The person who “bears the burden” of Ba River

(GLO)- People in Ia Rmok commune (Krong Pa district, Gia Lai province) call Mr. Kpa Jiem the one who “bears the burden” on the flowing Ba river. Not only is he a diligent civil servant, he also often participates in diving to rescue people who have drowned. Whenever someone calls, he immediately asks the commune leaders for permission to come and help the unfortunate family.

Despite the dangers lurking in the rushing water, Mr. Jim has devoted his life to this work silently without expecting anything in return. Because he understands that he is the last hope for families who are in extreme pain from the loss of their loved ones.

Lost a month's salary... for charity

Just mentioning the name Kpa Jiem, almost everyone in the area along the Ba River from Phu Can Bridge to Ia Rmok Bridge knows him. Because he is famous for his excellent diving skills and is a top-notch fish catcher. With just his bare hands, in one long dive, he can catch fish hiding in the crevices of rocks in deep water. That is why, whenever an incident occurs on the Ba River, everyone immediately remembers him. Regardless of day or night, rain or wind, as long as they hear the cries of the victim's family, he is there.

Talking about his unique job, Mr. Jim said: The first time he dived to find the body of a drowned person was in 2018. Since then, this job has been like a "career" attached to his life. He recalled: That afternoon, while he was working, someone informed him that two uncles and nephews in Phu Tuc town, after drinking, invited each other to go to Ba River near Phu Can Bridge to bathe. Seeing the nephew struggling in the water, although he did not know how to swim, the uncle still jumped in to save him. In the end, both were drowned by the water.

The scene of rescue forces searching for drowning victims at Ia Rmok bridge. Photo: Minh Nguyen

After more than an hour of diving, the bodies of the two uncles and nephews were still "missing". At that time, everyone thought their bodies had drifted far away. They planned to dive one last time and then come ashore, waiting for the next morning to continue searching, but at this moment, Mr. Jiem's hand touched the victim. Rising to the surface, taking a deep breath, he quickly dove down to bring the victim to shore. "At that time, the victim's family thanked him profusely, but I just sat there shivering. Not because of the cold but because of fear. I sat there smoking a cigarette and then went home. After bathing, I lay down on the hammock and fell asleep, skipping dinner. The victim's family came to beg me to dive for the uncle's body, but at that time I didn't dare go anymore because I was still very scared. Later, I heard that 3 days later, the uncle's body was found, more than 3 km from the accident scene" - Mr. Jiem recalled.

Not only that, knowing that he had “robbed the River God of his food”, his grandfather forced him to perform a traditional purification offering. At first, he thought he would only offer a normal goose, but the ritual required 3 jars of wine and a goat. So, he lost his entire month’s salary. “Some people who didn’t understand the situation said that I was paid tens of millions of dong, so I had to pay for such a large offering. But I didn’t take anyone’s money, and I had to spend my own money to buy the offerings. The clothes I wore while diving were also thrown away. I lost money, goats, and clothes while helping people,” Mr. Jiem shared.

After a moment of contemplation, Mr. Jim continued his story: It's not that he wasn't afraid. Diving for hours on end sometimes exhausted him and was very dangerous, but because the victims' relatives kept begging for help, he had to continue his work. Understanding the pain of families who lost their loved ones and had not yet found their bodies, regardless of the sun or rain, cold night or wind, as soon as he heard news of someone drowning, he would arrange his work to jump into the rushing water.

Like the recent drowning incident on the Ba River in Ia Rmok commune that left one person dead. The victim was identified as Kpa H'Tiep (12 years old, residing in Bluk village, Phu Can commune). That was in mid-April 2023, 6 children from 11 to 15 years old residing in Bluk and Mlah villages invited each other to go swimming at Ia Rmok bridge, unfortunately 4 of them slipped into deep water. Nearby fishermen saw and saved 3 of them, but Kpa HTiep was swept away and went missing. Mr. Jiem said: At that time, around 4:00 p.m., after finishing the new party member class, the commune leader called, he immediately ran to the scene to support the search. It was nearly 8:00 p.m. that he and the rescue team found H'Tiep's body.

Mr. Jiem also did not forget to mention the hopeless searches. Last April, also in this river section, a man who was sad about family matters left his motorbike and keys under the Ia Rmok bridge and then disappeared. Suspecting that this man had committed suicide, Mr. Jiem joined the authorities in organizing the search. After 2 days of diving and searching every corner of this river section but still could not find him, and his phone was not available. “We kept wondering, at this time the water was shallow, if he had committed suicide, we would have found his body immediately. Later we found out that the man had only staged a fake scene to scare his family and had not committed suicide. It was a waste of time and effort, and I also felt that my kindness was misplaced by everyone,” Mr. Jiem smiled sadly.

I just wish I was... unemployed.

Mr. Jiem suddenly laughed when sharing: "I just hope I can be... unemployed for a long time for this unique job." He said that the Ba River flows turbulently during the rainy season, the water is murky and fierce. Anyone who sees this scene is scared, so drowning rarely happens during the rainy season. But in the dry season, the water is shallower, so it is even more dangerous because children often come here to swim. According to Mr. Jiem, when the hydroelectric dam blocks the flow, the downstream area dries up, and the sandbanks under the river rise up. Many people think it is shallow, but wherever there is water, that is the current, which is often very deep. There are also cases where many people are very good divers, but after drinking, they get excited and go diving to catch fish, and they also drown.

Mr. Kpa Jim shared that he just hopes to be... unemployed for a long time for his job of diving to rescue people who have died from drowning. Photo: MN

After many years of participating in rescuing people who died from drowning, Mr. Jiem confided: If I decide to help people, I will help them to the end, without thinking about what support they will give me. I only hope that with my little effort, I can help the victim's family to ease their grief when they lose a loved one. "I consider my work to be voluntary, I only hope that the agency will create conditions for me to have time to participate in searching and supporting the victim's family. It's all because of my conscience. Sometimes, just a bottle of soft drink or a bag of cake from their family makes me happy every time I remember it," Mr. Jiem confided.

Ms. Vo Thuy Van - Secretary of the Party Committee of Ia Rmok Commune: “The Party Committee and the government welcome Mr. Kpa Jiem's enthusiasm and positivity in supporting people in search and rescue. This is a very meaningful work. The commune has also proposed that the district promptly reward Mr. Jiem. He is also a valuable example in always striving to improve his professional skills. Although he is 45 years old, he still tries to study and work at the same time, graduating from university in 2019, and being admitted to the Party in early 2023".

What made Mr. Jiem feel most heartbroken was when he participated in recovering the bodies of the children. He was worried: Most parents are ethnic minorities who are often involved in farming, and do not pay much attention to their children's education or management. Meanwhile, children are often curious and like to explore . After school, many children often invite each other to bathe in the river without realizing the danger. Like the drowning case of the 6 children mentioned above, the children told their families that they were going to collect medicinal leaves, but when it was hot, they invited each other to bathe in the river, leading to an unfortunate accident. Therefore, according to Mr. Jiem, it is necessary to propagate and warn each person and each village about the danger in order to reduce and prevent drowning accidents from happening.

Speaking to reporters, Ms. Vo Thuy Van - Secretary of the Party Committee of Ia Rmok commune - informed: On the Ba River section passing through the commune, bordering Phu Can and Chu Drang communes, tragic drowning incidents often occur. In the past 3 years, there has been 1 drowning incident in the commune, causing 1 death. In addition to promoting drowning prevention, the commune regularly checks dangerous locations in ponds, lakes, rivers and streams to post warning signs, and organizes swimming lessons for students at some schools in the area, thereby preventing tragic accidents.

MINH NGUYEN

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