Porters working hard at the corner of the market. Photo: Tran Hang
At 3 p.m., in the sweltering heat of summer days, Mr. Trinh Van Loi from Hoang Thanh commune was present at Dong Huong wholesale vegetable and food market (Hac Thanh ward) to start his shift of loading goods. He hunched his back and shouldered to carry dozens of kilos of onions and garlic sacks down to his stall. Having worked as a “coolie” for more than 10 years, his shoulders have sunken, his hands are calloused like stone. “Every day I load goods from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., earning about 250,000 VND. Having work is good. Every day off is a worry,” Mr. Loi said, while picking up the sack on his shoulder.
His wife died of a serious illness when his children were young. Mr. Loi shouldered the burden of raising his two children by his own hard work, both in the sun and in the rain. “I just hope that my children will study well and not have to do manual labor like their father.” In the hustle and bustle of life, people like Mr. Loi always live and work quietly to build a home with their own sweat and hardship.
At 4 a.m., when the whole village was still awake, Ms. Nguyen Thi Hao, from Tho Binh commune, was already on her old motorbike, loading it with baskets full of jackfruit, boiled bamboo shoots, green tea, lychees, bananas... collected from the houses in the village the previous afternoon. "Each season has its own produce, whoever in the village has something, they call me to come and get it, a little bit of each item makes up a whole truck," Ms. Hao smiled, her hands still deftly tying the baskets tightly before setting off.
Ms. Hao chose a small corner in the Dong Huong wholesale vegetable and food market to display her goods, squeezing between vegetable stalls, carts, cries and bargaining. From the time it was still foggy until noon, Ms. Hao diligently offered each bundle of tea and bunch of bananas. On lucky days, the goods sold out early at 1pm, so she still had time to stop by to buy a bag of rice and some food. But on slow days, she would gather up her goods, hastily transport them to the industrial parks, and wait in front of the gates to sell the rest.
“On busy days, I get home at 3-4pm, exhausted. If it rains, I’ll lose a lot of money. But if I take a day off, my family will miss a meal, so I have to keep going,” said Ms. Hao, looking down at the bunches of bananas and dozens of bundles of green tea still on the cart.
In the middle of a scorching summer afternoon, when many people are looking for a place to escape the heat, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga, a worker at the Urban Environment and Construction Joint Stock Company, is still working hard with her old garbage truck, pushing it through each street. Wearing a long-sleeved shirt, a conical hat, and covering her face with a mask and a sun-protective scarf, she quickly sweeps and collects each garbage bag hanging on both sides of the truck. During more than 15 years of working in this profession, she has gone through many shifts, sometimes cold at night, sometimes hot during the day. "Every shift is hard, but I'm used to it. Seeing the street clean and the garbage collected in the right place makes me happy," she smiled lightly, her voice hoarse from the dust and heat. Although the work is hard, for Ms. Nga, it is an indispensable part of her life.
Environmental workers work silently day and night to keep the streets clean and beautiful.
As for Mr. Pham Van Thanh, 38 years old, in Thieu Toan commune, he and his colleagues are pouring concrete for the third floor. His shirt is soaked with sweat, his face is sunburned, Mr. Thanh said: "Although the work is hard, having a job is good enough, each day the salary is nearly 400 thousand VND, adding a few tens of thousands of VND in overtime is enough for the children's education and taking care of the family."
His wife has a heart condition, and Thanh is the main breadwinner in the family. On rainy days when he cannot work, he takes on cleaning and transporting goods for hire so as not to waste his days. “I just hope I am still healthy and can still work, so I will keep trying. If I quit my job, I will lose my meals,” he confided.
The reality is that, from the “cuu van” to the fruit seller, from the environmental worker to the bricklayer, they all have something in common: quietness and diligence. Each person has a different fate, but everyone strives to overcome difficulties and not surrender to fate. Some have been in the profession for decades, some have just started, but regardless of the circumstances, they all choose to work as a way to maintain dignity and nurture hope.
In the midst of a life of hardship, what moves us the most is their determination, resilience, optimism and belief in a better tomorrow. Because behind them is a long story of family love, of silent sacrifice, of simple meals filled with laughter. They not only earn a living, but also nurture faith for themselves, their families and a humane society.
And perhaps, in an era where people are easily swept away by material values, it is these silent workers, with their dirty hands and persistent hearts, who remind us of the true meaning of honest labor, of humanity and never-ending faith.
Tran Hang
Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phia-sau-nhung-buoc-chan-nbsp-hoi-ha-muu-sinh-254041.htm
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