Heavy life... scrap metal

Rain and sun

In the middle of a hot summer afternoon, I met a woman who was a scrap collector taking a nap on Xuan 68 Street. After chatting with her, I learned that she was Tran Thi Xuan Hang from Zone 4, Huong So Ward ( Hue City). Calculating her age on her fingers, she said, I was born in 1964, and have been in the scrap business for over 40 years. Married at the age of 19, her husband worked in the fields, with an unstable income. She chose the scrap business to start her business. As long as she had about 1 million VND in her pocket, she could confidently shout out “Who needs scrap?” throughout the village.

In the early days of her career, pushing a cart to buy scrap, she said she was both shy and embarrassed, her arms and legs ached at night, and she often caught a cold or fever from being exposed to the rain and sun. There were times when she "lost her capital" because she didn't know how to classify scrap and bought at the wrong price... But over the years, she still didn't dare to stop buying scrap because her whole family depended on her income. Admittedly, Ms. Hang also worked hard to invest in means of doing business. At first, she "bought" a pair of shoulder poles, then switched to a three-wheeled vehicle, then a cyclo, but in the end, a bicycle was still her last choice, because it was easy to get into any alley or lane.

Younger than Ms. Hang, but Ms. Tran Thi Thuy in Thuy Chau ward (Huong Thuy town), almost 50 years old, has also been in the profession for more than 30 years. She sadly smiled and said: My mother also worked as a scrap dealer, so when I was 18 years old, I followed in her footsteps. Whenever I went out, I wore protective clothing, thick gloves, and a mask all day to suit my job. Sometimes I didn't think I was a woman because I never used makeup, so I struggled to get married. Now at this age, there are many weddings and funerals in the countryside. Every time someone invited me, my heart skipped a beat, I rarely went. Because I had to prepare clothes and put on makeup, but I couldn't afford to buy a new outfit for the whole year.

Scrap collectors are usually middle-aged, but there are also grandmothers. Each person has a story that makes you feel sad. Every day, they travel 30-40 kilometers to buy scrap. According to the women's explanation, they have to travel a lot to buy more goods, they can't stand in one place, because people don't have scrap to sell every day. The biggest worry is the rainy season, when homeowners are reluctant to clean up their belongings, and the scrap business is sluggish... The women's lunch break lasts about ten minutes to eat lunch with a meal of 15,000 VND/person and lie down on the truck or a tree to avoid the sun.

Danger lurks

The three-wheeled vehicle is both a place to transport scrap and a bed for women to rest. Like Ms. Hue and Ms. Hanh, those who often park their vehicles in the Truong An area every day still have to bring their children along on the scrap-collecting vehicles. The children are too young to follow their mother's steps to earn a living, through the sun and rain. Sometimes, the scrap becomes a new toy in the children's hands. Most of the people who do this job often have low incomes, working day by day. One day, they earn from 50,000 VND to 200,000 VND, but there are also days when they don't earn any money. That means they have no income to cover their expenses. Working hard all day, I was quite surprised when many women revealed that their monthly income is no more than 5 million VND. Therefore, on days when they buy a lot of goods, they reward themselves by coming home early to play with their children.

Coming from the countryside to the city to make a living, Ms. Do My Anh was quite stressed when cycling to transport scrap on crowded roads. She shuddered as she recalled: “At that time, I was carrying about 30kg and kept falling down. When crossing the street on a bicycle full of scrap, I couldn’t raise my hand to signal for the right of way. Scrap is bulky, so I often got into traffic accidents, but luckily I didn’t die.” Not to mention, many times her hands and feet bled from getting caught in iron or sharp pieces of glass. Having been collecting scrap since she was a girl, Ms. Anh has met all kinds of people, including being harassed by an old man. She learned from experience: “Every time a man asked me to come into the house to clean up beer cans, I asked them to take them out to the yard instead of going into the house to pick them up, I had to take care of myself.” There is no policy to protect scrap collectors. For many women, this is a suitable job, because if they stop working, they will have no income, no pension to rest in peace when they are too exhausted.

“When you sweat, you run out of money, when you get sick, you die, oh my”, I am haunted when I hear these women exclaim, because they are the main breadwinners in the house. I asked, about my career aspirations, Ms. Nguyen Thi Me, in An Hoa ward shared, I want to pay social insurance, health insurance, have my rights protected when practicing my profession, or simply receive respect and recognition from society. Sharing, the biggest sadness of a scrap collector is the shame when receiving unfriendly looks from the neighbors… The pain of being oppressed and bullied by the homeowner when suspecting the loss of property due to the presence of a scrap buyer.

“In the digital age, buying scrap also needs to be updated and connected with homeowners, but we are so poor that few people have smartphones, at most they have “brick” phones, so we cannot connect with many orders,” Ms. Hang said sadly.

Each person has different circumstances and hardships, but they still cherish their faith and hope, using their own honest labor to support their families and ensure their children's education. I learned this when I heard the story of Ms. Thuy, whose daughter received a scholarship and is studying abroad in China... The poor mother's face lit up when she talked about her child, and that is also the reason for many women who, despite struggling to make a living, never give up.

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