18 years ago, typhoon Chanchu swept through the central coast, hundreds of mothers lost their children, dozens of women lost their husbands, leaving behind many widows, elderly parents and dozens of children alone with mounting pain. After so many years of pain and loss, the lives of the women in the fishing village of Nghia An commune, Quang Ngai city (Quang Ngai) have returned to normal, although the pain is still there...
On May 17, 2006, typhoon Chanchu suddenly changed direction, causing tragedy for the families of hundreds of fishermen in the Central region while they were fishing at sea. Eighteen years have passed, and tears have dried in the eyes of mothers who lost their children and wives who lost their husbands. In Nghia An commune, Quang Ngai city, where 23 fishermen were left at sea, the pain of Chanchu has receded, allowing life to be revived.
Mrs. Nhanh sat at the banh xeo shop and recounted memories of the year of storm Chanchu.
Mrs. Dinh Thi Nhanh (66 years old), hamlet 3, Tan An village, Nghia An commune, has three sons going to sea, accompanied by their uncle. However, Mrs. Nhanh did not expect that the time she told her sons to go to sea would be the last time she saw them. Every day, she still hopes that one day her children will return, who knows, maybe they drifted to a shore somewhere and forgot their parents' names or that someone had adopted them. She thought a miracle would happen, but that hope gradually disappeared with the sea foam.
Ms. Nhanh’s family has 4 sons and 2 daughters. Because the family has many children, Ms. Nhanh tries to save up and borrow money to buy a fishing boat QNg 7053 TS for her children to go out to sea to earn a living. “Each trip usually lasts more than a month, that time, I prepared fuel, food, water... for my children to go. As usual, from the moment I set sail, I often looked at the shape of the boat, my children told me to go home...”, Ms. Nhanh choked up.
When she heard the news of the Chanchu storm at sea , Ms. Nhanh was worried, ran to look for it, asked someone to connect to the walkie-talkie offshore, but no one on the ship answered the phone. The boat with 11 fishermen was sunk by the waves when it was only a few days away from returning to the mainland. The news came to Ms. Nhanh like a storm in her heart, she was confused and then fainted. The hopeless searches lasted for many days, many months...
Mrs. Ha looked at her son's photo and choked up with tears.
Not far away is the house of Mrs. Luong Thi Ha (71 years old), whose son went to sea on the QNg 7053 TS ship and died in the Chanchu storm. Mrs. Ha recalls: “That year, my son was only 26 years old, I was just waiting for that trip to return to find a wife for him, but then the storm took the lives of my son and the fishermen who went with him. After hearing the news, I kept running to the river and the sea to search but could not find any trace…”.
“Marrying a seafaring husband, the soul hangs on the mast”, losing their husbands, the women in the fishing village of Nghia An commune are both fathers and mothers, struggling to raise their children to adulthood, but the loss of the absence of the male breadwinner of the family is not easy to compensate. Ms. Nguyen Thi Cheo (47 years old) lost her husband in the Chanchu storm, at that time she had 2 children, one was only 3 years old, the other was still in her arms. Not only did Ms. Cheo lose her husband, she also lost 3 siblings and 1 nephew.
“The ocean is a source of pain for me, but it is also a source of faith for me. Every time I go to the ocean, I feel like I see my father and husband there, supporting me under every deep wave out there,” Ms. Cheo confided.
After the pain, Mrs. Nhanh gradually stabilized and accepted that her family had lost 3 sons, facing the economic burden, Mrs. Nhanh said: "My husband also went to sea near the shore, but since the loss of 3 children, he also quit his job as a fisherman, he also became quiet, not interested in going anywhere, even to relatives' houses. I had to worry about paying off the loan to buy the boat, and taking care of the family."
Women of Nghia An fishing village gather together, bond together and share their efforts to improve their lives.
Along with financial resources, many localities have had many initiatives to create jobs for women who lost their husbands in the Chanchu storm. The sharing, encouragement and support from society have added spiritual resources for women and mothers to overcome adversity and fate. With their own efforts, the “Chanchu women” have stood firmly on their own two feet. Their greatest hope is to raise their children to be educated and successful people.
Ms. Pham Thi Voan (73 years old), hamlet 3, Tan An village, Nghia An commune, said: "That day, Ms. Nhanh fainted again and again, I ran everywhere to mobilize and call on everyone to help Ms. Nhanh's family, then people in the village heard about the story and came to give rice, money, and fish so that the family could have meals to get through the day."
18 years have passed, the banh xeo shop in front of Mrs. Nhanh's house has become crowded, this has been the main source of income for her family for the past 5 years. Now her 2 daughters are married, the youngest son is a student, Mrs. Nhanh said: "My youngest son saw his father hanging around the house so he bought him some pet birds to make the house more cheerful".
Mrs. Luong Thi Ha’s family has also gradually stabilized their lives. Mrs. Ha shared: “My husband goes fishing near the shore to earn a living, and my youngest son also goes to sea. At first, when my youngest son decided to go to sea, I was worried, but I heard that nowadays the equipment and machinery are more modern, and the weather forecast is more accurate. Well, living by the sea, we have to stick to the sea…”.
Nghia An coastal commune today
The boys and girls grew up with the sea, fell in love, became husband and wife, and chose the same path of making a living that their ancestors had passed down for generations. Despite many hardships, today, with the attention of the State and local authorities, small fishing boats are gradually transforming into large fishing boats, sea communications are becoming more modern, and all worries about sea storms have gradually been pushed back. Nghia An fishermen still firmly love the sea, still believe in the graces from the sea.
“No matter how cruel the sea is, the men here still cling to the sea and go out to sea. And the women of this coastal region still have to attach their lives to worries and extraordinary determination. For them, that determination has become a life instinct,” said Ms. Pham Thi Cong, Chairwoman of the People’s Committee of Nghia An Commune.
As Copper
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