'Sister Cuc... is no longer working!'

Waking up early in the morning, busily carrying hoes and machetes to the fields but still not having enough to eat was the story of Ms. Cuc’s family more than 5 years ago. But during a recent business trip to the mountainous region of Southwest Quang Tri , we had the opportunity to visit her family again, we were surprised.

Now, the couple has opened a grocery store and starts their day more leisurely. In recent years, thanks to the transition from exploiting wild bamboo to growing bamboo in the garden, combined with growing sugarcane, to serve the thirst of the people in the summer, the couple has had more work and a stable source of income.

Thanks to the care, Ms. Cuc's family's cows are growing healthy and reproducing well - Photo: TP

Ms. Cuc used to have a difficult life, just like the name her parents gave her. She got married very early, then had 4 more children, and had an elderly mother in the house. So even though she worked hard from morning to night, her husband and she still did not earn enough to feed 7 mouths. Hunger and poverty "clinged" to this poor woman's fate.

Previously, like other families in the area, Ms. Cuc and her husband mainly grew cassava and worked on the fields. If the cassava crop was good, the family would have food and clothing, but if the crop was bad, they would only have porridge to get through the day. Every time traders came to buy bamboo shoots, Ms. Cuc learned that bamboo shoots are a popular material among consumers because of their many different uses such as: making brooms to sweep the house, whitewashing; making food for buffaloes, cows, fish or weaving handicrafts... so in 2018, her husband, Mr. Ho May, boldly cleared the entire area of ineffective cassava to plant bamboo shoots.

“The bamboo is very easy to grow and does not require as much care as growing cassava. I went along the banks of the Sepon River to get the roots and plant them in the ground. After only one year, the bamboo flowers and is ready for harvest. Notably, after each harvest, the bamboo regenerates very quickly and the next crop will yield higher yields than the previous one. Thanks to that, the family’s income is more stable,” said Mr. May.

From the initial clumps of bamboo, up to now, Ms. Cuc's family's bamboo area has grown to more than 1 hectare. Now, without having to go to the forest to pick bamboo, she and her husband still have a stable income of over 15 million VND/year. When the bamboo flowers bloom, Mr. May also organizes to buy bamboo from local people to resell to traders in need.

In addition to growing bamboo shoots, the couple also opened a small grocery store; growing seasonal crops such as mustard greens, shallots, chili peppers, eggplants, onions, corn, potatoes... to sell to people in the communes of Lia area and improve their family's meals. Also in 2018, the couple borrowed 50 million VND from the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Huong Hoa to buy 3 cows. Up to now, the herd of cows has developed, continuously increasing the number of cows in the herd.

Ms. Cuc said: “We take advantage of old vegetables; the stems and leaves of the bamboo tree after harvesting are ground into small pieces to make feed for cows and poultry. Therefore, we do not have to worry about a lack of food for them when it rains and is cold.” For the past two years, she and her husband have grown sugarcane and pressed the juice to meet the thirst-quenching needs of local people in the summer. Thanks to the new economic thinking and hard work, the family's income has been improving. On average, each year, the above jobs bring Ms. Cuc and her husband an income of more than 100 million VND. With the money, she and her husband built a solid level 4 house, bought essential household appliances; paid off all debts to the bank and sent their children to school. Her economic model is also regularly visited by members inside and outside the locality.

Commenting on Ms. Cuc's example of overcoming difficulties, the head of the Thanh O Village Women's Union, Ho Thi Phuc, said: "Ms. Cuc is a good businesswoman, always working hard to increase her income and improve her family's life. Although she is busy with her own work, she still enthusiastically participates in the movement of the union and the locality. Ms. Cuc is a role model for female union members inside and outside the area to learn from."

Sharing more with us, Ms. Cuc said that her greatest happiness is having a husband who always loves, helps, and shares with her. From the difficult times to the prosperous times, she and her husband have always been happy and loved life. "Because of Cuc, but met Lucky, life is no longer miserable!", she joked.

Truc Phuong

Source: https://baoquangtri.vn/xa-hoi/202510/chi-cuc-nay-da-het-cuc-7d84e01/