From a wild plant to a source of life
Along the rivers and canals in the West, each green luc to (Western crab) is no longer drifting with the water as before, but is immediately surrounded by shallow coastal squares. Few people thought that the wild plant that once haunted the waterway traffic in the West has now become a "fishing rod" for thousands of households. The binh is no longer floating unceremoniously. This type of tree has "broke the wharf", anchored with drops of sweat and the hope of making a living of the people in the river area.
In Hoa Luu commune (Can Tho city), formerly Hoa Tien commune (Vi Thanh city, Hau Giang province), the art of cutting and drying water hyacinth has been associated with the people for more than ten years. Along both sides of the road along Cai Lon River, the scene of drying water hyacinth has become a familiar image: houses with large yards are drying their yards, houses with little land are taking advantage of the porch and roadside corners.
In the sunny afternoon, Mrs. Bui Thi Nga still hand-turned each bunch of water hyacinth to dry well. Without land for production, Ms. Nga considers the profession of cutting water hyacinth as her main livelihood. "Every day I cut about 500 kg of fresh plantain, bring it home to dry and sell to traders. A month also receives about 3 - 4 million VND. Not rich, but much more stable than before," said Ms. Nga.
According to Ms. Nga, the glass must be dried in enough heat after cutting, then processed into white to meet the requirements. From the original green stems and foam, through the sun, wind and human hands, water hyacinth has become a soft, durable and durable material fiber, serving the weaving of handicraft products.
Mr. Ly Hong Quang, a household in Hoa Luu commune (Can Tho city), took advantage of the riverbank in front of his house to surround nearly 4,000m2 of the water lai. "Instead of cutting the flowing water hyacinth, we surround it with long trunks according to the standards that traders need. I divided it into areas and cut them alternately, so I have almost a year-round income. With this area, my family earns hundreds of millions of VND each year," said Mr. Quang.
Making a living by cutting water hyacinth on the river, Mr. Le Huu Lanh in Tam Nong commune (Dong Thap province) said that cutting and drying water hyacinth to sell to traders or selling to households weaving handbags and hats from water hyacinth helps his family earn more income, thanks to which their lives are improved.
"There are many boats in canals, just swim boats into rivers to cut them and dry them, so there is no loss of capital and make a profit. On days when there is a lot of harvest, I get 300,000 VND, and a little, I get 150,000 VND, thanks to which I have daily expenses," said Mr. Lanh.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Bat in Tam Nong commune (Dong Thap province) also has a stable income from this job. "On average, 10kg of fresh bottles of green rice after drying will have 1 kg left and will be sold for 17,000 - 20,000 VND/kg. The family also receives 9 - 10 million VND per month," said Ms. Bach.
According to Ms. Bach, cutting and drying glass does not require too much meticulousness, just perseverance and hard work are the things that everyone can do. "Thanks to cutting the water hyacinth, I have the conditions to study well," Ms. Bach added.
For the elderly, this profession becomes even more meaningful. Mr. Le Van Thi (68 years old), in Thot Not ward (Can Tho city), said that although the work of cutting and drying bottles is hard, in return, the income is stable, the company buys as much as it makes. On average, Mr. Thi earns 100,000 - 150,000 VND per day, enough to cover his daily living expenses.
When the bottle was "upgraded" thanks to the quarrel
If cutting and drying is the first step, then hand-woven aesthetic weaving is the step to help the glass "grow old". In the provinces and cities of the West, thousands of rural workers have stable jobs from dry sugarcane.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Hiep in Luong Tam commune (Can Tho city) said that more than 10 years ago, when the locality began to form the water hyacinth weaving model, she was one of the participants from the early days. At that time, many people were skeptical, because they thought that water hyacinth was just a riverbed, not bringing in income. However, Ms. Hiep still persistently attends the quilt weaving classes organized by the locality.
Thanks to her diligence, skills, and increasingly strong skills, Ms. Hiep was invited by the enterprise to participate in guiding and passing on skills to many other classes. In addition to her income from spending, she also has extra money from teaching support. Her children also take advantage of tying water hyacinth in addition to school to help their families.
"Thanks to this job, my family has more income, my children have money to buy books, school uniforms and overcome the difficult period," Ms. Hiep shared.
Having had an unstable income from selling lottery tickets, in the past 5 years, Ms. Son Thi Ngoc Bich in Ke Sach commune (Can Tho city) has gradually stabilized her economy thanks to the profession of weaving fine art products from water hyacinth plants. Currently, her monthly income is from 2 - 2.5 million VND.
"With local support for learning weaving, after finishing the course, I received materials for weaving to earn income. Each day, I also earn about 70,000 VND, enough money to cover my living expenses. This job is healthy, not like selling lottery tickets before," said Ms. Bich.
Mr. Ma Thanh Son's family in My Quoi ward (Can Tho city) has been involved in the weaving of anhydrous products for more than 5 years. Mr. Son added that in addition to growing rice on an area of 2 hectares, his family has 3 people participating in weaving water hyacinth, earning an additional income of 70 - 80 million VND per year.
"My family weaves 240 - 300 products per week. Every month, after deducting raw materials, the company pays my family over 8 million VND. If any family is willing to work, life will be very stable, even better than working in the city, because there is a high cost of living; and in the countryside, there is almost no cost," Mr. Ma shared.
According to the profession, knitting water hyacinth is an easy job, as long as you learn a trade, be skillful, and work hard to earn more income, the elderly and younger can do it. In particular, being done at home can be woven at any time.
Like Ms. Nguyen Thi Mai, in My Quoi ward (Can Tho city), although nearly 70 years old, she still studies a trade and weaving with family members. "Every day's income is from 80,000 - 100,000 VND, depending on how much or how little you work, you can sometimes earn 120,000 VND. I do it every day, every day," said Ms. Mai.
From this model, many idle workers have more income to cover their family life, contributing to solving employment and limiting the situation of leaving their hometown to work far away.
"Since leaving Binh Duong to return to my hometown due to unemployment, I have received a certificate of return to work. Daily income is from 80,000 - 100,000 VND, sometimes a lot of 120,000 VND. With a regular and stable job, I no longer think about going to another country to do business, said Ms. Lam Thi Trang, in Ke Sach commune (Can Tho city).
Linking for sustainability
Currently, most cooperatives, groups and groups of mixing and weaving in provinces and cities in the Mekong Delta are cooperating with enterprises to receive frames and raw materials and then distribute them to processing members. Thanks to that, orders are maintained regularly, helping people have stable jobs and income.
Ms. Nguyen Kim Lien - Head of Huong Lien Bamboo and Scalp Knitting Cooperative, My Quoi Ward (Can Tho City), said - The cooperative has about 350 members participating in weaving bottles in many localities. People come to receive frames and raw materials to bring home to make, when the products are completed, they bring them to the cooperative to receive wages. Each week, the cooperative collects 12,000 - 13,000 products to deliver to partners.
"For workers, especially rural women, after worrying about their fields and children, they have no other job. This profession helps women have more income, many families even consider this the main source of income", Ms. Lien shared.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Anh - Head of the Women's Association of Cau Chua Hamlet (Ke Sach Commune, Can Tho City) said that for many years, women in the area have had a stable income from the sewing profession. Initially, the locality coordinated with the vocational training center to open a training class, then linked with businesses to bring products to women for processing.
"Since this job was created, women who have been idle have jobs, have income for their children to go to school, work at home, so they can keep their children, contributing to reducing social evils," said Ms. Ngoc Anh.
