Back to the place where U30 became grandfather and grandmother in Nghe An

18 years old, 3 husbands

One day at the end of the year, we went upstream of the Giang River to find the core area of ​​Pu Mat National Park, where the villages of the Dan Lai ethnic group live. After many years, the road leading to Bung and Co Phat villages is still as bumpy and precarious as the lives of the people who are “living” in this National Park. Despite a series of policies and campaigns for this ethnic group, the Dan Lai are still poor.

“Here, most of them have to rely on support from the State and charity groups. Because they have almost no fields. And living in the middle of the National Park, they are not allowed to cut down a single bamboo shoot,” a forest ranger who accompanied us told us. Due to poverty and backwardness, many children here have already gotten married before they can even read or write. Meanwhile, geographically isolated, the Dan Lai people mostly only marry within their small community. Therefore, the situation of early marriage and incestuous marriage is still a difficult problem for the authorities here.

The Dan Lai ethnic group is "living" in the core zone of Pu Mat National Park. Photo: Tien Hung

In Bung village, Co Phat village, it is not uncommon to see people become grandparents before they reach 30 years old. La Van Chin (28 years old) is one of them. Although Chin is currently a party member and deputy village chief. Unlike other friends of the same age here, Chin was born into a well-off family, was taken care of by his parents, and sent to the commune center to study.

However, before he could finish 6th grade, he decided to return to his village to get married. His wife was the same age and lived near his house. That year, Chin was just 14 years old. After living together for a short time, 5 daughters were born one after another. Then, when Chin's eldest daughter was just 14, she also decided to get married, even though she had not finished secondary school.

Chin is only 28 years old but already has a son-in-law. Photo: Tien Hung

“In just a few months, I will have my grandchild to hold,” Chin said with a smile. The wedding was held over three days. Chin’s family was always proud that it was one of the biggest weddings in the village! The village chief said that getting married so early was normal here.

Not far from Chin's house, Ms. Luong Thi TH. (Co Phat village) even became a grandmother before she turned 27. In 2000, when she was just 13 years old, Th. was married by her parents to a man in the village who was one generation older. Nearly a year later, she gave birth to her first daughter, Luong Thi M., when she just turned 14.

Most of the little money they earned, Th. and her husband saved for their two children's education, with the hope that when they grew up, they would escape poverty and hardship. However, in 2014, while still in 6th grade, their first daughter suddenly dropped out of school to get married, even though she was not yet 13 years old at that time. When M. suddenly dropped out of school, after much questioning, Th. and her husband were shocked to learn that their daughter had been pregnant for many months with the road worker who often visited their house. In September 2014, M. gave birth to a healthy baby boy. At this time, Th. officially became a grandmother at the age of 27, and her daughter had just turned 13. Until now, M., although not yet 20 years old, has had time to go through... 3 husbands!

Ms. TH's house. Photo: Tien Hung

The problem is hard to end.

Child marriage has been and is a major problem occurring throughout the country, not just in any locality. To gradually limit and eventually end this problem, in 2015, the Prime Minister approved the Project "Reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority areas in the period 2015 - 2025". In Nghe An, there is also a Project "Reducing child marriage and consanguineous marriage in ethnic minority areas in the period 2015 - 2020", in which the Provincial Ethnic Committee is identified as the agency playing the leading role in implementing the project.

In recent times, billions of dong have been spent but the effectiveness in preventing and reducing child marriage has been very little. According to a report by the Provincial Ethnic Committee, from 2015 to 2018, in 7 mountainous districts (Ky Son, Tan Ky, Con Cuong, Quy Chau, Que Phong, Tuong Duong and Quy Hop), there were 704 child marriage couples...

Panorama of Bung village, Mon Son commune. Photo: Tien Hung

According to the report of the Culture - Society Committee, Nghe An Provincial People's Council, surveyed in 3 districts of Ky Son, Tuong Duong and Con Cuong, from 2015 to 2018, the total number of child marriage couples was 714. The number of people getting married under the age of 16 tends to increase... In reality, the number of child marriage cases is certainly much higher. And the reason for the discrepancy between the numbers of these 2 agencies is the statistical method of each unit.

“Child marriage often occurs among ethnic minorities in mountainous districts. There, people often decide to live together without registering at the commune level. The reported number of child marriages is mainly based on couples who register their marriage but are not old enough,” said Mr. Nguyen Huu Quang - Head of the Communication and Education Department, Nghe An Province Department of Population and Family Planning.

Similar to the case of La Van Chin - Deputy Head of Bung village who became a grandfather at the age of 28, in many other localities, the situation of early marriage occurring in the families of officials and civil servants in communes is not uncommon. For example, the cases of the child of the President of the Women's Union of Muong Long commune, Ky Son district (husband is the Principal of the Primary School); the child of a judicial official in Muong Long commune, Nhon Mai commune, the child of the Secretary of the Party Cell of Cua Rao village (Mon Son commune), Con Cuong district... The local authorities know about these cases but have not yet handled them.

The situation of child marriage in Nghe An province stems from many causes. These are natural conditions, people's lives are facing many difficulties, the poverty rate is high, and population and family planning services are difficult to access. People are still burdened with local ideology and customs, which consider "Girls at thirteen, Men at sixteen" to be adults. Awareness and understanding of the consequences of child marriage and legal regulations are still limited. The negative impacts of the market mechanism, obscene films and photos have quickly penetrated into adolescents. Propaganda work is not regular, and investment funds for this work are still very modest...

Early marriage, pregnancy and childbirth in adolescence when the mother's body is not fully developed, lacks knowledge, experience and is not mentally and physiologically ready to get pregnant and give birth have greatly affected the health of the mother, the normal development of the fetus and newborn. Early marriage is both the cause and the consequence of poverty, illiteracy and reduced quality of life. Currently, with the early marriage couples that have been counted, Nghe An has at least half of the children (belonging to the early marriage couples) who are illiterate; half of the newborns are not healthy and there are about the same number of newly established households falling into poverty...

Studies have shown that the vast majority of early married couples break up early due to the burden and pressure of family life on their young shoulders. According to data from the People's Court of Quy Hop district, the number of divorces in the district increases every year: in 2016 there were 160 cases; by 2018 it had increased to 196 cases. In the divorce cases, there are many cases where couples live together without registering their marriage (mostly due to early marriage).