Phuoc Son (Quang Nam) strives to reduce child marriage: Holding and rocking a child in a sad cradle...(Part 1)

Although it has been reduced, child marriage is still a difficult problem in poor Phuoc Son district, Quang Nam province. Instead of going to school like their peers, many children are at the age of not yet having enough to eat, not yet having enough to worry about, but have to carry their children by the sad cradle... On October 28, the Working Group of the Central Committee for Mass Mobilization, led by Mr. Trieu Tai Vinh - Deputy Head of the Central Committee for Mass Mobilization, conducted a preliminary survey of 5 years of implementing Conclusion No. 65-KL/TW of the Politburo on continuing to implement Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the Party Central Committee (9th tenure) on ethnic work in the new situation in Muong Lat district, Thanh Hoa province. On the morning of October 28, in Hanoi, General Secretary To Lam attended the 75th Anniversary of the Traditional Day of the Central Committee for External Relations (November 1, 1949 - November 1, 2024). On October 28, during the discussion session on the Report of the Supervisory Delegation and the draft Resolution of the National Assembly on the results of thematic supervision "Implementation of policies and laws on real estate market management and social housing development from 2015 to the end of 2023" at the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, many National Assembly deputies expressed their concern about the limitations and obstacles in social housing development. On the afternoon of October 28, continuing the program of the 8th Session of the 15th National Assembly, the National Assembly held a plenary session to listen to the drafting and reviewing agencies' reports on the draft Law amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Officers of the Vietnam People's Army. "Su Gie Pa" Tet, also known as "April 8 Tet" and "Thanksgiving to the Buffalo God", is held on the 8th day of the 4th lunar month. This is one of the major festivals of the year of the Bo Y people, Muong Khuong district, Lao Cai province, formed through the legendary story of the Bo Y people about the day the sacred buffalo led them to find a water source. Considered as the "extended arm" of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies (VBSP), with more than 20 years of working as the Head of the Savings and Loan Group (TK&VV) managed by the Youth Union, Ms. Tran Thi Tam is a diligent and dedicated Group Leader, a bridge to transfer policy credit capital to poor households and other policy beneficiaries in Tan Lap village. Thereby contributing significantly to the sustainable poverty reduction in Chieu Yen commune, Yen Son district, Tuyen Quang province. Yen Bai province is actively implementing the National Target Program (NTP) for sustainable poverty reduction in 2024, aiming to help the poor have conditions and opportunities to learn a trade, have a job, develop production, stabilize their lives and escape poverty. Language and writing are one of the important factors that make up the cultural identity of each ethnic group. However, in the current period of integration and development, many languages ​​and writings of ethnic minorities are at risk of being lost, so preserving and maintaining the diversity of languages ​​and writings in community life is an urgent issue. Although it has been reduced, the situation of early marriage is still a difficult problem in the poor district of Phuoc Son, Quang Nam province. Instead of going to school like their peers, many children are at the age of not having enough to eat or worry about, but have to carry their children in their arms and rock them to sleep next to the sad cradle... While many young people are leaving for the city to find work, Mr. Tong Van Vien, a Tay ethnic (born in 1987) in Khau Lai hamlet, On Luong commune, Phu Luong, Thai Nguyen province, returned from the city to start a business. With determination to dare to think, dare to do and creativity, Mr. Vien has contributed to helping local people escape poverty. On October 28, the Central Committee for Mass Mobilization's working delegation led by Mr. Trieu Tai Vinh - Deputy Head of the Central Committee for Mass Mobilization, conducted a survey to summarize 5 years of implementing Conclusion No. 65-KL/TW of the Politburo on continuing to implement Resolution No. 24-NQ/TW of the Party Central Committee (9th tenure) on ethnic work in the new situation in Muong Lat district, Thanh Hoa province. Choosing a major and career is currently the top concern of young people, because they are the ones standing on the threshold of independence, facing life, and building their own future. However, currently on social networks there is an extremely harmful trend, reviews, and misleading, untrue advice about majors, causing confusion and anxiety among young people and parents. From the beginning of 2024 to now, the People's Committee of Binh Gia district (Lang Son) has organized 12 training courses for staff working on poverty reduction, with about 800 participants. Completing 100% of the plan.

The problem of child marriage still smolders in the highlands of Quang Nam .

There are still sad lullabies

Born in 2008, Tran Thi T. (Group 1, Kham Duc town) is only 16 years old, but gave birth almost a year ago. T.'s child is now almost 5 months old, and her "husband" is currently in Bac Tra My district, Quang Nam. "When I was in 7th or 8th grade, I met him and thought it was just a friendship, but I didn't expect it to be like this. When I was pregnant, I didn't know. When the fetus was big, my family took me for an ultrasound and... it was too late," T. recalled.

