Hard work on the salt fields on a hot day
(Baonghean.vn) - Nghe An is currently in the midst of a scorching heat wave. For many people, the heat may be harsh, but for salt farmers, it is truly a happy day. Joy soars from the heavy hardships. We took this photo series in the Dien Kim salt field (Dien Chau) on the hottest day of the day.
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| Dien Kim is one of the three major salt-making areas in Dien Chau district with over 40 hectares and about 700 salt workers. When we arrived, the afternoon sun was scorching hot, with the temperature measuring 38 degrees Celsius. Yet despite the heat, salt workers were still exposed to the sun on the dazzling white fields. Photo: Le Thang |
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| And this is an old couple we met on the Dien Kim salt field, he is Ho Xuan Quy born in 1940, she is Nguyen Thi Ba born in 1938. Photo: Le Thang |
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| Mr. Quy was a soldier who fought in the battlefields of Quang Tri, Hue, Da Nang and the South during the war against the US to save the country and received many medals and orders. After the liberation of the South, he returned to his hometown with his wife to continue making salt. Even though they are old, they still make a living from this profession. Photo: Le Thang |
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| The salt making process has many steps. In the photo, after scooping salt water from the canal into the filter tank, Mr. Quy is checking the water seeping through the ground and flowing into the small tank. Photo: Le Thang |
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| From this small water tank, Mr. Quy uses a homemade device to measure salinity and lightness. Photo: Le Thang |
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| Occasionally, he scoops water from the canal and sprinkles it on the ground, with the aim of keeping the ground from drying out and increasing the permeability of the salt water. Photo: Le Thang |
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| Although Mrs. Ba is weak, she still tries to support her husband in his work. Photo: Le Thang |
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| Her thin, hunched figure swayed on the wet, shimmering salt field. Photo: Le Thang |
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| After a while, Mr. Quy urged his wife to stop. What I noticed was that in all the salt workers here, although their bodies were thin, their hands were still large and unusually calloused. Years of using their hands to push the pages, scoop water, scoop salt... had left their marks on those hands. Photo: Le Thang |
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| The salty taste of the sweat of salt workers on the salt fields has long been compared to "saltier than salt". Mr. Quy said that he was one of the first people from the commune's Youth Union to volunteer to build the Dien Bich and Dien Kim salt fields in the early 1960s of the last century. Photo: Le Thang |
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| A moment of rest under the roof of the old couple's hut. Every day, they wake up early to go to the salt fields, bringing a simple meal, a bottle of water, a shovel, a ladle, a wheelbarrow... Photo: Le Thang |
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The first thing to do when going to the field is to prepare the ground, water the salt water from the tank into the drying yard. In the afternoon, at 3-4 o'clock, when the salt begins to form grains, it is time to harvest the salt. We have to choose hot sunny days for production, the hotter the sun, the better the quality of the salt. Mr. Quy said that currently the price of salt is 15,000 VND/yen, his old and weak grandparents can only make 6-7 yen a day, about 100,000 VND, a healthy person can make 10 yen a day, earning about 150,000 VND/day. Photo: Le Thang |
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| Having spent their whole lives with salt, the grandparents’ lives are still full of hardship and toil. After a hot day, joy accompanies the sound of a wheelbarrow swaying on the path, pushing the heavy cart of salt into the warehouse. Photo: Le Thang |