The hard work of 'glue beating'
(Baonghean.vn) - This season, under the scorching sun, people working as "glue breakers" in the mountainous districts of Nghe An province are still actively going up the mountains to cut trees, peel bark...
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| These days, in many mountainous districts with large areas of planted forests, it is common to see groups of people cutting down trees on the mountains, laboriously loading trees onto trucks. These are people who exploit acacia trees, which locals call the profession of "acacia tapping". Photo: Huy Thu |
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| People who go “acacia tapping” have to work all year round, but concentrate more in the hot season. They usually go in groups of 10-30 people, taking on “full” exploitation for an acacia owner. Usually each group has 1 or 2 people carrying chainsaws, the rest are the force that peels the bark and transports the trees. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| During the dry season, working in the forest, the need for drinking water is a top priority, so every morning when going up the mountain, everyone brings a lot of water. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Although the job of “tapping glue” is hard, it attracts a lot of women. They can do all kinds of work from peeling bark, picking branches, loading them onto trucks... Photo: Huy Thu |
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| A woman from Thanh Huong commune, Thanh Chuong district said: "Making glue is hard work, but when there is no other work during the off-season, women go to work to earn extra money to make ends meet." Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Peeling the acacia bark is the most labor-intensive task, so many acacia gardens have been "favored" by women who have stripped off the bark underneath before cutting them down. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Transporting the glue is a hard task, but it is still done by the women. It is common for each woman to carry logs weighing around 50 kg on her shoulders. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| Making glue is hard, heavy work, and sometimes dangerous, such as being hit, crushed, crushed, or broken limbs by trees. Many people have been stung by bees that make nests in cajuput trees, causing swelling in the face... Photo: Huy Thu |
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| “Glue breaking” on the steep mountain top is quite difficult, it is not possible to roll each tree down the mountain, it is both time consuming and dangerous, so they often arrange the trees into large blocks, tie them tightly and roll them down the mountain together. Photo: Huy Thu |
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| In the past, people used to pay for making acacia by “labor”, but now they mainly pay by quantity. For each ton of acacia, the trader will pay the worker 150,000 VND (including the cost of cutting down trees, peeling bark, and transporting them to the truck). Each worker who does the “acacia tapping” job also earns around 200,000 VND/day. The “acacia tapping” job has long been associated with the afforestation movement of the people in the mountainous areas, which is difficult and arduous. Photo: Huy Thu |