, and the smaller the tree, the harder it is to peel. |
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| In the past, acacia tree cutters often used crowbars and knives to peel the bark, but now they use a very convenient bent steel hook. |
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| Although the work is hard, heavy, and sometimes dangerous (being pinched by trees, having one’s limbs crushed, being stung by bees, having one’s face swollen, having one’s body hit by a knife or an axe…), the glue workers are still cheerful. As a woman from Thanh Thuy commune (Thanh Chuong) said: “Even though it’s hard, I still do it because I don’t know what else to do, so I just stay optimistic to finish the job quickly.” |
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| Transporting acacia is the hardest work, having to go through many "hick", many difficult roads, many obstacles. When transporting acacia, it is common for women to carry 45-50 kg logs on their shoulders. Everyone is sweating profusely, their clothes are soaked. |
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| If mining on the mountain top, they can arrange the trees into large blocks, weighing about 1.5 - 2 tons, tie them with ropes, spin them tightly, and together push and roll the blocks of trees down the mountain. |
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| When working far away, acacia diggers often bring food and drinks to eat in between meals to regain strength. On the mountain top, meals made from forest plants as chopsticks and rice balls are also delicious. |
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| If the mining site cannot be accessed by car, people must use buffalo carts to make each difficult trip to the main road. |
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| In places where only small trucks can enter, the acacia must be arranged twice, from the exploitation site to a small truck, then from a small truck to a large truck. The more neatly arranged and the heavier the load, the more beneficial it is for the workers. For each ton of acacia, the trader will pay 150,000 VND for cutting acacia. Ms. Le Thi Sen (29 years old), from Hamlet 11, Thanh Long Commune, exploits acacia in Thanh Thuy Commune, shared: "I have been in the acacia cutting profession for 10 years. This job requires going early and coming back late, sometimes at 12 midnight the goods have not arrived yet, but the wages are only 150 - 250,000 VND/day, very hard work". |
Huy Thu