Having gotten pregnant early while still in school, all work for T. now seems like a sad dream. T. said she regrets it and sees that she was very wrong. If she had not foolishly fallen in love early, she would probably be in school with her friends now, and would have a much better future. T.'s husband was born in 2003, and still does not have a stable job.

Then what will you feed your child? – I asked. Hesitating for a few minutes, looking at the child, T. said: Before, at school, teachers often propagandized about preventing child marriage, as well as its harmful effects. However, at that time, I was still playful and did not think about the consequences. Now, everything depends on my family.

“I plan to continue learning a trade when my child is older. I will apply to a garment company to work and learn a trade at the same time. I haven’t thought about getting married yet,” T. shared. Seeing us holding the camera, T. said, “If you want to take pictures or film, let me change into something nice so that I can look good in the picture. These clothes are old and a bit short, so they will look bad in the picture.” The innocent words of the 16-year-old mother made all of us feel sad.

Or the case of Ho Thi Kim H. (born in 2006). Having met online since school, H. never thought her life would be so difficult. Talking to us in her shabby house at the end of the street, she couldn't help but hide her shyness.

“When I was in 8th or 9th grade, I met my boyfriend in Nam Giang. After a while of knowing each other, we fell in love, then I got pregnant and dropped out of school. We just dared to ask, and we don’t know when we’ll get married. I just gave birth a few months ago, now everything depends on my family,” H. shared.

According to H., both families are not well off. Her husband is 23 years old and is helping his family farm in Nam Giang. She just gave birth so she cannot work, so she will wait until her child is older to ask to work as acacia trees for wages. Her family also works on the fields all year round, and life is extremely difficult.

Ms. Dinh Thi Minh, Head of Residential Group 1, Phuoc Son District, said: Although in recent times, local authorities and all levels have made efforts to propagate and gradually push back child marriage, there are still a few cases. Many girls meet through social networks, then get pregnant unintentionally, and by the time they discover it, it is too late.

“Most of the cases of early marriage are in families with economic difficulties. In the coming time, we will continue to campaign and propagate; at the same time, we hope that schools and parents will pay more attention to their children,” said Ms. Minh.

Many good models on preventing child marriage and incestuous marriage have been implemented in Phuoc Son area.

What is the cause?

Not only T. and H., in Phuoc Son, there are currently about 17 such cases. Looking at the data table provided by Phuoc Son District Medical Center, it is inevitable that many people will feel sad. Among the listed cases, there are many cases where the children became mothers at the age of 15, such as Ho Thi Minh N. (born in 2009, in Phuoc Nang); Ho Thi L. (born in 2009, Kham Duc town); Ho Thi D. (born in 2009, in Phuoc Chanh)... there are even children who are only 14 years old, such as Ho Thi Bich N. (born in 2010, Phuoc Hiep commune).

According to Mr. Nguyen Van Bang, Head of Phuoc Son Ethnic Affairs Department: In recent years, thanks to good propaganda and mobilization work, cases of incestuous marriage have ended. However, the situation of child marriage is still complicated. In the previous period, there were up to 35 cases of child marriage in the area, now there are only about 17 cases, of which the most are in Phuoc Thanh and Phuoc Chanh.

There are many reasons for early marriage, one of which is the development of information technology, social networks, the introduction of foreign cultures, the lifestyle of trial living, and the lack of sexual experience of young children. Some students, due to poor academic performance, being far from their families, and being interested in the opposite sex at a young age, are prone to early love affairs. In some cases, unwanted pregnancies occur and they have to drop out of school, leading to early marriage.

Awareness of the consequences of child marriage among young people in Phuoc Son district is increasingly raised.

The coordination between schools and parents is not regular, some parents still leave all the management and education of their children to the school, pay little attention to their children's learning and understanding their psychology, to encourage and remind them. Another reason is that due to the socio-economic conditions in some villages and communes, which are particularly difficult, it affects the awareness and access to information of the people. Many people still do not know that early marriage is a violation of the law...

“To reduce child marriage, in the coming time, we will step up propaganda and mobilize people to strictly comply with the provisions of the law. In particular, we will focus on propaganda about the consequences of child marriage, so that people can raise awareness and proactively prevent child marriage. In addition, we propose strict sanctions to gradually reduce and eventually end child marriage,” Mr. Bang added.

Phuoc Son (Quang Nam) pushes back backward customs for ethnic minority people

Source: https://baodantoc.vn/phuoc-son-quang-nam-no-luc-keo-giam-tinh-trang-tao-hon-tay-am-tay-bong-ru-con-ben-canh-noi-buonbai-1-1730111799095.htm