Child labor in salt production
The prolonged heatwave with widespread high temperatures in the central region has created favorable conditions for salt farmers to produce salt. Therefore, despite the scorching sun, tens of thousands of salt farmers on the salt fields of Quynh Luu continue to work daily under temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius to produce salt.
(Baonghean.vn) –The prolonged heatwave with widespread high temperatures in the central region has created favorable conditions for salt farmers to produce salt. Therefore, despite the scorching sun, tens of thousands of salt farmers on the salt fields of Quynh Luu continue to work daily under temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius to produce salt.
From around 1:30 PM to 2:00 PM – the peak of the hot season – salt farmers begin their main work on the white salt fields in the communes of An Hoa, Quynh Thuan, Quynh Tho... (Quynh Luu district, Nghe An province). Among the tens of thousands of salt farmers diligently working, it's not difficult to find "child salt farmers" also working hard to help their families.
Although only in sixth grade, Lan is already proficient in all kinds of chores. Every day, she spends half the day at school and the other half helping her mother in the fields.
Despite the sweltering 40°C heat, the young salt workers continued to work diligently.
Despite their young age, most of the children are already proficient at the work, no less skilled than adults. Nguyen Thi Lan, from Hamlet 8, Quynh Thuan Commune, shared with a smile while working: “This year I’m in 6th grade. I go to school in the morning and in the afternoon I go to the salt fields with my mother. I start working at over 1 pm and finish around 7 pm. It’s very hot, but I’m used to it…”
It's not just Lan; many other children are diligently working in the salt fields here. Depending on their abilities, each child has a suitable job in each stage of production. Younger children do lighter tasks like scooping water and raking salt, while adults haul soil and rake it.
This boy is helping his mother bail out water.
The salt farmers roast themselves under the scorching sun.
Mr. Tran Ngoc Hoa (72 years old) - a veteran salt farmer with nearly 60 years of experience in Hamlet 6, Quynh Thuan (Quynh Luu, Nghe An) - happily shared: “Children here are like that; they start following their parents to the salt fields at the age of 6 or 7. At first, they do light work, but as they get used to it, they do harder work. Every family is the same. The sun is already hot at home, but it's much hotter in the salt fields because there isn't a single tree for shade, so it's extremely hot.”
Mr. Nguyen Ngoc Hoa (72 years old), a veteran salt farmer, has been working in the salt industry for nearly 60 years.
Salt production is arduous, but the price of salt is always volatile and too low to meet the needs of daily life, so many salt farmers have lost interest in producing white salt. Most healthy young men have gone to work far away, leaving only the elderly, women, and children to work on the salt fields.
Anh Duy - Nguyen Tinh
